Malva sylvestris

''Malva sylvestris'' is a species of the mallow genus '' Malva'' in the family of Malvaceae and is considered to be the type species for the genus. Known as common mallow to English-speaking Europeans,
it acquired the common names of cheeses, high mallow and tall mallow (mauve des bois by the French)
as it migrated from its native home in Western Europe, North Africa and Asia through the English-speaking world.

''M. sylvestris'' is a vigorous plant with showy flowers of bright mauve-purple, with dark veins, standing high and growing freely in meadows, hedgerows and in fallow fields.

Common names

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).

Description

One of the major areas which Malva Sylvestris grow is north east and central of Iran . Also in North Africa,
biennial in the Mediterranean and a perennial elsewhere. It can be straight or decumbent, branched, and covered with fine soft hairs or none at all, ''M. sylvestris'' is pleasing in appearance when it first starts to flower, but as the summer advances, "the leaves lose their deep green color and the stems assume a ragged appearance".

Leaves

The leaves are borne upon the stem, are roundish, with numerous lobes, each long, broad and in diameter. The leaves have hairs radiating from a common center, with prominent veins on the underside.

Flowers

Described as reddish-purple, bright pinkish-purple with dark stripes and bright mauve-purple, the flowers of ''Malva sylvestris'' appear in axillary clusters of 2 to 4 and form irregularly and elongated along the main stem with the flowers at the base opening first.

''M. sylvestris'' has an epicalyx (or false calyx) with oblong segments, two-thirds as long as calyx or 2–3 millimeters long and 1.5 millimeters wide. Its calyx is free to the middle, 3–6 millimeters long, with broadly triangular lobes or ovate mostly 5–7 millimeters long. The flowers are 2–4 times as long as the calyx;

Fruits

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

Seeds

Also called 'cheeses,' seeds are brown to brownish green when ripe, about 2.5 millimeters long and wide 5 to 7 millimeters in diameter and are shaped like a cheese wheel.

Distribution

''Malva sylvestris'' spreads itself on waste and rough ground, by roads and railways throughout lowland England, Wales and Channel Islands, Siberia and scattered elsewhere. It has been introduced to and has become naturalised in eastern Australia, in the United States, Canada, and Mexico as an invasive species.

In the wild

:Palearctic:
::Macaronesia: Azores, Madeira Islands
::Northern Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco
::Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia
::Western Asia: Afghanistan, Sinai, Iran, Israel, 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

Uses

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.

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.

In traditional medicine, ''M. sylvestris'' has been used in herbalism. Mucilage is present in many of the family Malvaceae including ''M. sylvestris'', especially the fruit. 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, but dyes of various yellow-green colors can be obtained from the plant and its seeds. A tincture of the flowers can make a sensitive test for alkalis.

Subspecies

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

Cultivation

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)

and 'Zebrina Zebra Magis'.

Cultivar groups

*''Malva sylvestris'' L. Mauritiana group: sv, mauretansk rödmalva, et, mauri kassinaeris, sl, Mavretanski slezenovec, 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)

Virus

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.

Chemistry

''M. sylvestris'' contains malvin and malonylmalvin. It also contains the naphthoquinone malvone A, which is also a phytoalexin.Malvone A, a phytoalexin found in Malva sylvestris (family Malvaceae).Olga Veshkurova, Zamira Golubenko, Egor Pshenichnov, Irina Arzanova, Vyacheslav Uzbekov, Elvira Sultanova, Shavkat Salikhov, Howard J. Williams, Joseph H. Reibenspies, Lorraine S. Puckhaber and Robert D. Stipanovic, Phytochemistry, November 2006, Volume 67, Issue 21, pp. 2376–2379,

Gallery

File:Sylvestris seed illustration.png, Fruit
File:Malva sylvestris seeds.jpg, Ripe nutlets
File:Firebug on fruit of Malva sylvestris.jpg, Firebug on fruit of ''Malva sylvestris''
File:CommonMallowFlower.jpg, A flower of a common mallow
File:Common mallow closeup.jpg, alt=Common mallow closeup, Common mallow closeup
File:Malva sylvestris, violet hue.jpg, Mallow with natural violet hue

References

External links

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{{Authority control

sylvestris
Flora of Europe
Flora of North Africa
Flora of Western Asia
Flora of Central Asia
Flora of Macaronesia
Flora of Finland
Flora of Jordan
Flora of Palestine (region)
Demulcents
Leaf vegetables
Plant dyes
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Garden plants of Africa
Garden plants of Asia
Garden plants of Europe