Sidalcea

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids II
Ordo: Malvales

Familia: Malvaceae
Subfamilia: Malvoideae
Tribus: Malveae
Genus: Sidalcea
Species: S. asprella – S. calycosa – S. campestris – S. candida – S. celata – S. covillei – S. cusickii – S. diploscypha – S. elegans – S. gigantea – S. glaucescens – S. hartwegii – S. hendersonii – S. hickmanii – S. hirsuta – S. hirtipes – S. keckii – S. malachroides – S. malviflora – S. multifida – S. nelsoniana – S. neomexicana – S. oregana – S. pedata – S. ranunculacea – S. reptans – S. robusta – S. setosa – S. sparsifolia – S. stipularis – S. virgata
Name

Sidalcea A.Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts ser. 2, 4(1): 18. (1849)

Type species: Sidalcea diploscypha (Torr. & A.Gray) A.Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts ser. 2, 4(1): 19. (1849)

References

Gray, A. 1849: Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, series. 2, 4: 18.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Sidalcea in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Jan. 7. Reference page.
Hassler, M. 2021. Sidalcea. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2021. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Jan. 7. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2021. Sidalcea. Published online. Accessed: Jan. 7 2021.
Tropicos.org 2021. Sidalcea. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2021 Jan. 7.
Sidalcea – Taxon details on Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).

Vernacular names
English: Checker Bloom
suomi: Jalomalvat
svenska: Axmalvesläktet

Sidalcea is a genus (approx. 25 species[1][2]) of the botanical family Malvaceae. It contains several species of flowering plants known generally as checkerblooms or checkermallows, or prairie mallows in the United Kingdom. They can be annuals or perennials, some rhizomatous. They are native to West and Central North America.

In mid- to late summer the clumps of toothed basal leaves produce erect flowering stems, with 5-petalled mallow-type flowers in terminal racemes, in shades of pink, white and purple.[3]

Sidalcea is generally diploid (2n = 20), but polyploidy (4n, 6n) also occurs.[1]

Annuality appears to have evolved multiple times (4+) within this genus, although an ancestral annual state with annual paraphyly is also possible. Further, evolution rates within annual Sidalcea lineages appear to be faster than those of perennial lineages, at least when examining nuclear ribosomal DNA (internal and external transcribed spacer regions).[1][2]

Selected species:

(A = annual, P = perennial[1])

Sidalcea asprella[1] (P)
Sidalcea calycosa – annual checkerbloom (A)
Sidalcea campestris – meadow checkermallow (P)
Sidalcea candida – white checkerbloom (P)
Sidalcea covillei – Owens Valley sidalcea (P)
Sidalcea cusickii – Cusick's checkermallow (P)
Sidalcea diploscypha – fringed checkerbloom (A)
Sidalcea glaucescens – waxy checkerbloom (P)
Sidalcea gigantea[1] (P)
Sidalcea hartwegii – valley checkerbloom (A)
Sidalcea hendersonii – Henderson's checkermallow (P)
Sidalcea hickmanii – chaparral checkerbloom (P)
Sidalcea hirsuta – hairy checkerbloom (A)
Sidalcea hirtipes[1] - hairy-stemmed checker-mallow[4] (P)
Sidalcea keckii – Keck's checkerbloom (A)
Sidalcea malachroides – mapleleaf checkerbloom (P)
Sidalcea malviflora – dwarf checkerbloom
Sidalcea multifida[1] (P)
Sidalcea nelsoniana – Nelson's checkermallow (threatened)
Sidalcea neomexicana – Salt Spring checkerbloom (P)
Sidalcea oregana – Oregon checkerbloom (miniature hollyhock)
Sidalcea oregana var. calva – Wenatchee Mountains checkermallow
Sidalcea pedata – birdfooted checkerbloom, Big Bear checkerbloom (P)
Sidalcea ranunculacea – marsh checkerbloom
Sidalcea reptans – Sierra checkerbloom
Sidalcea robusta – Butte County checkerbloom (P)
Sidalcea stipularis – Scadden Flat checkerbloom (P)
Sidalcea virgata[1] (P)

Garden cultivars are hybrids between S. candida and S. malviflora. The perennial cultivars "Elsie Heugh",[5] 'Oberon'[6] and "William Smith"[7] have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[8]
Gallery

Sidalcea hirtipes

Sidalcea malviflora

Sidalcea cusickii

cv. ’Elsie Heugh’

References

Andreasen, Katarina; Baldwin, Bruce G. (2003-03-01). "Reexamination of relationships, habital evolution, and phylogeography of checker mallows (Sidalcea; Malvaceae) based on molecular phylogenetic data". American Journal of Botany. 90 (3): 436–444. doi:10.3732/ajb.90.3.436. ISSN 0002-9122. PMID 21659137.
Andreasen, K.; Baldwin, B. G. (2001-06-01). "Unequal evolutionary rates between annual and perennial lineages of checker mallows (Sidalcea, Malvaceae): evidence from 18S-26S rDNA internal and external transcribed spacers". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 18 (6): 936–944. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a003894. ISSN 0737-4038. PMID 11371581.
RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 978-1405332965.
"Sidalcea hirtipes C.L. Hitchc. hairy-stemmed checker-mallow" (PDF). Hitchcock 1957 referenced. Washington State Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved March 3, 2016.
"RHS Plant Selector Sidalcea 'Elsie Heugh' AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
"Sidalcea 'Oberon'". RHS. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
"RHS Plant Selector Sidalcea 'William Smith' AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-03-09.

"AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 97. Retrieved 11 November 2018.

Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
US Fish and Wildlife page on Sidalcea nelsoniana.