White Mallow

Description

Eremalche exilis is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common name white mallow. It is native to Baja California and the southwestern United States where it grows in desert and other dry scrub habitats. It is an annual herb growing mostly decumbent along the ground with hairy stems approaching 40 centimeters in maximum length. The leaves are up to 2.5 centimeters long and have 3 to 5 lobes which may be toothed at the tips. Solitary flowers can be found in the leaf axils, each a white to very pale purple cup usually less than a centimeter wide. The fruit is disc divided into up to 13 segments.