Sida calyxhymenia Tall Sida
This member of the Malvaceae family was quite common in the deep yellow/orange sandy verges of the highway leading to Shark Bay. The genus Sida has been used in the past to include many species which didn't obviously belong elsewhere in the Malvaceae family and at one time had nearly 1,000 members world wide. Many of these have been reclassified as taxonomic techniques have improved but it remains a large genus with probably over 90 species. It was some time before I managed to identify this species but I had missed a key character - the shape of the fruits which are very like those of many in the mallow family.
Sida calyxhymenia grows for the coast near Shark bay inland down the wheat belt towards Kalgoorlie and dotted around elsewhere in Australia.
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| Sida calyxhymenia Tall Sida |
North Western Highway verge nr Billabong Roadhouse 3rd September 2012
Added on September 16th 2015