The Scarlet Globemallow, Sphaeralcea coccinea, is an early spring wildflower in West Texas. This native of the Great Plains is found in dry, limestone rich, sandy or gravelly soils. Its leaves are gray green and covered with silvery hairs, as seen here. Their leaves are distinctively shaped. Each leaf has a long stem and the leaf blade is divided into 3 parts all the way to the connection with the leaf stem. Furthermore, each leaflet has several, irregularly placed, large lobes or teeth along their margins.

Scarlet Globemallows make gorgeous little orange flowers that are easily spotted against the brown, drab grasslands of Spring. Other members of this species can produce a darker, brick-red or scarlet flower. Notice how their flowers tend to cluster at the end of a long upright stem. Scarlet Globemallow, also known as Caliche Globemallow, belongs to the Mallow family (Malvaceae) and is a perennial that blooms from late March to September. Deer and antelope eat this plant; and, its fruits and seeds are eaten by birds and small mammals. It is a valuable source of nectar to bees and other nectar feeding insects. You can read about its medicinal uses at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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The Purple Poppy Mallow is the name that the USDA website likes for this wildflower. From the title of this post, you might guess that folks have used several common names for this species. Callirhoe involucrata in the family Malvaceae is the scientific name for this species. The nice thing for scientists and the reason for scientific names is that one and only one species is called Callirhoe involucrata. By doing this, scientists remove all of the confusion created by common names and their use allows discussions about plants and animals  to proceed without having to redefine which is which.

I happen to like winecup as the common name because of its brevity and because it evokes a mental image of the flower of Callirhoe involucrata. Cowboy roses evoke a more poetic image but leads to misunderstandings about what kind of plant under consideration. Purple Poppy Mallow is more accurate in terms of coloration and holds a clue to the Mallow family: Malvaceae. However you refer to them, they are beautiful flowers on long stems.

As you can see, the long stem helps them rise above the competition.

On a rainy day, long ago, I stopped to photograph this bloom. I have never seen this color variation since then. None of my references mention this color either.

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