Texas Gardening: Texas Native Plant Pictures by color ( Orange ), 0 by htop

htop wrote:
Chisos Mountain False Indian Mallow, Velvet Leaf Mallow, Velvetleaf Mallow (Allowissadula holosericea), Malvaceae Family, perennial, Texas native, blooms June through October

Velvetleaf Mallow is a densely hairy, upright growing, scented, much branched herb. The leaves can be up tp 8 inches long and are heavily veined on the bottom surface. They are indented at the base. The margins are toothed and the leaves may be 3-lobed. The base is often somewhat woody. It natively inhabits dry, rocky soils of Trans-Pecos and the Edwards Plateau Regions often found growing around boulders and rocky ledges. It grows in sand, loam, clay and limestone soils and seems to like some shade in the afternoon. Several of the plants I saw were partially wilted in full sun especially since they had had no rain for quite some time. The ones with morning sun or filtered shade were blooming and were not wilted. I have seen quite a few often along margins of juniper-oak woodlands where they receive part sun.

The flowers may be eaten raw or battered and fried. Also, a tea may be made from the leaves. The tea is said to relieve headaches. It is a butterfly nectar source and butterfly larval host for the Common Checkered Skipper, Texas Powdered Skipper and Common Streaky-Skipper. It is highly deer resistent, has more conspicuous flowers than the other similar type mallows and the floiwers are fragrant.

For more information see its entry in the PlantFiles:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/113173/index.html

Its growth habit ...