''Sidalcea covillei'' is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Owens Valley sidalcea, and Owens Valley checkerbloom. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

Owens Valley Owens Valley (Numic Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Pl ...

Inyo County, California Inyo County () is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County is ...

,Andreasen, K. and B. G. Baldwin. (2003)
Reexamination of relationships, habital evolution, and phylogeography of checker mallows (''Sidalcea''; Malvaceae) based on molecular phylogenetic data.
''Am J Bot'' 90: 436-44.The Nature Conservancy
/ref> where it grows on alkali flats and in alkaline meadows and springs. While it is limited to this single valley, it is known from 44 sites there, and several populations are relatively large, with the total global population estimated at about two million individuals. This is a perennial herb growing from one or more fleshy roots and reaching maximum heights between 20 and 60 centimeters. The stem is hairy, with rough, bristly hairs near the base and finer ones higher up. The leaves have blades deeply divided into narrow linear lobes, almost divided into leaflets. The leaves are fleshy and waxy in texture. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is an open

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

of several flowers each with five pinkish purple petals up to 1.5 centimeters long. The leaves and flower

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

s are coated in tiny branching hairs. Threats to this species include a dropping

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

, which prevents water from accumulating at the surface in the plant's alkaline-seep habitat, moving the water out of reach of the plant. The species is named after the American botanist

Frederick Vernon Coville Frederick Vernon Coville (March 23, 1867 – January 9, 1937) was an American botanist who participated in the Death Valley Expedition (1890-1891), was honorary curator of the United States National Herbarium (1893-1937), worked at then was Chi ...

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfilePhoto gallery
covillei Endemic flora of California Flora of the California desert regions Natural history of Inyo County, California Natural history of the Mojave Desert Owens Valley {{Malveae-stub