''Sidalcea reptans'' 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 the common name Sierra checkerbloom and Sierra checker mallow.Calflora: ''Sidalcea reptans''
/ref>

Distribution

The plant 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 ...

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 ...

, where it can be found throughout the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

at in elevation, especially the central peaks of the range. It grows in moist and dry habitat types in the mountains, in meadows of

yellow pine forest Ponderosa pine forest is a plant association and plant community dominated by ponderosa pine and found in western North America. It is found from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast Ranges in the Western United States and Western Canada. In ...

and

red fir ''Abies magnifica'', the red fir or silvertip fir, is a western North American fir, native to the mountains of southwest Oregon and California in the United States. It is a high-elevation tree, typically occurring at elevation, though only rare ...

forest.

Description

''Sidalcea reptans'' is a rhizomatous perennial herb reaching up to tall. Lower portions of the stem sometimes root when in contact with moist substrate. It is coated in long, bristly hairs. The leaf blades are also bristly. They vary in shape, the lower ones barely lobed and borne on long petioles, and the higher ones often deeply cut into lobes. 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 a long, open series of flowers with pink to lavender petals up to 2 centimeters in length. The bloom period is June to August.

References

External links

Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Sidalcea reptans''USDA Plants Profile for ''Sidalcea reptans'' (Sierra checkerbloom)
* reptans Endemic flora of California Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Malveae-stub