Velvetleaf mallow

Still another species that I found adjacent to the Arbor Walk Pond on the gray afternoon of November 8 was Allowissadula holosericea. The species name is a made-up Greco-Latin compound that means ‘all silky,’ a reference to the plant’s large leaves that are covered all over with soft hairs. That feature has led to the species’ common name of velvetleaf mallow, and I can attest, from years of irresistible touching, that the leaves really do feel like velvet.

For more information about velvetleaf mallow you can visit the websites of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the USDA. The map at that second site shows that in the United States this species grows a little bit in New Mexico but otherwise only in Texas, with Austin being at the eastern edge of its range. Lucky Austin, lucky me.

© 2011 Steven Schwartzman