Texas Gardening: Texas Native Plant Pictures by color ( Other & Bicolor ), 0 by htop

htop wrote:
Country Sida, Southern Sida, Country Mallow, Heartleaf Sida, Bala, Flannel Weed, Wire Weed (Sida cordifolia), Malvaceae Family, Texas native. perenial/annual, blooms late spring to early fall

Country Sida is considered to be a weed by many and can be invasive because of its self-seeding. Although it is also classified as a subshrub or shrub, I am entering it here because its bloom color and shape closely resembles other plants that I am posting here. I will make another entry in the "Shrubs" thread with a link back to this thread.


I could not find much information about its distribution in Texas; but, found lots of information referring to its use as an herb and in herbal products (can be dangerous - see below). iIt is commonly found in fields, pastures and abandoned home sites, as well as along roadsides.

It has erect stems, is ligneous (a plant having woody parts, especially stems) and grows to a height of between 2 and 3 feet. The stem branches several times. The 2.5-5 cm long leaves are cordate (heart-shaped with the leaf stem attached to the inside point of the heart), ovate and oblong with serrated margins. They are covered with fine hairs whcih gives them a felt-like appearance and a light green color. The small blooms may be goldish orange (as shown below) or goldish yellow and are in dense clusters at the end of the branches. The 6-8 mm in diameter seed capsules are divided into 10 chambers and have two fine bristles at one end. Due to its having a well developed tap root, it is very drought tolerant as well as difficult to transplant without killing it unlees it is a very young plant. Used as an external poultice, the leaves provide a cooling effect and are an astringent.

Warniing: Although this plant is tauted to have all sorts of medicinal uses when ingested internally as a tea or powder, the same stimulating ephedrine alkaloid which has caused the Chinese plant Ma Huang to have much notoriety when used as a cardiac stimulant is found in country sida. The concemtration is weaker, however, than is found in Ma Huang. Small amounts of these alkaloids are marketed and labeled as being useful for body building, weight loss, "pep," and as performance enhancers, as well as a substitute for illicit drugs such as MDMA. These products are described as "natural" or "herbal".

The Food and Drug Administration has reports of harmful side effects resulting from ingesting these products. Among them are heart palpitations, heart attacks, strokes and psychoses. Several states have banned supplements that contain ephedrine, one of these being Ephedra. Its interactions with presceiption drugs and other supplements may cause a fatal reaction. However, if one does a search for "Sida cordifolia" images, most of the images that appear are of bottles of supplements for sale. If one searches for information about this plant, most of what is found describes its medicinal value.

Sooo ... I wouldn't make a tea with it and drink it, smoke it or eat its leaves or roots. Read all the labels on any supplements you may take because I have seen ephedrine and Sida cordifolia listed as ingredients in many of them.

For more information see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/74728/index.html

A view of its bloom which is small, but lovely ...