Malva sylvestris

It is one of several species of different genera sometimes referred to as Creeping Charlie, a term more commonly applied to Glechoma hederacea (ground ivy).{{cite mailing list |last=Sinclair |first=Pam |title=creeping charlie |mailing-list=Plantbio mailing list |date=7 October 1999 |url=http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/plantbio/1999-October/021768.html |access-date=10 May 2008}}

Common mallow is a herbaceous perennial with an erect or decumbent branched stem up to {{Convert|1.5|m|ft|frac=2}} tall.{{Cite book |last=Francis-Baker |first=Tiffany |title=Concise Foraging Guide |date=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4729-8474-6 |series=The Wildlife Trusts |location=London |pages=69}} The minutely ridged stems are covered with fine soft hairs, sometimes with a slightly bulbous base. The leaves are alternate, with a petiole up to {{Convert|20|cm|frac=2}} long, simple but palmate, up to 7 cm long by 10 cm wide, with stellate hairs (i.e. several strands radiating from a common center) and prominent veins on the underside.{{cite book |last1=Poland |first1=John |last2=Clement |first2=Eric |title=The Vegetative Key to the British Flora |date=2009 |publisher=John Poland |location=Southampton |isbn=978-0-9560144-0-5}}{{cite book |last=Britton |first=Nathaniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RZUCAAAAYAAJ |title=An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British possessions |author2=Addison Brown |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1913 |series=Volume II, Amaranthaceae to Loganiaceae |pages=2052 pages |chapter=CYRILLACEAE |author-link=Nathaniel Lord Britton |author2-link=Addison Brown |access-date=10 May 2008 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RZUCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA514}}

File:Malva sylvestris (1).jpg

The flowers are reddish-purple with dark stripes and occur in axillary clusters of 2 to 4 along the main stem with the flowers at the base opening first. There are 5 petals, each being up to {{Convert|2|cm|abbr=on|frac=4}} long, and 5 sepals, 3–6 mm long, which are fused in the lower half, and have broadly triangular lobes. There is also an epicalyx (or false calyx) with oblong segments, two-thirds as long as calyx lobes (2–3 mm long x 1.5 mm wide).{{cite book |last1=Stace |first1=C.A. |title=New Flora of the British Isles |date=2019 |location=Suffolk |publisher=C & M Floristics |isbn=978-1-5272-2630-2}}

Nutlets strongly reticulate (10–12 mericarps, usually without hair, with sharp angle between dorsal and lateral surfaces, 5–6 mm in diameter.

Also called 'cheeses', the seeds are brown to brownish green when ripe, about 2.5 mm long and wide{{cite web |author=National Herbarium of New South Wales |title=Search PlantNET |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Malva~sylvestris |access-date=9 May 2008 |work=New South Wales FloraOnline |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney}} and 5 to 7 mm in diameter, and shaped like a cheese wheel.

M. sylvestris contains malvin and malonylmalvin.{{cite journal |last1=Takeda |first1=Kosaku |last2=Enoki |first2=Shigeki |last3=Harborne |first3=Jeffrey B. |last4=Eagles |first4=John |date=January 1989 |title=Malonated anthocyanins in malvaceae: Malonylmalvin from Malva sylvestris |journal=Phytochemistry |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=499–500 |bibcode=1989PChem..28..499T |doi=10.1016/0031-9422(89)80040-8}} It also contains the naphthoquinone malvone A, which is also a phytoalexin.{{cite journal |last1=Veshkurova |first1=Olga |last2=Golubenko |first2=Zamira |last3=Pshenichnov |first3=Egor |last4=Arzanova |first4=Irina |last5=Uzbekov |first5=Vyacheslav |last6=Sultanova |first6=Elvira |last7=Salikhov |first7=Shavkat |last8=Williams |first8=Howard J. |last9=Reibenspies |first9=Joseph H. |last10=Puckhaber |first10=Lorraine S. |date=November 2006 |title=Malvone A, a phytoalexin found in Malva sylvestris (family Malvaceae) |journal=Phytochemistry |volume=67 |issue=21 |pages=2376–2379 |bibcode=2006PChem..67.2376V |doi=10.1016/j.phytochem.2006.08.010 |pmid=16996095}}

Plants previously often described as Malva sylvestris var. malaca are now considered a cultivar group Malva sylvestris Mauritiana group.

Malva sylvestris spreads itself on waste and rough ground, by roads and railways throughout lowland England, Wales and Channel Islands, Siberia and scattered elsewhere. One of the major areas that grows in is northeast and central Iran. It is also found in North Africa{{cite web |author=Stewart Robert Hinsley |title=Malva sylvestris (section Malva, in part) |url=http://www.malvaceae.info/Genera/Malva/sylvestris.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703043112/http://www.malvaceae.info/Genera/Malva/sylvestris.php |archive-date=3 July 2013 |access-date=9 May 2008 |work=The Malva Pages}} and grows as a biennial in the Mediterranean; it grows as a perennial elsewhere. It has been introduced to and has become naturalised in eastern Australia, in the United States, Canada, and Mexico as an invasive species.

:Palearctic:

::Macaronesia: Azores, Madeira Islands

::Northern Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco

::Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia

::Western Asia: Afghanistan, Sinai, Iran, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey

::Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ciscaucasia, Dagestan, Georgia

::Soviet Middle Asia: Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

::Mongolia: Mongolia

::China: Xinjiang

::Indian Subcontinent: Bhutan, India, Pakistan

::Northern Europe: Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom

::Middle Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland

::East Europe: Belarus, Central Russia, Central Black Earth, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Northern Russia, North Caucasus, Northwestern Russia, Volga, Urals, Volga-Vyatka, Ukraine

::Southeastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Montenegro, Sardinia, Serbia, Sicily, Slovenia, Romania, Cyprus

::Southwestern Europe: Balearic Islands, Corsica, France, Portugal, Spain

Source: USDA ARS GRIN

File:MalopeTrifida1.jpg

It is often grown as an ornamental plant for its attractive flowers, produced for a long period through the summer. Numerous cultivars have been selected and named.

Cultivars of Malva sylvestris include: 'Annita', 'Aurora', 'Bardsey Blue', 'Blue Fountain', 'Brave Heart', 'Cottenham Blue', 'Gibbortello', 'Harry Hay', 'Highnam', 'Inky Stripe', 'Knockout', 'Magic Hollyhock', 'Mest', 'Mystic Merlin', 'Perry's Blue', 'Purple Satin', 'Richard Perry', 'Tournai', 'Windsor Castle', 'Zebrina' (soft lavender-purple striped with deep maroon veins)

[http://www.perennials.com/seeplant.html?item=1.350.200 Heritage Perennials: Malva sylvestris 'Zebrina']

and 'Zebrina Zebra Magis'.

File:Maria's Blue Eyes 01.jpg

{{unreferenced section|date=November 2018}}

• Malva sylvestris L. Mauritiana group: {{langx|sv|mauretansk rödmalva}}, {{langx|et|mauri kassinaeris}}, {{langx|sl|Mavretanski slezenovec}}, {{langx|hu|mórmályva}}. Malva mauritiana used to be recognized as a species whose range is Iberia, Italy and Algeria. Garden plants are often called Malva sylvestris var. mauritiana and they make a cultivar group that includes:

::'Bibor Felho'

::'Moravia'

• Malva sylvestris L. Eriocarpa group: Hairy seeds and hairy stems found between Italy and the Himalayas, Central Asia and China.
• Malva sylvestris L. Canescens group: Every part except for the flower is covered with dense white woolly hair, growing in the Montpellier region of France, and on the Balearic Isles. Some 19th-century botanical works called this group Malva sylvestris L. var. canescens.
• Malva sylvestris L. Sterile Blue group: Vegetatively propagated pale violet-blue flowered cultivars:

::Marina 'Dema'

::'Primley Blue'

::'Maria's Blue Eyes' (dark violet-blue flowered)

Malva vein clearing potyvirus which is transmitted by mechanical inoculation in a non-persistent manner via insects, such as Aphis umbrella (syn. Aphis malvae Koch) and Myzus persicae (all are Aphididae). The virus can be found in Tasmania, Brazil, the former Czechoslovakia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Portugal, California, Russia and the former Yugoslavia.{{cite web

| url = https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/ICTVdB/00.057.0.81.049.htm

| title = 00.057.0.81.049. Malva vein clearing virus

| access-date = 10 May 2008

| year = 2006

| work = ICTVdB Management

| publisher =Columbia University

}}{{cite web

|url = http://image.fs.uidaho.edu/vide/descr479.htm

|title = Descriptions and Lists from the VIDE Database: Malva vein clearing potyvirus

|access-date = 10 May 2008

|editor = Brunt, A.A.

|editor2 = Crabtree, K.

|editor3 = Dallwitz, M.J.

|editor4 = Gibbs, A.J.

|editor5 = Watson, L.

|editor6 = Zurcher, E.J.

|date = August 1996

|work = Plant Viruses Online

|publisher = University of Idaho

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080511215140/http://image.fs.uidaho.edu/vide/descr479.htm

|archive-date = 11 May 2008

|df = dmy-all

}}

File:Malva sylvestris - Köhler–s Medizinal-Pflanzen-222.jpgThe young leaves and shoots are edible raw or cooked. M. sylvestris has traditionally been used around the world as a wild food plant, from the Mediterranean{{Cite journal |last1=Barros |first1=Lillian |last2=Carvalho |first2=Ana Maria |last3=Ferreira |first3=Isabel C.F.R. |date=June 2010 |title=Leaves, flowers, immature fruits and leafy flowered stems of Malva sylvestris: A comparative study of the nutraceutical potential and composition |journal=Food and Chemical Toxicology |volume=48 |issue=6 |pages=1466–1472 |doi=10.1016/j.fct.2010.03.012 |pmid=20233600}} and Middle East, including Palestine{{Cite journal |last1=Ali-Shtayeh |first1=Mohammed S. |last2=Jamous |first2=Rana M. |last3=Al-Shafie' |first3=Jehan H. |last4=Elgharabah |first4=Wafa' A. |last5=Kherfan |first5=Fatemah A. |last6=Qarariah |first6=Kifayeh H. |last7=Khdair |first7=Isra' S. |last8=Soos |first8=Israa M. |last9=Musleh |first9=Aseel A. |last10=Isa |first10=Buthainah A. |last11=Herzallah |first11=Hanan M. |last12=Khlaif |first12=Rasha B. |last13=Aiash |first13=Samiah M. |last14=Swaiti |first14=Ghadah M. |last15=Abuzahra |first15=Muna A. |date=2008-05-12 |title=Traditional knowledge of wild edible plants used in Palestine (Northern West Bank): A comparative study |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=13 |doi=10.1186/1746-4269-4-13 |pmc=2396604 |pmid=18474107 |doi-access=free}} and Italy,{{Cite journal |last1=Guarrera |first1=P.M. |last2=Savo |first2=V. |date=June 2016 |title=Wild food plants used in traditional vegetable mixtures in Italy |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |volume=185 |pages=202–234 |doi=10.1016/j.jep.2016.02.050 |pmid=26944238}} to the Caucasus.{{cite book |last1=Batsatsashvili |first1=Ketevan |title=Ethnobotany of the Caucasus |last2=Mehdiyeva |first2=Naiba P. |last3=Fayvush |first3=George |last4=Kikvidze |first4=Zaal |last5=Khutsishvili |first5=Manana |last6=Maisaia |first6=Inesa |last7=Sikharulidze |first7=Shalva |last8=Tchelidze |first8=David |last9=Aleksanyan |first9=Alla |date=2017 |isbn=978-3-319-49411-1 |series=European Ethnobotany |pages=395–403 |chapter=Malva neglecta Wallr. Malva sylvestris L. Malvaceae |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-49412-8_115 |last10=Alizade |first10=Valida M. |last11=Zambrana |first11=Narel Y. Paniagua |last12=Bussmann |first12=Rainer W.}} In Morocco, Tunisia and Palestine, Malva leaves are steamed with garlic and tomatoes, and eaten as an appetizer or salad. In Egypt, the leaves are made into a stew-like vegetable dish, especially in winter, known as khobeiza, which is similar to Molokheia.{{Cite web |title=CVAR {{!}} Did You Know? Molokhia/Moloha |url=https://cvar.severis.org/en/explore/our-blog/did-you-know/did-you-know-molokhiamoloha/ |access-date=2024-03-07 |website=CVAR {{!}} Did You Know? Molokhia/Moloha |language=en}}{{Quote box

| quote = Mauve, n. F., mallow, L. malva. So named from the similarity of the color to that of the petals of common mallow, {Malva sylvestris}.

| source = Webster's Dictionary

| width = 21em

| align = right

}}

In 1931, Maud Grieve wrote that the "use of this species of Mallow has been much superseded by marsh-mallow (Althaea officinalis), which possesses its properties in a superior degree, but it is still a favorite remedy with country people where marsh-mallow is not obtainable." The flowers were spread on doorways and woven into garlands or chaplets for celebrating May Day. The boiled young leaves are a vegetable eaten in several parts of Europe in the 19th century.{{cite book |last=Hiley |first=John S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8v0BAAAAYAAJ |title=The Lancet, In Two Volumes |publisher=J. Onwhyn |year=1841 |editor=Thomas Wakley |editor-link=Thomas Wakley |edition=Volume The Second |chapter=On the medical botany of the province of Halifax |access-date=10 May 2008 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8v0BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA430}}

In traditional medicine, M. sylvestris has been used in herbalism. Mucilage is present in many of the family Malvaceae including M. sylvestris,{{cite book |last=Balfour |first=John Hutton |author-link=John Hutton Balfour |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAsAAAAAQAAJ |title=A manual of botany: being an introduction to the study of the structure, physiology, and classification of plants |publisher=Edinburgh: A & C Black |year=1863 |chapter=Products and Secretions of Plants |access-date=10 May 2008 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAsAAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA385}}{{cite book |last=Balfour |first=John Hutton |author-link=John Hutton Balfour |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAsAAAAAQAAJ |title=A manual of botany: being an introduction to the study of the structure, physiology, and classification of plants |publisher=Edinburgh: A & C Black |year=1863 |chapter=Malvaceae |access-date=10 May 2008 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAsAAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA1-PA385}} especially the fruit.{{cite book |last1=Dey |first1=Kanny Lall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3vgIAAAAIAAJ |title=The indigenous drugs of India: short descriptive notices of the principal medicinal products met with in British India |last2=Mair |first2=William |publisher=Thacker, Spink & Co. |year=1896 |pages=387 pages |chapter=Indigenous Drugs of India |access-date=10 May 2008 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3vgIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA180}} The seeds are used internally in a decoction or herbal tea as a demulcent, and the leaves may be used in poultices as an emollient for external applications.

The species has long been used as a natural yellow dye,{{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Liberty Hyde |author-link=Liberty Hyde Bailey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljiucRg4skwC |title=Cyclopedia of American agriculture: a popular survey of agricultural conditions, practices and ideals in the United States and Canada, In Four Volumes |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |year=1910 |series=Volume II --Crops |pages=2016 pages |chapter=Dyes and Dyeing. C.S. Doggert |access-date=10 May 2008 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljiucRg4skwC&pg=PA268}} and dyes of various yellow-green colors can be obtained from the plant and its seeds.{{cite web |title=Malva sylvestris L. |url=http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Malva+sylvestris |access-date=10 May 2008 |publisher=Plants for a Future}} A tincture of the flowers can make a sensitive test for alkalis. M. sylvestris has also been used for veterinary purposes.{{Cite journal |last1=Gasparetto |first1=João Cleverson |last2=Martins |first2=Cleverson Antônio Ferreira |last3=Hayashi |first3=Sirlei Sayomi |last4=Otuky |first4=Michel Fleith |last5=Pontarolo |first5=Roberto |date=2012-01-04 |title=Ethnobotanical and scientific aspects of Malva sylvestris L.: a millennial herbal medicine |journal=Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=172–189 |doi=10.1111/j.2042-7158.2011.01383.x |pmid=22221093 |s2cid=40277008}}

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 26.jpg|Standard upright, spreading form; flowers large but quite variable

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 03.jpg|Standard upright form; flowers large

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 02.jpg|Trampled or mown form, stays close to ground

File:Malva sylvestris in Edinburgh by David Merrick 22.jpg|Tall form (cultivated escapee)

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 15.jpg|Inflorescence top

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 17.jpg|Flowers generally large, bold coloured

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 25.jpg|May be lighter coloured

File:Common mallow closeup.jpg|Colour may be rather bold

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 09.jpg|Floral organs

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 08.jpg|Calyx 5-part, parts broad (narrow epicalyx also showing)

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 01.jpg|Epicalyx 3-part, parts narrow to moderately broad

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 06.jpg|Epicalyx 3-part, parts narrow to moderately broad

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 14.jpg|Inflorescence showing features above

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 07.jpg|Inflorescence top showing features above

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 13.jpg|Fruit immature, wrinkles starting to show, hairy form (var. eriocarpa)

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 05.jpg|Fruit wrinkled, hairless form

File:Malva sylvestris seeds.jpg|Fruit, hairless form

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 04.jpg|Hairs bulbous-based (may be less apparent)

File:Malva sylvestris in Edinburgh by David Merrick 23.jpg|Hairs of cultivated plant, very weak with bulbous bases not very conspicuous

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 11.jpg|Leaf upperside

File:Malva sylvestris in Antalya by David Merrick 10.jpg|Leaf underside

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Malva sylvestris|position=left}}
• {{Wikispecies-inline|Malva sylvestris|Malva sylvestris}}
• {{PFAF|Malva sylvestris}}
• {{Calflora}}
• {{CalPhotos|Malva|sylvestris}}
• {{UniProt Taxonomy

| name = Malva sylvestris

| id = 145754

| accessdate = 10 May 2008

}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q156835}}

{{Authority control}}

sylvestris

Category:Flora of Europe

Category:Flora of North Africa

Category:Flora of Western Asia

Category:Flora of Central Asia

Category:Flora of Macaronesia

Category:Flora of Finland

Category:Flora of Jordan

Category:Flora of Palestine (region)

Category:Demulcents

Category:Leaf vegetables

Category:Plant dyes

Category:Plants described in 1753

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Category:Garden plants of Africa

Category:Garden plants of Asia

Category:Garden plants of Europe