Malva parviflora |
Malva arborea |
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alkali mallow, cheeseweed, cheeseweed mallow, little mallow, mauve parviflore, small-flower mallow, small-whorl mallow |
tree mallow |
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Habit | Herbs, annual, 0.2–0.8 m. | Herbs, biennial or perennial, or subshrubs, 1–3 m, stellate-tomentose. |
Stems | usually erect or ascending, rarely decumbent, wide-branched, glabrous or sparsely stellate-hairy distally. |
erect, base usually woody. |
Leaves | stipules persistent, broadly lanceolate, 4–5 × 2–3 mm; petiole 2–3(–4) times as long as blade; blade suborbiculate-cordate or reniform, mostly shallowly 5–7-lobed or angled, 2–8(–10) × 2–8(–10) cm, base cordate (to nearly truncate), lobes deltate or rounded, margins evenly crenate, apex rounded to broadly acute, surfaces glabrous or hairy, especially at base, hairs simple and stellate. |
stipules deciduous, ovate, 4–5 × 2–3 mm, papery, apex acute to obtuse, sparsely stellate-hairy and ciliate; petiole longer than blade; blade rounded, shallowly and unequally 5–7(–9)-lobed (lobes obtuse), 5–20 × 5–20 cm, base cordate, margins crenate, apex obtuse to rounded, surfaces densely soft stellate-hairy especially abaxially. |
Inflorescences | axillary, flowers solitary or in 2–4-flowered fascicles. |
axillary, flowers in fascicles. |
Pedicels | 0.2–0.4 cm, usually to 1 cm in fruit, shorter than calyx; involucellar bractlets distinct, not adnate to calyx, linear to filiform, (1–)2–3 × 0.3 mm, shorter than calyx, margins entire, surfaces glabrous or slightly ciliate. |
jointed distally, 0.5–1 cm, not much longer in fruit; involucellar bractlets connate in proximal 1/3, adnate to calyx, lobes broadly ovate to round, 8 × 5–6 mm, longer than calyx, margins entire, apex acute or obtuse, surfaces stellate-hairy. |
Flowers | calyx 3–4.5 mm, to 7–8 mm in fruit, glabrous or stellate-hairy, lobes wide-spreading outward in fruit, orbiculate-deltate, reticulate-veined, apex often abruptly acuminate, short-ciliate or not, scarious in fruit; petals white to pale lilac, drying pinkish or whitish, or faded, veins not darker, 3–4.5(–5) mm, subequal to or only slightly longer than calyx, glabrous; staminal column 1.5 mm, glabrous; style 10- or 11-branched; stigmas 10 or 11. |
calyx 3–4 mm, not much enlarged in fruit, densely stellate-canescent; petals rose to lavender with 5 darker veins, dark purple basally, 15–20 mm, length 4–5 times calyx, apex emarginate; staminal column 8–10 mm, glabrous proximally, stellate-hairy distally; anthers purplish; style (6–)8(or 9)-branched; stigmas (6–)8(or 9). |
Seeds | 1.5–2 mm. |
dark brown, 3 mm. |
Schizocarps | 6–7 mm diam.; mericarps 10 or 11, 2–2.5 mm, apical face strongly reticulate-wrinkled, sides appearing strongly, radially ribbed, margins sharp-edged, toothed, narrowly winged, surface glabrous or hairy. |
8–10 mm diam.; mericarps (6–)8(or 9), 4–5 mm, margins sharp-angled, apical surface and sides ridged, surfaces glabrous or hairy. |
2n | = 42. |
= 36, 40, 42, 44. |
Malva parviflora |
Malva arborea |
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Phenology | Flowering year-round. | Flowering Apr–May(–Sep). |
Habitat | Disturbed, usually dry, warm sites | Disturbed areas, coastal bluffs, dunes |
Elevation | 0–2500 m (0–8200 ft) | 0–200 m (0–700 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; FL; GA; IA; ID; KS; LA; MA; MD; MO; MT; ND; NE; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OK; OR; SC; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; ON; PE; QC; SK; Eurasia (possibly as far east as India); n Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico, West Indies, Central America, South America, elsewhere in Africa, Pacific Islands, Australia]
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CA; OR; Europe; Pacific Islands (New Zealand); Australia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Mexico (Baja California), Africa (Libya), Atlantic Islands (Canary Islands)]
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Discussion | Malva parviflora is native in southwestern Europe and the Mediterranean region to India; it is commonly introduced in many parts of the world. It is distinguished from similar species by its short petals (often equaling the calyx), the lack of darker lines on the petals, and the wide-spreading calyx lobes in fruit. The sharp-edged or winged mericarp with a conspicuously reticulate-pitted surface is likewise distinctive. Malva parviflora is more heat-tolerant than most Malva species. It is especially common as a weed from California to Texas. Northern records should be checked because some may be based upon waifs and others may be based on misidentifications. In some older floras, M. parviflora was confused with M. rotundifolia, a name rejected because of its inconsistent use for this as well as for M. pusilla and other species. It is sometimes cultivated as a forage crop in semi-arid regions. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Malva arborea is infrequently cultivated as a garden ornamental. It is traditionally placed in Lavatera and has three prominent, spreading, rounded, earlike involucellar bractlets and inconspicuous sepals. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 291. | FNA vol. 6, p. 288. |
Parent taxa | Malvaceae > subfam. Malvoideae > Malva | Malvaceae > subfam. Malvoideae > Malva |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Lavatera arborea | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Demonstr. Pl., 18. (1753) | (Linnaeus) Webb & Berthelot: Hist. Nat. Îles Canaries 3(2,1): 30. (1836) |
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