GLOBE MALLOW - Sphaeralcea angustifolia - Malvaceae (Mallow) family
Spanish: Yerba del Negro

The fruits of all globe-mallows are edible. Archaeologists have found pollen and seeds at Chaco Canyon, Pecos, and on the Rio Grande near Zia and Santa Ana, leading them to conclude that globe-mallow was one of the most widely used plants during the Anasazi era. This plant has been used as a purge by boiling a small portion of the root in a glass of water. It has also been reported that this plant was used as a diuretic when taken every morning for nine days. Wild Plants of the Pueblo Province notes that at Santa Clara pueblo globe-mallow may be rubbed on sore muscles and at Picuris the roots of scarlet globe-mallow (S. coccinea) once were used as a cast for broken bones after being pounded into a pulp and mixed with water. Flowers vary from white to pink to purplish, to orange. Flowers have 5 petals (unsymmetrical) and are to 1.5" wide. Leaves are simple, variably lobed, green, with starlike hairs.