''Sphaeralcea coccinea'', commonly known as the scarlet globemallow, scarlet mallow, cowboy's delight, prairie mallow, red false mallow, or simply as globe mallow is a perennial plant growing 10–30 cm tall from spreading

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

s with a low habit. They have grayish stems with dense, star-shaped hairs and alternately arranged leaves. The leaf blades are 2–5 cm long, palmately shaped, and deeply cut, with 3–5 main wedge-shaped segments. The undersides of the leaves have gray hairs. The 1–2.5 cm wide flowers are reddish-orange and saucer-shaped, with 5 notched, broad petals, in small terminal clusters. It produces numerous

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

which surround the

pistils Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl (botany), whorl of a flower; it consists ...

as a tube. Plants flower from May to October in southern regions and May to July in northern regions. The plant produces a dry "fruit" called a

schizocarp A schizocarp is a dry fruit that, when mature, splits up into mericarps. There are different definitions: * Any Dry fruits, dry fruit composed of multiple carpels that separate. : Under this definition the mericarps can contain one or more ...

, which after maturity, breaks into roughly 10 or more seed segments. This species is native to dry grasslands, prairies, and badlands of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

and western regions of northern North America. It thrives along roadsides in drier conditions and sandy soils. The plant releases its seeds upon being disturbed, allowing it to further spread to new areas.

Uses

Scarlet globemallow is recorded with a traditional use by the people of the

Blackfoot Confederacy The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or "Blackfoot language, Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up ...

as a cooling agent, with it being ground up or mashed into a mixture applied to wounds and burns. Additionally, while on the course of his expedition, near the Marias River,

Meriwether Lewis Meriwether Lewis (August 18, 1774 – October 11, 1809) was an American explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, with ...

collected a specimen of this species.Schiemann, D. A. (2005). ''Wildflowers of Montana.'' Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Publishing Company. The plant can also be used today as ground-cover along roadsides and fields to prevent erosion. Due to its fast spreading nature, it can quickly spread, creating more stability in the soil.

References

External links

coccinea Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the United States Flora of the South-Central United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of Western Canada Flora of the Great Plains (North America) Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Malveae-stub