Malva nicaeensis
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Malvanicaeensis.jpg
|genus = Malva
|species = nicaeensis
|authority = All.
|synonyms = Malva arvensis
}}
Malva nicaeensis is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names bull mallow{{PLANTS|id=MANI2|taxon=Malva nicaeensis|accessdate=27 January 2016}} and French mallow.{{BSBI 2007 |access-date=2014-10-17 }} It grows up to {{Convert|60|cm}} tall, producing pinkish flowers. It grows in the Middle East, where it has variously served as food.
Description
Malva nicaeensis is an annual or biennial herb producing a hairy, upright stem up to {{Convert|60|cm}} long.{{Cite web |title=Malva nicaeensis in Flora of North America @ efloras.org |url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250023532 |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=www.efloras.org}} The leaves are up to {{Convert|12|cm|abbr=on|frac=2}} wide and have several slight lobes along the edges.
Flowers appear in the leaf axils, each with pinkish to light purple petals around {{Convert|1|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long. The disc-shaped fruit has several segments.
Distribution and habitat
In the Levant, mallows grow profusely after the first winter rains.
Uses
The leaves and stems are edible, and are widely collected for food, as they make an excellent garnish when chopped and fried in olive-oil with onions and spices. In Israel, the plant is renowned for having fed the besieged Jewish population in the 1948 Battle for Jerusalem, its use similar to spinach. A particularly famous preparation are the Khubeza patties. Apicius, a collection of Roman cookery recipes, mentions garum being used as a fish stock to flavor cooked mallows.Apicius, De Re Coquinaria (Book III, section [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Apicius/3*.html#VIII VIII])
Botanical gallery
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 21.jpg|Plant form, general
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 24.jpg|Plant form closer
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 01.jpg|Epicalyx 3 broad segments, lacking stellate hairs
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 18.jpg|Flower, pinky with bold veins, may be paler
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 11.jpg|Flower showing calyx with 5 broad parts, epicalyx with 3 broad parts, sparsely hairy with simple hairs
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 03.jpg|Flower, petals without hairs, or with little, at centre
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 22.jpg|Central stigma
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 30.jpg|Petal, no hairs or scarcely so
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 12.jpg|Fruit, lightly hairy (may be hairless), showing wrinkles
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 06.jpg|Fruit, very hairy form
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 14.jpg|Flowers showing features together
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 28.jpg|Bracts
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 07.jpg|Plant area
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 08.jpg|Leafage area
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 15.jpg|Leaf
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 13.jpg|Leaf upperside
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 09.jpg|Leaf underside
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 16.jpg|Hairs generally simple with conspicuous bulbous bases (as M. sylvestris)
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 27.jpg|Plant base
File:Malva nicaeensis in Antalya by David Merrick 31.jpg|Plant base
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons-inline}}
- [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?5042,5084,5086 Jepson Manual Treatment]
- {{CalPhotos|Malva|nicaeensis}}
- {{Calflora}}
- {{PFAF|Malva nicaeensis}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q4116860}}
Category:Flora of North Africa
Category:Flora of Western Asia
Category:Taxa named by Carlo Allioni
{{Malveae-stub}}