Photo credit: Angie Brooks
- thornless shrub with weak stems usually 2-4 feet tall
- leaves alternate, ovate, coarsely toothed on margins, up to 3 inches long and 1 1/4 inches wide
- flowers on long peduncle from leaf axils, with 5 kidney-shaped greenish-yellow petals
- resembles many mallows, but fruit is covered with pubescent prickles that similar mallows don't have
- found in brush tracts in Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties
- also occurs in Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Durango
- federally listed as Endangered
Photo credit: Lisa Williams