How to Grow and Care for Fanpetals

Arrowleaf sida (Sida rhombifolia) is a perennial plant with delicate yellow blooms on stiff, almost woody stems. The stems are used to make brooms, giving it the common name "broom jute." It is also used to make cord and twine.

The prickly sida (Sida spinosa) is a broadleaf herb that commonly invades crops, roadsides and pastures and is frequently viewed as a weed. Small flowers bloom during bright mornings mid-summer to early fall, attracting various types of bees and butterflies.

Sida acuta is a flowering perennial in the mallow family that is known as common Wireweed. The plant gets its name from its tough, wiry stems and branches. Though common Wireweed is native to Central America and southern North America, this hardy plant has become invasive elsewhere - its wiriness, unfortunately, makes it very difficult to remove from the ground by hand.

Ilima is a perennial flowering shrub in the mallow family. Originally native to India, this flower has naturalized around the world and is often considered to be a weed. It’s Latin name, Sida cordifolia, makes reference to the plant’s heart-shaped leaves.

A pretty annual flower with pink or yellow blooms that have yellow throats, bracted fanpetals is generally found in the southern United States and into Mexico. Bracted fanpetals, or Sida ciliaris, has been naturalized in Hawaii.