Index / Search / Sphaeralcea coccinea

§1 Plant — species · Malvaceae

Sphaeralcea coccinea (Nutt.) Rydb.

vernacular scarlet globemallow


USDA
SPCO
GBIF
3152438
Rank
species
scarlet globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea)
Platephotograph · Lena ZappiaCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Forb/herb, Subshrub
Duration
Biennial, Perennial
Group
Dicot
Family
Malvaceae Juss.
Genus
Sphaeralcea
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
High
Shade
High
Moisture use
Low
Fire
Medium
Salinity
Medium
Anaerobic
None
CaCO₃
High
Hedging
Medium
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-23 °F minimum
Frost-free days
115 min.
Precipitation
6–35 in/yr
pH range
6.5–8.4
Root depth
6 in min.
Fertility need
Low
Soil texture
coarse, medium
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Multiple Stem
Growth rate
Rapid
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
1.5 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Red
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Spring
Seed abundance
High
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Fall
Spread rate
Rapid
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
500,000
Propagation
seed, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Field Collections Only
Nursery stock
Yes
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
Medium
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Montana distribution

Recorded in 51 of 56 Montana counties.


§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/SPCO ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3152438 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T16:28:53Z