MUNROE'S GLOBE-MALLOW Also known as Orange Globe Mallow Sphaeralcea munroana Family Malvaceae - Mallow Family Division Anthophyta - Flowering Plants Risk Status Official status Munroe's Globe-Mallow is on British Columbia's Red List (CDC=G4 S1). Risk Status Distinguishing Features Distribution Habitat Why is it endangered? Biology Sources for more information Museum Specimens Image Credits: top sketch in Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest, Hitchcock et al., 1971. Bottom sketch from C.P. Lyons and Bill Merilees, Trees,Shrubs and Flowers to Know in British Columbia and Washington (Lone Pine Publishing, 1995), page 259. Distinguishing features Also called Orange globe mallow, its conspicuous fowers make it an easily recognized species. The five colourful petals, approximately 1/2 inch long, overlap somewhat and form an attractive "bowl" containing the numerous stamens. The leaves are dark green to somewhat grayish and resemble maple leaves with their roughly mealy texture and lobing. Mallows characteristically have 3-5 leaves which are up to 5 cm in length with stems almost as long. They have a rather loose form of several wide branching, fibrous stems. The plants arise from a very deep and strong woody root system. The generic name comes from Greek: sphaera means globe-like and refers to the round fruit with pie-shaped segments; alcea means mallow. Distribution Map Red dots indicate specimen records or confirmed breeding sites. British Columbia Munroe's Globe-mallow is rare in southcentral British Columbia and is found in the Okanagan Highland (Osoyoos), south of Penticton, Fairview, between Oliver and Osoyoos. North America In Washington, the Mallow is found in Coulee County, Yakima and Wenatchee. It lives throughout the ecologically extreme habitat of the sagebrush steppe and extends southward into the drier Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. South to Montana, Utah and California. Habitat The mallow inhabits arid places, often with sagebrush in the steppe vegetation zone. It prefers moderately sandy or rocky sites. Why is it endangered? This species along with others of the grasslands communities are endangered for a number of reasons. Livestock grazing, range re-seeding and off-road recreation have modified much of the remaining "undeveloped" grassland areas. In addition, cultivation, agricultural and urban development, prescribed burning, forest encroachment, road and trail development, alien plant and animal species introductions, and hydro-electric power projects have caused outright, irreversible losses of native grassland species in general. Because grasslands have been so influenced by human activities, a relatively large number of wildlife species associated with grasslands (including this plant species) are listed as threatened or endangered. Because of these combined influences and the relatively limited distribution of grasslands, "ancient" grasslands represent a much more endangered space in British Columbia than do "ancient" or old-growth forests. Biology Munroe's Globemallow blooms in late summer in its northern range. Sources for more information Related On-line Sites to Visit Publications The Vascular Plants of BC, MOF, pt. 2, 1990, p. 77 The SOCAP Workshop Summary, The Nature Trust, 1989. Sagebrush Country, Taylor, 1992, p. 84 Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to Know in British Columbia and Washington, 1995, p. 259. Living Landscape Directory of Researchers and their projects Museum Specimens this section sponsored by: Industry Canada

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