Garden and Flowers

Although Anoda cristata is native to Mexico and the dry southwest of the United States, it will not survive in arid soil. The plants grow along the banks of watercourses. In a garden, they like moisture-retentive but well-drained soil, which should not be too rich in nutrients as this would lead to the development of excessive foliage at the expense of flowers. The mallow-shaped flowers appear in July at the top of approximately 3-ft tall stems. They grow about 1 ‘/4-l V2 in wide and have a lovely satiny sheen on the inside. The flowers of the species are white or tinged with blue. Those of the popular cultivar Anoda cristata ‘Opal Cup’ are soft pink with veins in a deeper shade. Anoda cristata ‘Snow Cup’ has snow-white flowers.

Sow the seeds directly out-of-doors in April-May, or sow them indoors in March. After mid-May, the seedlings may be planted out at a minimum distance of 10 in apart.

Anoda cristata is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by many common names, including spurred anoda, crested anoda, and violettas. Its exact native range is unclear but it probably spans Mexico and part or all of Central America. It is known throughout the rest of the Americas as well as Australia as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. This is an annual herb reaching a maximum erect height between one half and one meter. The stem is ridged and branching. The plant is variable in morphology, especially in leaf shape, but leaves are usually somewhat triangular, and hairy. Solitary flowers grow in the leaf axils. The flower is 2 to 3 centimeters wide, with pointed green to reddish sepals and lavender petals. The fruit is a bristly, disc-shaped capsule with 9 to 20 segments. Each segment produces a seed. This is sometimes an agricultural weed, especially of soybeans. It is tolerated as a weed of crop fields in parts of Mexico, and even fostered, because it is eaten and used as a source of medicinal remedies.