Desert five-spot is an erect desert annual to 2' tall with hispid stems and petioles.  The leaves are round-reniform and crenate up to 2-1/2" wide, and the pink to lavender bowl-shaped flowers have 5 petals each with a dark red spot near the base.  The calyx is stellate-hispid with ovate acuminate sepals.  This beautiful species is common in sandy or rocky areas of washes and mesas to 3800' in desert scrub of both the Colorado and Mojave Deserts, extending to Arizona and Nevada, and blooms from March to May.   These pictures were taken in the East Mojave Preserve.

Click here for Latin name derivations: 1) Eremalche 2) rotundifolia.
Pronunciation: er-em-AL-kee ro-tun-di-FO-lee-a.
Click here for Botanical Term Meanings.