Malva × Clementii
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Malva'' is a
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...
annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...
,
biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and t ...
, and
perennial plant In horticulture, the term perennial (''wikt:per-#Prefix, per-'' + ''wikt:-ennial#Suffix, -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annual plant, annuals and biennial plant, biennials. It has thus been d ...
s in the family
Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...
. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the
temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
,
subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...
and
tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
regions of Africa, Asia and Europe. The leaves are alternate, palmately lobed. The flowers are from 0.5–5 cm diameter, with five pink, lilac, purple or white petals.


Etymology

The word "mallow" is derived from
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
"mealwe", which was imported from
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
"malva",
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
with
Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
μαλάχη (malakhē) meaning "mallow", both perhaps reflecting a Mediterranean term. which has a purple colour; ultimately of Semitic origin. In 1859, the colour
mauve Mauve ( ; ) is a pale purple color named after the mallow flower (French: ). The first use of the word ''mauve'' as a color was in 1796–1798 according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', but its use seems to have been rare before 1859. ...
was named after the
French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...
name for this plant.


Uses


Ornamental plant

Several species are widely grown as garden flowers. Very easily grown, short-lived perennials are often grown as
ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...
s.


Food

Many species are edible as
leaf vegetable Leaf vegetables, also called leafy greens, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by their petioles and shoots, if tender. Leaf vegetables eaten raw in a salad can be called salad gre ...
s and commonly foraged. Known as ''ebegümeci'' in Turkish, it is used as vegetable in Turkey in various forms such as stuffing the leaves with bulgur or rice or using the boiled leaves as side dish. ''Malva verticillata'' (,
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...
: ''auk'') is grown on a limited commercial scale in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
; when made as a herbal infusion, it is used for its colon cleansing properties and as a weight loss supplement. In the
Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...
, ''
Malva nicaeensis ''Malva nicaeensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names bull mallow and French mallow. It grows up to tall, producing pinkish flowers. It grows in the Middle East, where it has variously served as foo ...
'' leaves and fruit are used as food (e.g., khubeza patties, stuffed mallow, or as a
stew A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been Cooking, cooked in Soup, liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for ...
), it is especially popular in areas with scarce food such as the
Gaza strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
. In
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
, mallow is traditionally consumed in a variety of dishes, typically with
couscous Couscous () is a traditional North African dish a quote: “Couscous or seksu (Image 1) in Berber language or kuskus in Arabic is by origin a Numidian (the Berber population of Numidia) dish…” of small steamed granules of rolled semolina ...
. Mild tasting, young mallow leaves can be a substitute for
lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiche ...
, whereas older leaves are better cooked as a leafy green vegetable. The buds and flowers can be used in salads. Small fruits that grow on the plants can also be eaten raw. Bodos of Northeast India cultivate a subspecies of ''Malva'' called lapha and use it extensively in their traditional cuisine, although its use is not much known among other people of India except in the northern Indian state of Kashmir where ''Malva'' leaves are a highly cherished vegetable dish called "Soachal".


Medical use

In
Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
(Spain) they use the leaves to cure the sting or
paresthesia Paresthesia is a sensation of the skin that may feel like numbness (''hypoesthesia''), tingling, pricking, chilling, or burning. It can be temporary or Chronic condition, chronic and has many possible underlying causes. Paresthesia is usually p ...
of the stinging nettle (''
Urtica dioica ''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Or ...
''). Leaves of various species ''Malva'' have been used in traditional Austrian medicine internally as tea or externally as baths for treatment of disorders of the skin, gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract. The leaves can also be chewed to soothe coughs or sore throats.


Cultivation

Cultivation is by sowing the seeds directly outdoors in early spring. The seed is easy to collect, and they will often spread themselves by seed. Some ''Malva'' species are invasive weeds, particularly in the Americas where, excluding those species native to Baja California and California, most were introduced.


History

The third century BC physician Diphilus of Siphnus wrote that "
allow Allow may refer to: * River Allow, river in Ireland *Allow, a low-carbon aluminium brand by Rusal *"Allow", a directive in robots exclusion standard *"Allow", a song on the 2016 album ''Bad Hair Extensions ''Bad Hair'' is the debut studio al ...
juice lubricates the windpipe, nourishes, and is easily digested."
Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...
mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: "Me pascunt olivae, / me cichorea levesque malvae" ("As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance").
Lord Monboddo James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (baptised 25 October 1714 – 26 May 1799) was a Scottish judge, scholar of linguistic evolution, philosopher and deist. He is most famous today as a founder of modern comparative historical linguistics. In 1767, h ...
describes his translation of an ancient
epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word derives from the Greek (, "inscription", from [], "to write on, to inscribe"). This literary device has been practiced for over two millennia ...
that demonstrates ''Malva'' was planted upon the graves of the ancients, stemming from the belief that the dead could feed on such perfect plants.Letter from Monboddo to John Hope, 29 April 1779; reprinted by William Knight 1900 .


Species

The following 61 species are accepted: *'' Malva acerifolia'' (Cav.) Alef. *'' Malva × adulterina'' Wallr. *'' Malva aegyptia'' L. *'' Malva aethiopica'' C.J.S.Davis *'' Malva agrigentina'' (Tineo) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso *'' Malva alcea'' L. – greater musk-mallow, vervain mallow *''
Malva arborea ''Malva arborea'' (previously known as ''Lavatera arborea'', or, more recently as ''Malva eriocalyx''), the tree mallow, is a species of mallow native to the coasts of western Europe and the Mediterranean region, from Ireland and Britain south t ...
'' (L.) Webb & Berthel. *''
Malva × arbosii ''Malva'' is a genus of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the tempe ...
'' Sennen *'' Malva assurgentiflora'' (Kellogg) M.F.Ray – island mallow, mission mallow, royal mallow, island tree mallow *'' Malva bucharica'' Iljin *''
Malva cachemiriana ''Malva'' is a genus of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the temper ...
'' (Cambess.) Alef. *'' Malva cavanillesiana'' Raizada *'' Malva × clementii'' (Cheek) Stace *'' Malva × columbretensis'' (Juan & M.B.Crespo) Juan & M.B.Crespo *'' Malva cretica'' Cav. *'' Malva durieui'' Spach *'' Malva × egarensis'' Cadevall *'' Malva flava'' (Desf.) Alef. *'' Malva hispanica'' L. *''
Malva × inodora ''Malva'' is a genus of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the tempe ...
'' Ponert *''
Malva × intermedia ''Malva'' is a genus of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the tempe ...
'' Boreau *'' Malva leonardii'' I.Riedl *'' Malva lindsayi'' (Moran) M.F.Ray *'' Malva × litoralis'' Dethard. ex Rchb. *'' Malva longiflora'' (Boiss. & Reut.) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso *'' Malva ludwigii'' (L.) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso *'' Malva lusitanica'' (L.) Valdés *'' Malva maroccana'' (Batt. & Trab.) Verloove & Lambinon *'' Malva microphylla'' (Baker f.) Molero & J.M.Monts. *''
Malva moschata ''Malva moschata'', the musk mallow or musk-mallow, is a species of flowering plant in the family (botany), family Malvaceae, native to Europe and southwestern Asia, from Spain north to the British Isles and Poland, and east to southern Russia an ...
'' L. – musk-mallow *'' Malva multiflora'' (Cav.) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso *''
Malva neglecta ''Malva neglecta'' is a species of plant of the family Malvaceae, native to most of the Old World except sub-Saharan Africa. It is an annual growing to 0.6 m (2 ft). It is known as common mallow in the United States and also as buttonw ...
'' Wallr. – dwarf mallow, buttonweed, cheeseplant, cheeseweed, common mallow, roundleaf mallow *''
Malva nicaeensis ''Malva nicaeensis'' is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names bull mallow and French mallow. It grows up to tall, producing pinkish flowers. It grows in the Middle East, where it has variously served as foo ...
'' All. – French mallow, bull mallow *'' Malva oblongifolia'' (Boiss.) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso *'' Malva occidentalis'' (S.Watson) M.F.Ray *'' Malva olbia'' (L.) Alef. *'' Malva oxyloba'' Boiss. *'' Malva pacifica'' M.F.Ray *'' Malva pamiroalaica'' Iljin *''
Malva parviflora ''Malva parviflora'' is an annual or perennial herb that is native to Northern Africa, Southern Europe, and Western and Central Asia and is widely naturalized elsewhere. Common names include cheeseweed, cheeseweed mallow, Egyptian mallow, least ...
'' L. – least mallow, cheeseweed, cheeseweed mallow, small-whorl mallow *'' Malva phoenicea'' (Vent.) Alef. *'' Malva preissiana'' Miq. – Australian hollyhock *'' Malva punctata'' (All.) Alef. *'' Malva pusilla'' Sm. – small mallow *'' Malva qaiseri'' Abedin *'' Malva setigera'' K.F.Schimp. & Spenn. *'' Malva stenopetala'' (Coss. & Durieu ex Batt.) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso *'' Malva stipulacea'' Cav. *'' Malva subovata'' (DC.) Molero & J.M.Monts. *''
Malva sylvestris ''Malva sylvestris'' is a species of the mallow genus ''Malva'', of which it the type species. 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 Fre ...
'' L. – common mallow, high mallow *''
Malva × tetuanensis ''Malva'' is a genus of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae. It is one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the tempe ...
'' Pau *'' Malva thuringiaca'' (L.) Vis. *''
Malva tournefortiana ''Malva tournefortiana'', the pyrenees mallow, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae, native to Morocco, Portugal, Spain and France. A hexaploid Polyploidy is a condition in which the cells of an organism have more than two ...
'' L. *'' Malva trimestris'' (L.) Salisb. *'' Malva unguiculata'' (Desf.) Alef. *'' Malva valdesii'' (Molero & J.M.Monts.) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso *''
Malva verticillata ''Malva verticillata'', also known as the Chinese mallow or cluster mallow, is a species of the mallow genus ''Malva'' in the family of Malvaceae found in East Asia from Pakistan to China. ''M. verticillata'' is an annual or biennial that grow u ...
'' L. – Chinese mallow, cluster mallow *'' Malva vidalii'' (Pau) Molero & J.M.Monts. *'' Malva waziristanensis'' Blatt. *'' Malva weinmanniana'' (Besser ex Rchb.) Conran *'' Malva xizangensis'' Y.S.Ye, L.Fu & D.X.Duan


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Malvaceae genera