VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Sphaeralcea coccinea | Scarlet Globemallow 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Scarlet globemallow is commonly eaten by almost all species of
herbivores where it occurs and is an important part of the diets of
small mammals, pronghorn, sheep, and cattle [17].  


PALATABILITY : 
Scarlet globemallow palatability is generally thought to be fair to
poor, although in the southwestern portions of its range it is an
important part of the diets of many animals [17,21,34].  Scarlet
globemallow provides excellent forage for deer, pronghorn and cattle,
and is a staple in black-tailed prairie dog diets [10,13,34].

The degree of use shown by livestock and wildlife species for scarlet
globemallow in several western states is rated as follows [7]:

                       Colorado   Montana   N.Dakota   Utah   Wyoming
                       --------   -------   --------   ----   -------
Cattle                   fair       fair      fair     fair     fair
Sheep                    fair       fair      fair     fair     fair   
Horses                   poor       poor      fair     poor     fair
Pronghorn                ----       fair      ----     fair     good     
Elk                      ----       poor      ----     fair     poor   
Mule deer                ----       poor      ----     fair     ----
White-tailed deer        ----       ----      ----     ----     fair
Small mammmals           ----       ----      ----     fair     ----
Small nongame birds      ----       ----      ----     fair     ----      
Upland game birds        ----       ----      ----     fair     ----         
Waterfowl                ----       ----      ----     poor     ----

Mule deer diets in New Mexico contained 3 percent scarlet globemallow in
a pinyon-juniper/oak area [26], and a study in Colorado determined that
scarlet globemallow is the largest single pronghorn dietary item in the
summer (18% of total diet) [10].  Summer use and preference values
of scarlet globemallow for cattle can be broken down by state:
 
State       % of diet       Preference       Reference
-----       ---------       ----------       ---------
CO             11              ---              [18]
               15              high             [44]
SD       highest of any forb   low              [43]
NM             25              high             [19]

Scarlet globemallow was found in higher proportions in cattle diets
where it grew on fertilized land in New Mexico [19].

Several studies have examined the importance of scarlet globemallow to
black-tailed prairie dogs and other small mammals.  Black-tailed
prairie dogs apparently prefer scarlet globemallow in fall
(September-November) [13,18,35].  The following table presents the percent
composition of scarlet globemallow in the diets of several species.

Species    State  Overall  Apr/May  Jun/Aug  Sept/Nov  Dec/Mar   Reference
-------    -----  -------  -------  -------  --------  -------   ---------
gopher      CO      10       --       27        --        1        [38]
prairie dog SD      --       --        2        20       --        [13]
            CO       7        1        5        15        6        [21]
cottontail  CO      15        5       12        28       14        [21]
cattle      CO       6        7       11         3        2        [21]



NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
Scarlet globemallow contains high amounts of vitamin A, low amounts of
magnesium and calcium, and is considered highly digestible [17].  Scarlet
globemallow roots have a higher seasonal (fall) concentration of
carbohydrate reserves than any other organ; the average yearly
carbohydrate content in scarlet globemallow is 107 mg per gram of plant
[27].


COVER VALUE : 
Scarlet globemallow provides fair cover for small nongame mammals and
birds [7].


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
Scarlet globemallow readily invades disturbed areas.  Webb and Guthery
[45] found that the percentage of scarlet globemallow cover increased
when a northwest Texas mesquite rangeland was disked:

                           1978    1979    1980
                           ----    ----    ----
        undisked            0.2     0.6     1.9
        disked              1.0     0.8     2.3

A similar response occurred after a fire in western North Dakota.  These
increases are primarily due to a reduction in competition from other
plants.  The deep rhizomes of scarlet globemallow enable it to survive
disking, fires, and grazing; when other species are eliminated scarlet
globemallow proliferates [8].  To illustrate the degree to which scarlet
globemallow can withstand disturbance, changes in cover percentages
following various degrees of soil scarification are presented below [3]:

Treatment                            Year of succession (% cover)
---------                            first  fourth  fifth  sixth
                                     -----  -----   -----  -----
All plants removed with minimal        26     28      22     22
  topsoil disturbance

Top 30 cm of soil removed              12     18      33     10

Top 1 m of soil removed                 1      2       4      4

Top 2 m of soil removed                 1      2       4      3


Scarlet globemallow has been known to volunteer on mine spoils to a
certain degree [28,32], but is not considered a colonizer on such [39].
Bjugstad and Whitman [4] seeded coal mine spoils in North Dakota, and
obtained a maximum of 21 scarlet globemallow plants in a square meter
plot, but usually fewer.  On bentonite (clay) mine spoils in Montana,
scarlet globemallow was the most common forb in the surrounding area,
but it did not invade the spoils to any degree [32].

The planting of scarlet globemallow for rehabilitative purposes may not
be feasible since the seeds are hard to collect and therefore expensive, and
the germination rate is low.  Since scarlet globemallow is somewhat
palatable and nutritious to livestock, disking or burning the range may
increase the occurrence of this plant [30].


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
Native North Americans chewed scarlet globemallow and applied it as a
paste to relieve the pain of burns and flesh wounds [43].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Nitrogen fertilization may increase the palatability of scarlet
globemallow [19], however fertilization does not increase biomass
production [9].  An exception to this is a study done by Goetz [15] in
which basal cover of scarlet globemallow increased after fertilization
on one site of three; Goetz believes that fertilization results are site
specific.

In a study of scarlet globemallow invasion patterns, Grygiel, Bonham and
Redente [17] found that scarlet globemallow will invade readily where a
native grass seed mixture has been planted on disturbed sites, but not
where introduced grasses are planted; fertilization made no difference.
 
Disking, burning, and even grazing increases scarlet globemallow
production on the range for several years if competition from grasses is
limited [8,17].  Scarlet globemallow is also very drought tolerant [21].

Related categories for Species: Sphaeralcea coccinea | Scarlet Globemallow