In 1849 Asa Gray named this genus and both the species pictured below from specimens collected by Augustus Fendler in 1847 in "moist meadows" in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  (Fendler's words as quoted in Intermountain Flora.)

    "Sid" is Latin for "star".

Montane, subalpine. Streamsides, wetlands. Summer.
Little Taylor Creek Trail, July 28, 2005.
Near Chris Park Trail, July 12, 2007.

Checker Mallow grows straight, slim, and tall (to three feet) and has two inch white flowers making it an attractive and conspicuous plant.  Look for it in the same moist forests and meadows that Rudbeckia ampla grows in.  The two often grow so densely that they completely obscure the ground with their tall luxuriant growth.

"Candida" is Latin for for "brilliant white".

Montane, subalpine. Streamsides, wetlands. Summer.
Little Taylor Creek Trail, July 28, 2005.

Montane, subalpine. Streamsides, wetlands. Summer.
Kilpacker Trail, August 29, 2005.

Dense patches of S. candida are the common growth pattern.

Montane, subalpine. Streamsides, wetlands. Summer.
Little Taylor Creek Trail, August 20, 2007.

Montane, subalpine. Streamsides, wetlands. Summer.
Haviland Lake Trail, June 28, 2004.

Both the upper cut leaves (right of center) and the basal round leaves (bottom center) belong to this slim, lost-in-the-grasses Mallow.  The lovely abundance of rose-magenta flowers attracts your attention and then you find the  plants growing to several feet tall in widely spread colonies.  

Montane, subalpine. Streamsides, wetlands. Summer.
Haviland Lake Trail, July 1, 2005.

Montane, subalpine. Streamsides, wetlands. Summer.
Haviland Lake Trail, July 1, 2005.

Montane, subalpine. Streamsides, wetlands. Summer.
Haviland Lake Trail, July 1, 2005.

Round, lobed basal leaves; more deeply incised mid-plant leaves; and deeply incised upper leaves all belong to Sidalcea neomexicana.