Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Purple poppy-mallow

PURPLE POPPY-MALLOW

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Callirhoe involucrata (T. & G. ) A. Gray

Ottawa County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: Reclining

Family: Malvaceae - Mallow Family

Flowering Period: April, May, June, July, August

Also Called:

Purple mallow, low poppy mallow.

Stems:

Trailing, several to many, branched, more or less hairy, extending up to 30 inches in all directions from crown.

Leaves:

Alternate, simple, stalked, round in outline, 1 to 3 inches long, 1.5 to 3.5 inch wide, deeply palmately divided; segments toothed or incised, linear; upper segments usually narrower than lower; straight hairs above, star-shaped hairs below; stipules persistent, generally ovate, .25 to .75 long, .25 to .5 inch wide.

Inflorescences:

Solitary flowers, on stalks to 8 inches long, in leaf axils.

Flowers:

Calyces 5-lobed, white-veined, long spreading hairy, closely subtended by 3 narrow, leafy bracts; corollas fragrant, 1 to 2.5 inches wide, rose or reddish-purple with white bases, fading purplish; petals 5, .75 to 1.5 inch long; stamens numerous, united into column.

Fruits:

Rings of 14-25 wrinkled, hairy, conspicuously beaked, 1-seeded segments; seeds rounded, brown.

Habitat:

Dry, open, disturbed areas, pastures, prairies, and roadsides, most abundant in sandy soils.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Forage Value:

Sheep and deer will graze purple poppy-mallow.

Uses:

The Lakota and Dakota burned the dried roots and inhaled the smoke as a treatment for colds. The roots were also boiled and used for a tea to treat intestinal pains.

Comments:

Purple poppy mallow has a deep taproot and is drought resistant.

Compare with pale poppy mallow

Purple poppy-mallow