''Anoda cristata'' is a species of flowering plant in the

mallow family 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 o ...

known by many common names, including spurred anoda, crested anoda, and violettas. It is native to North and South America. It is known throughout the rest of the Americas as well as

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

as an introduced species and often a

noxious weed A noxious weed, harmful weed or injurious weed is a weed that has been designated by an agricultural or other governing authority as a plant that is injurious to agricultural or horticultural crops, natural habitats or ecosystems, or humans or liv ...

. It has been found as a weed in Belgium. Naturally, it is often found near streams, in moist meadows, and in disturbed areas. This is an annual herb reaching a maximum erect height between one half and one meter. The stem is ridged and branching. The plant is variable in morphology, especially in leaf shape, but leaves are usually somewhat triangular, and hairy. Solitary flowers grow in the leaf axils on long pedicels. The flower is 2 to 3 centimeters wide, with pointed green to reddish sepals and 5 petals, which may be blueish-purple or reddish-pink in color. The fruit is a bristly, disc-shaped capsule with 9 to 20 segments. Each segment produces a seed. This is sometimes an agricultural weed, especially of soybeans. It is tolerated as a weed of crop fields in parts of Mexico, and even fostered, because it is eaten and used as a source of medicinal remedies.Rendón, B., R. Bye, and J. Núñez-Farfán. (2001). Ethnobotany of ''Anoda cristata'' (L.) Schl. (Malvaceae) in central Mexico: Uses, management and population differentiation in the community of Santiago Mamalhuazuca, Ozumba, state of Mexico. ''Economic Botany'' 55:4 545-54.

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Malveae Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Malveae-stub