Malva pusilla Sm.

Low mallow (en), Mauve à petites feuilles (fr), Mauve fluette (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Malvales > Malvaceae > Malva

Characteristics

Herbs, usually annual, rarely biennial or perennial, 0.2–0.6 m, trailing stems sometimes to 1 m, sparsely hairy, hairs usually simple and stellate. Stems trailing to ascending, hairs usually both simple and stellate. Leaves: stipules persistent, narrowly to ovate-triangular, 3–5(–6) × 2–3 mm; petiole on proximal and midstem leaves to 3 times as long as blade, usually 2 times longer on distal leaves, sparsely hairy, hairs simple and stellate; blade cordate to broadly reniform, unlobed or broadly and very shallowly 5-lobed, 1–5 × 1–5 cm, base cordate, margins finely crenate or dentate, apex rounded, surfaces glabrous or sparsely stellate-hairy. Inflorescences axillary, flowers solitary or in 2–10-flowered fascicles (compact cymes), obviously stalked. Pedicels 0.4–0.5 cm, to 1–2.4 cm in fruit, slender and flexible, sparsely hairy, hairs simple and stellate; involucellar bractlets distinct, not adnate to calyx, linear to lanceolate, 3–4 × 0.5 mm, shorter than calyx, margins entire, surfaces sparsely ciliate and stellate-puberulent. Flowers: calyx 3–5 mm, 5–6 mm in fruit, lobes incompletely enclosing mericarps, mostly hispid, hairs both simple and stellate, conspicuously long-ciliate, lobes not obviously veined; petals pale pink or nearly white, drying pinkish or whitish, or faded, veins not darker, 3–6 mm, subequal to slightly longer than calyx; staminal column 1–1.5 mm, glabrous; style 10-or 11-branched; stigmas 10 or 11. Schizocarps 5–7 mm diam.; mericarps 10 or 11, 1.5–2 mm, margins sharply angled, toothed, not winged, lateral faces radially veined, apical surface strongly rugose-reticulate ridged, surface glabrate or sparsely stellate-puberulent. Seeds 1–1.5 mm. 2n = 42.
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Herbs perennial, usually procumbent, many branched, 20-50 cm tall, scabrous. Stipule small, ovate-lanceolate, 4-6 × 2-3 mm; petiole 3-12 cm, stellate velutinous; leaf blade reniform, rarely 5-7-lobed, 1-3 × 1-4 cm, papery, abaxially sparsely stellate puberulent, adaxially sparsely velutinous, base cordate, margin minutely denticulate, apex rounded. Flowers usually 3-4-fascicled, axillary, rarely solitary on stem. Pedicel 2-5 cm, sparsely stellate puberulent. Epicalyx lobes lanceolate, 2-5 × 1-1.5 mm, stellate puberulent. Calyx campanulate, 5-6 mm, stellate puberulent, 5-lobed, lobes triangularly acuminate. Corolla white to pinkish, 10-12 mm in diam.; petals obcordate, 9-15 × 3-5 mm, apex notched; claw bearded. Filament tube stellate puberulent. Style branches 13-15. Fruit flat globose, 5-6 mm in diam.; mericarps 12-15, abaxially smooth, angles rounded, puberulent. Seeds reniform, ca. 1 mm in diam., reticulate or not. Fl. summer.
Annual, occasionally perennial herb, stems ± 0.25 m long; taproots deep, strong. Leaves relatively small, reniform, undivided to shallowly lobed. Flowers axillary, solitary or in few-flowered clusters, white. Epicalyx of 3 free, linear-lanceolate bracts. Flowering time Oct.-Feb. Fruit flattened, discoid schizocarps, surrounded by enlarged calyces. Mericarps 9 or 10, 1-seeded, glabrous, rugose; edges of mature mericarps slightly raised but neither toothed nor overlapping adjoining mericarps. Seeds reniform, dark brown, minutely tuberculate.
Herb, up to 200 mm tall. Leaves undivided to very shallowly lobed. Epicalyx bracts much narrower than sepals. Petals shorter than 15 mm, usually not more than twice as long as calyx. Mericarps 9-16, distinctly reticulately ridged on back, glabrous, edges often slightly raised but neither toothed nor overlapping adjoining mericarps. Flowers white or pale mauve.
A herb. It can grow each year from seeds or keep growing for 2 years. It has long tough taproots. The stems can be 50 cm long. The leaves are alternate along the stem. They are an oval shaped and have teeth along the edge. The flowers have 5 petals and are white or pink. There are 8-10 seeds for each flower.
Annual, occasionally perennial herb. Stems decumbent, up to 0.5 m long. Leaves undivided to very shallowly lobed, ± 20 x 25 mm. Flowers: petals < 15 mm long, usually not > twice as long as calyx. Fruit with mericarps usually glabrous.
Life form annual
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread barochory
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.25 - 0.3
Root system tap-root
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A cosmopolitan weed, growing in waste places, foreshores, rubbish dumps, gardens, cultivated fields, orchards etc. Grassy slopes and open areas.
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A cosmopolitan weed, growing in waste places, foreshores, rubbish dumps, gardens, cultivated fields, orchards etc. Grassy slopes and open areas.
It is a temperate climate plant. It grows in grassland. It is best in moist fertile soil and in a sunny position. In Sichuan and Yunnan.
Light 4-9
Soil humidity 3-6
Soil texture 3-7
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 5-8

Usage

The young fruit are eaten raw. The leaves are used in soups and salads.
Uses dye medicinal oil
Edible fruits leaves nectars seeds stems
Therapeutic use Abscess (unspecified), Bronchitis (unspecified), Demulcent (unspecified), Emollient (unspecified), Lubricative (unspecified), Ophthalmia (unspecified), Piles (unspecified), Sore(Throat) (unspecified), Tumor (unspecified), Bladder (unspecified), Cough (unspecified), Emmenagogue (unspecified), Glycosuria (unspecified), Stomach (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seeds. Seeds need a temperature of 15-20°C to germinate.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) 5 - 21
Germination temperacture (C°) 21
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -15
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Malva pusilla habit picture by Caw Vus (cc-by-sa)
Malva pusilla habit picture by Robin Titz (cc-by-sa)
Malva pusilla habit picture by Estelle Ferazzoli (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Malva pusilla leaf picture by Nancy Setzer (cc-by-sa)
Malva pusilla leaf picture by Georg M. (cc-by-sa)
Malva pusilla leaf picture by arieal jenkins (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Malva pusilla flower picture by Holly Anderson (cc-by-sa)
Malva pusilla flower picture by Jüllig Caroline (cc-by-sa)
Malva pusilla flower picture by Nancy Setzer (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Malva pusilla fruit picture by karabıcak serhat (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Malva pusilla world distribution map, present in Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Canada, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Ecuador, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Georgia, Croatia, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Lesotho, Lithuania, Latvia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Mongolia, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Korea (Democratic People's Republic of), Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Chad, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine, United States of America, Uzbekistan, and South Africa

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:561868-1
WFO ID wfo-0000449525
COL ID 3XRBH
BDTFX ID 40877
INPN ID 107303
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Malva henningii Malva crenata Malva rotundifolia Malva repens Malva pseudoborealis Althaea borealis Malva lignescens Malva borealis Malva bracteata Malva pusilla