Henderson's checker-mallow (Henderson's checkerbloom)
Malvaceae (Mallow family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Introduction
Henderson's checker-mallow is a native plant species found in wet meadows, estuaries and tidal flats in southwestern British Columbia.
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Species Information
General:
Perennial herb from a strong taproot and short spreading rhizomes; stems erect or decumbent, hollow, purple-tinged, glabrous or nearly so at the base, 50-150 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves round or heart-shaped, shallowly lobed, toothed, long-stalked; stem leaves alternate, stalks reduced upwards, palmately 5-lobed into oblong segments; stipules purple-tinged.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of numerous flowers in congested, compound, spike-like, terminal clusters on stalks 1-3 mm long; petals 5, deep pink, 1.5-2 cm long; calyces 9-15 mm long, 5-lobed, glabrous, fringed on the margins, bractlets lacking.
Fruits:
Carpels, 4 mm long, 5-10, nearly glabrous, the beaks about 1 mm long; seeds 1.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Habitat and Range
Wet meadows, estuaries and tidal flats in the lowland zone; rare on S Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and adjacent lower mainland; S to OR.Status Information
Taxonomic Keys
KEY TO MALVACEAE
1. Stigmas extending full length on the inner surfaces of the style branches.
2. Calyces with basal bractlets; carpels beakless ....................Malva 1. Stigmas terminal and head-like.
3. Leaves heart-shaped and toothed; petals yellow...............Abutilon
4. Petals usually more than 2 cm long; leaves 4-15 cm long; carpels glabrous on the sides, opening the full length at maturity.........................Iliamna KEY TO SIDALCEA 1. Stems hollow; plants with rhizomes....................S. hendersonii 1. Stems not hollow; plants without rhizomes.....................S. oregana var. procera Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia |