The sequence begins with young plants (at least 30 seedlings) that I’m considering naturalized/naturalizing. At the end of the sequence are photos of what are likely cultivated parent plants. There are several very productive parent plants at this location and seeds of this species are known to remain viable for decades if not centuries. I collected a voucher specimen which I plan to deposit at the University of Arizona Herbarium.

In several recent papers on the Arizona flora, a population of Abutilon indicum from the Catalina Mountains was mistaken for Abutilon theophrasti (Verrier 2018 and McNair et al. 2022). The number of carpels is very similar but the species are quite different. For example, A indicum is a perennial, while A. theophrasti is an annual. I'm drafting an updated key to help sort out this confusion (that I've contributed to!) and would be happy to share it with anyone interested.

Identification determined by John Heraty and Jean-Yves Rasplus. These non-pollinating fig wasps were on the syconia of a magnificent Ficus petiolaris growing on the campus of the University of Arizona.