''Eremalche rotundifolia'', the desert five-spot, is a

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the family

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...

, native to the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...

and

Colorado Desert California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna. Geography and geology The Colorado De ...

in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

. This

dicot The dicotyledons, also known as dicots (or, more rarely, dicotyls), are one of the two groups into which all the flowering plants (angiosperms) were formerly divided. The name refers to one of the typical characteristics of the group: namely, t ...

and annual herb is found in scrublands, desert flats, washes and open stony areas between 50 and 1,500 m in elevation. It can be found in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and in

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka ...

in southern

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It can also be found in Nevada and Utah. Generally this

wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the w ...

is only found between March and May.

Description

''Eremalche rotundifolia'' is an

annual plant An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. The length of growing seasons and period in which they take place vary according to geographical ...

growing to 8–60 cm tall, with rounded

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

1.5–6 cm broad with a toothed margin. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are dark-pink to lilac with five overlapping petals, each with a dark red/purple spot near the base. When fully open the petals are slightly in-curved, giving the flower a nearly spherical shape. The center contains a ring of light pink stigmas around a group of smaller pink stamens. The leave are round and green with a covering of short bristly hairs, while the red/brown stems have similar but longer hairs. Stems are usually unbranched. Petals close at night, reopening the next morning, and the leaves move during the day to receive the maximum amount of sunlight. Eremalche-rotundifoli

References

Jepson Flora Project: ''Eremalche rotundifolia''USDA Plant Profile: ''Eremalche rotundifolia''
*Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Jon Mark Stewart, 1998, pg. 132

External links

Calflora Database: ''Eremalche rotundifolia'' (Desert five spot)USDA Plants Profile for ''Eremalche rotundifolia'' (Desert fivespot)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3006568 Malveae Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Flora of Arizona Flora of Nevada Natural history of the Colorado Desert Natural history of the Mojave Desert Flora without expected TNC conservation status