[Anoda ovata Meyen; Sida cordifolia sensu Hawaiian botanists, non L.; S. diellii A. Gray; S. fallax var. kauaiensis Hochr.; S. ledyardii St. John; S. meyeniana Walp.; S. m. var. microphylla Hochr.; S. nelsonii St. John; S. sandwicensis H. Lev.; S. sertum Nutt, ex A. Gray]
(ind) ‘Ilima
Prostrate or diffuse to erect shrubs 0.2- 1.5(-3) m tall, glabrate to densely velvety tomentose, the hairs usually stellate, sometimes also simple and glandular. Leaf blades usually discolor ous, lanceolate- ovate to oblong, elliptic, or suborbicular, 1-12 cm long, upper surface bright green and glabrous or sparsely to densely pubescent, lower surface densely pubescent, margins finely to coarsely serrate or crenate, apex acute to acuminate or obtuse, base obtuse to subcordate, petioles 0.5-5.5 cm long, stipules filiform to linear, 3-10 mm long. Flowers axillary, solitary or 2-7 per node, borne in the leaves or crowded at the ends of the branches, pedicellate or rarely subsessile, pedicels slender, distinct or sometimes connate in a common peduncle, articulate, 0.5-2 cm long in flower, up to 5(-7) cm long in fruit; calyx green or dark purple, campanulate, (5.5-)6-9 mm long in flower, somewhat larger in fruit, the tube strongly ribbed, the lobes triangular to ovate, acute to acuminate; corolla yellow to orangish yellow, sometimes dark maroon at base, rotate, the petals broadly obovate, 8-15 mm long, asymmetrically 2-lobed apically, ciliate along the claw; staminal column included, yellow, 2.5-4 mm long, glabrous or puberulent apically. Mericarps (5)6-9, pale brown to black, basically trigonous, 2.8-4 mm long, lower dorsal and lateral walls strongly rugose-reticulate, apex puberulent, muticous, short-beaked or with awns 0.3-1 (-1.8) mm long. Seeds brown or black, trigonous-obovoid, 1.7-2.2 mm long, puberulent around the raphe. [In = 28*.] Widespread on Pacific islands to China; in Hawai‘i occurring on rocky or sandy coasts or raised limestone reefs, also open arid lava fields and dry forest to diverse mesic forest and rarely low elevation wet forest, 0-1,980 m, on Midway Atoll, Nihoa, and all of the main islands.— Plate 125.
Sida fallax, the flowers of which are often used for lei, is the most widespread and variable taxon of Malvaceae in the Hawaiian Islands. As treated here in the broad sense it may represent a species complex. It is greatly in need of biosystematic analysis. It occurs as prostrate subshrubs on arid exposed headlands and other coastal sites or as erect arborescent shrubs within wooded, mesic communities, or in a variety of intermediate sizes and habitats. Morphological variation exists within and between populations, especially in stature, pubescence, leaf size and shape, and character of the inflorescence. Variation in floral characters occurs generally in size, pubescence, color, and lobing of the calyx, in the degree to which basal maroon spotting develops on the petals, and the shape of the petal apex. Mericarps differ principally in color and size. Most are rounded or apiculate at the apex, but occasionally they have apical spines.
The pattern of variation is difficult to express taxonomically, for it is characterized by a series of recurring forms that are essentially common to all islands, but with most of the islands also bearing unique ele-ments. For example, on Hawaii several collections have pedicels joined into an elongate, common peduncle, and on 0‘ahu collections tend to have more congested, corymbose or racemose inflorescences.
Other populations are characterized by elongate, somewhat tendril-like calyx lobes. On both Kauai and 0‘ahu are found large- leaved glabrate forms, which presumably were the basis for Sida meyeniana; however, even in pubescence there is intergradation between these collections and other elements of the S. fallax complex.
Despite intergradation, the range of mor-phological and ecological variability en-compassed by Sida fallax suggests that infraspecific taxa could be recognized. Morphological analyses at the population level, correlated with habitat differences, especially of populations occupying mesic woodland sites and those of higher elevations, are needed before formal infraspecific divisions can be made.