Malvaceae, the mallow family.
Description:
Plant:
Tall, coarse, branching, velvety-hairy plant 1'-6', with large, heart-shaped leaves,
yellow flowers, and distinctive circular fruit composed of beaked segments. Annual.
Flowers:
Yellow, about 1" across, with 5 petals, five sepals, and many stamens that form a tube
characteristic of the mallow family. Flowers solitary in leaf axils, or in small clusters at
the ends of branches.
Leaves:
Alternate, large, 4"-6", heart-shaped, shallowly toothed, with long stalks (petioles),
and covered with velvety hairs.
Fruit:
A distinctive, circular structure of about 15 hairy, beaked, segments (carpels).
Blooming:
July-October
Habitat:
Disturbed ground, waste areas, fields.
Comments:
Introduced from Asia (India), this plant has become a troublesome weed of cultivated
fields, especially corn, in some areas. The common name refers to the soft-hairy leaves and stems.
The plant is also known as Pie-maker, in reference to the oddly-shaped fruits,
which supposedly recall the way pie-crust is pinched.
A strong fiber can be obtained from the stems of the plant, and the seeds are
supposedly edible.
Where to find it:
Growing on the piles of loose soil near the Islamic center (2009), and occasionally in
other locations.