This week for Flora and Fauna Friday it’s the towering flower of the coastline, Seashore Mallow (Kosteletzkya pentacarpos).
Seashore Mallow (AKA Saltmarsh Mallow) is found throughout the coastal zone of South Carolina as well as all the East and Gulf Coast states. It grows in brackish marshes, ditches, and the upper reaches of other sunny and tidally influenced wetland systems. Seashore Mallow grows to head height as an herbaceous, perennial bush. These Mallows also clump together to create small thickets. They have large triangular-ish leaves and that “Christmas-Tree” growth form that most Mallows tend to have, with a tall and straight central stem and diagonal limbs branching off below it. And again, like most Mallows, it has large and beautiful flower. The flower of Seashore Mallow is two to three inches across with five pastel-pink petals arranged around a central golden style, like a miniature parasol. These flowers attract many bees and butterflies to pollinate them, and even a hummingbird or two. Seashore Mallow is one of very few showy native wildflowers that can tolerate regular saltwater intrusion, making it a great addition to waterfront yards and coastal ponds that see a bit of salt.
Seashore Mallow is typically found in the upper reaches of tidal rivers, creeks, marshes, and ditches. It’s usually growing right there in the brackish transition zone. This is a consequence of its adaptations for tidal dispersal. The large seeds of Seashore Mallow contain air pockets that make them buoyant. This permits them to float downstream after heavy rains and then ride high tides, particularly our king tides, inland to a new home. However, Seashore Mallow isn’t the most salt tolerant plant. So it can’t survive in the true salt marsh or areas with regular full-strength tidal influence. So it relies on exceptional tides to carry it far and deep upstream into the coves and crevices of the interstice we call the brackish zone.
