Malva parviflora |
Malva moschata |
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cheeseweed, alkali mallow, small-whorl mallow |
musk mallow |
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Habit | Prostrate or spreading, annual or biennial herbs, the stems 2-6 dm. long, puberulent. | Perennial herb, glabrous or with purple-based hairs, the stems 3-6 dm. tall. |
Leaves | Leaves palmately veined, with petioles up to twice as long as the blades; leaf blades cordate-reniform, 2-5 cm. long and slightly broader, shallowly 5-7 lobed, with fine teeth. |
Leaves palmately veined, long-petiolate, with stipules 4-7 mm. long, oblong; blades of the basal leaves cordate-reniform, shallowly lobed or with rounded teeth; blades of the upper cauline leaves cleft to the base into 5 lobes, and these dissected into linear segments. |
Flowers | Flowers in small clusters in the leaf axils, on long pedicels to sessile, white to pale lavender; calyx shallowly 5-lobed, about equaling the corolla; petals 5, clawed; filaments fused into a tube, the stamens freed from the tube single or in pairs; style branches stigmatic most of their length, not capitate; ovary superior, the carpels in a ring around a central axis. |
Flowers usually single in the leaf axils, white to deep pink, 4-5 cm. broad; calyx deeply divided, with 5 narrow sepals and 3 bracteoles, petals 5, obcordate, with a wedge-shaped base; filaments fused into a tube, the stamens freed from the tube single or in pairs; style branches 10-15, equal in number to the carpels, stigmatic most of their length, not capitate; ovary superior, the carpels in a ring around a central axis. |
Fruits | Carpels flattened and strongly cross-corrugated on the back. |
Carpels densely hairy on the back, separating at maturity. |
Malva parviflora |
Malva moschata |
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Flowering time | March-August | May-July |
Habitat | Roadsides, forest edge, fields, ditches, wastelots, and other disturbed open areas. | Roadsides, fields, and wastelots, where escaping from cultivation. |
Distribution | Occurring west of the Cascades crest in lowland western Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Great Plains, also in southeastern and northeastern North America.
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Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Montana and Wyoming, also in eastern North America.
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Origin | Introduced from Eurpoe | Introduced from Europe |
Conservation status | Not of concern | Not of concern |
Sibling taxa | ||
Web links |
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