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Plant Profile

Glade Mallow (Napaea dioica)

A plant flowering in its typical habitat. Plants can grow from three to six feet tall. Photo Credit:

Global Rank: G4 - Apparently Secure
Legal Status: N/A
Family: Malvaceae
State: DC, IA, IL, IN, MD, MN, OH, VA, VT, WI
Nature Serve ID: 149871
Lifeform: Forb/herb
Date Inducted in National Collection: 03/14/1986

Description:

This mallow species produces attractive white flowers in June and July (NatureServe Explorer 2002) and is cultivated for ornamental purposes by a number of nurseries. After the last glaciation, N. dioica expanded its range via riparian corridors (Botany2001 website 2002). Its range has become extremely limited as its habitat is ideal for farming and so has been plowed throughout most of its historic range (NatureServe Explorer 2002). As populations have become more fragmented and isolated from each other, riparian corridors have again become increasingly important in maintaining gene flow in this population (Botany2001 website 2002).

Where is Glade Mallow (Napaea dioica) located in the wild?

Habitat:

It is often found in alluvial meadows along streams and rivers or in areas of moist, rank, weedy vegetation, sometimes including shrubs (WIS 2002, NatureServe Explorer 2002).In Illinois Actinomeris alternifolia, Amorpha fruticosa, Campanula americana, Celtis occidentalis, Elymus virginicus, Eupatorium rugosum, Rudbeckia laciniata, Silphium perfoliatum are considered associate species (Swink and Wilhelm 1979). In Wisconsin associates include Silphium perfoliatum, Thalictrum dasycarpum, Aster spp., Solidago spp., and Helianthus spp (NatureServe Explorer 2002).

Distribution:

District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Virginia (NatureServe 2001).

States & Provinces:

Glade Mallow can be found in District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Ohio, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin

Which CPC Partners conserve Glade Mallow (Napaea dioica)?

Holden Forests and Gardens

Not Sponsored

Assigned 06/09/17

CPC's Plant Sponsorship Program provides long term stewardship of rare plants in our National Collection. We are so grateful for all our donors who have made the Plant Sponsorship Program so successful. We are in the process of acknowledging all our wonderful plant sponsorship donors on our website. This is a work in progress and will be updated regularly.

Conservation Actions

09/19/2020

J.P. Wenger and J.C. La Duke presented a paper at the 2001 botany meeting providing genetic data (based on microsatellite markers) highlighting the importance of riparian corridors in maintaining healthy population dynamics of N. dioica by allowing gene flow between populations and providing access to new areas for expansion after the last glaciation. (Wenger and LaDuke 2001

Nature Serve Biotics

05/02/2017

Endemic to the Great Lakes region, with a few scattered outlying occurrences further east (VA and MD) and a few stands elsewhere as escapes from cultivation. Apparently rare throughout its range. Occasionally locally abundant in remnants of prairie habitat.

Lindsey Parsons

01/01/2010

Destruction of habitat for agriculture Flood control

Lindsey Parsons

01/01/2010

Lindsey Parsons

01/01/2010

The Illinois Department of Conservation: Natural Heritage Division began monitoring N. dioica in 1988 as part of its endangered plant monitoring system

Lindsey Parsons

01/01/2010

Nearly all aspects of the life cycle of this species are unknown The potential for asexual reproduction The existence of seed banks for this species The cause of the edge affect on seed set in habitat fragments (reduced set at edges) Light requirements for sexual reproduction Optimal habitat conditions Maintenance of free-flowing streams which are thought to provide good conditions for seedling establishment Protection of riparian corridors

Lindsey Parsons

01/01/2010

Controlled studies of germination requirements and seedling establishment