Malva multiflora
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image=Cornish Mallow.jpg
|genus=Malva
|species=multiflora
|authority=(Cav.) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso
|synonyms={{Collapsible list|
- Althaea cretica (L.) Kuntze
- Althaea sylvestris (Brot.) Borbás
- Anthema cretica (L.) Medik.
- Anthema scabra Moench
- Anthema tenoreana C.Presl
- Lavatera cavanillesii Caball.
- Lavatera cretica L.
- Lavatera empedoclis Ucria
- Lavatera hederifolia (Vis.) Schloss. & Vuk.
- Lavatera mollis Ehrenb. ex Sweet
- Lavatera neapolitana Ten.
- Lavatera sicula Tineo
- Lavatera stenophylla (Willk.) Rouy
- Lavatera sylvestris Brot.
- Lavatera triloba Sebast. & Mauri
- Lavatera weinmanniana Trevir. ex DC.
- Malope multiflora Cav.
- Malva cretica (L.) Pau
- Malva hederifolia Vis.
- Malva linnaei M.F.Ray
- Malva liocarpa Phil.
- Malva mamillosa J.Lloyd ex Nyman
- Malva mauritiana Willk.
- Malva pseudolavatera Webb & Berthel.
- Malva willkommiana Scheele
}}}}
Malva multiflora (previously known as Lavatera cretica) is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Cornish mallow and Cretan hollyhock. It is native to western Europe, North Africa, and the Mediterranean Basin, and it is naturalized in areas with a Mediterranean climate, such as parts of Australia, South Africa, and California. This is an annual or biennial herb growing a tough, somewhat hairy stem to a maximum height between 1 and 3 meters. The leaves are multilobed with flat or wavy edges, slightly hairy, and up to 10 centimeters long. The plant bears small pink or light purple flowers with petals just over a centimeter long. The fruit is disc-shaped with 7 to 10 segments.
Leaf laminas of Malva multiflora can track solar position throughout the day and turn to face the sunrise, behavior that anticipates the future, despite lacking a central nervous system.{{Cite journal |pmc=1075199 |year=1986 |last1=Schwartz |first1=A |title=Diurnal Phototropism in Solar Tracking Leaves of Lavatera cretica |journal=Plant Physiology|volume=80 |issue=3 |pages=778–781 |last2=Koller |first2=D |pmid=16664701|doi=10.1104/pp.80.3.778 }}[https://web.archive.org/web/20180530035701/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/05/life-without-brains-smart-slime-molds-plants-jellyfish-osr-science/]
Botanical gallery
Photos from Antalya in Turkey.
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 14.jpg|Plant generally upright
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 20.jpg|Plant generally upright
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 15.jpg|Inflorescence, distant
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 01.jpg|Inflorescence, close
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 11.jpg|Flower, usually pale
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 12.jpg|Flower, rather bigger than calyx, calyx 5-part, epicalyx 3-broad-parts, usually reasonably stellate-hairy
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 19.jpg|Floral organs, unopened
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 18.jpg|Floral organs, opened
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 23.jpg|Epicalyx 3-part broad, joined at base
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 13.jpg|Flowers
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 09.jpg|Fruit, hairy form, mature, always lacks wrinkles, with rounded surface
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 02.jpg|Fruit, hairy form, mature, from side
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 16.jpg|Fruit, hairless form, mature
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 28.jpg|Fruit, hairless form, young
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 17.jpg|Fruiting inflorescence
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 03.jpg|Stellate (starlike) hairs with bulbous bases conspicuous
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 08.jpg|Leaf upperside
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 05.jpg|Leaf upperside, hairy example (may lack hairs)
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 04.jpg|Leaf underside
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 07.jpg|Leaf underside
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 06.jpg|Leaf stalk hairs
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 21.jpg|Biennial form, thick trunked
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 22.jpg|Biennial form, trunk
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 26.jpg|Trampled form, still showing a main stem
File:Malva multiflora in Antalya by David Merrick 27.jpg|Trampled form, showing smaller leaves
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?5042,5069,5072 Jepson Manual Treatment]
- [http://www.malvaceae.info/Genera/Lavatera/cretica.html Malvaceae.info Profile]
- [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Lavatera+cretica Photo gallery]
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q21326051|from2=Q12210235}}
Category:Flora of Southeastern Europe
Category:Flora of Southwestern Europe
Category:Plants described in 2005
Category:Taxa named by Antonio José Cavanilles
{{Malveae-stub}}