Melochia tomentosa
Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. 9 Sept. 2017. The pair of beetles are Double Banded Bycid, male and female.
RANGE: Tropical zones of Sonoran Desert from Hermosillo and hence south into Sinaloa.
Available in the nursery trade in Arizona. Frost sensitive, but regrows from root stock. Blooms from
April through early December,
FRUIT: Small schizocarp capsules.
SHRUB: Slender woody stems numerous from crown reaching a
meter-and-a-half or so in height. Can reproduce vegetatively through rhizomes.
FLOWERS: The bright pink five-petal flowers are highly attractive to bees, butterflies and other insects.
UNARMED.
LEAVES: Usually triangulate with distinctly covering of tomentose hairs. Margins are toothed.