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 3-4 ft 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

Common mallow is a herbaceous perennial with an erect or decumbent branched stem up to 1 m (sometimes 1.5 m) long. 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 20 cm 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. 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 20 mm 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).

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 and habitat

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 Malva sylvestris grows is northeast and central Iran. It is also found in North Africa, grows as a biennial in the Mediterranean and 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.

In the wild

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. M. sylvestris has traditionally been used around the world as a wild food plant, from the Mediterranean and Middle East, including Palestine and Italy, to the Caucasus. 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, and 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. M. sylvestris has also been used for veterinary purposes.

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

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.

Botanical gallery