Malva | |
---|---|
Malva sylvestris | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Malvales |
Family: | Malvaceae |
Subfamily: | Malvoideae |
Tribe: | Malveae |
Genus: | Malva L. [1] |
Type species | |
M. sylvestris [2] | |
Species | |
Synonyms [3] | |
|
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 temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Europe. [3]
The leaves are alternate, palmately lobed. The flowers are from 0.5–5 cm diameter, with five pink, lilac, purple or white petals.
The word "mallow" is derived from Old English "mealwe", which was imported from Latin "malva", cognate with Ancient Greek μαλάχη (malakhē) meaning "mallow", both perhaps reflecting a Mediterranean term. [4]
In 1859, the colour mauve was named after the French name for this plant.
Several species are widely grown as garden flowers.[ citation needed ] Very easily grown, short-lived perennials are often grown as ornamental plants. [5]
Many species are edible as leaf vegetables [5] and commonly foraged. Known as ebegümeci in Turkish, it[ which? ] 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 (Chinese :冬寒菜; pinyin :dōngháncài, Korean: 아욱auk) is grown on a limited commercial scale in China; when made as a herbal infusion, it is used for its colon cleansing properties and as a weight loss supplement.[ citation needed ]
In the Levant, Malva nicaeensis leaves and fruit are used as food (e.g., khubeza patties).
Mild tasting, young mallow leaves[ which? ] can be a substitute for lettuce, 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. [5]
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".[ citation needed ]
In Catalonia (Spain) they use the leaves to cure the sting or paresthesia of the stinging nettle ( Urtica dioica ).
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. [6] The leaves can also be chewed to soothe coughs or sore throats. [5]
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 they are not native. [3]
.]]
The third century BC physician Diphilus of Siphnus wrote that "[mallow] juice lubricates the windpipe, nourishes, and is easily digested." [7] Horace 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"). [8] Lord Monboddo describes his translation of an ancient epigram that demonstrates Malva was planted upon the graves of the ancients, stemming from the belief that the dead could feed on such perfect plants. [9]
The following 61 species are accepted: [3]
Linaria is a genus of almost 200 species of flowering plants, one of several related groups commonly called toadflax. They are annuals and herbaceous perennials, and the largest genus in the Antirrhineae tribe of the plantain family Plantaginaceae.
Alcea is a genus of over 80 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, commonly known as the hollyhocks. They are native to Asia and Europe. The single species of hollyhock from the Americas, the streambank wild hollyhock, belongs to a different genus.
Reseda, also known as the mignonette, is a genus of fragrant herbaceous plants native to Europe, southwest Asia and North Africa, from the Canary Islands and Iberia east to northwest India.
Phlomis is a genus of over 100 species of herbaceous plants, subshrubs and shrubs in the mint family Lamiaceae, native from the Mediterranean region east across central Asia to China.
Lolium is a genus of tufted grasses in the bluegrass subfamily (Pooideae). It is often called ryegrass, but this term is sometimes used to refer to grasses in other genera.
Helianthemum, known as rock rose, sunrose, rushrose, or frostweed, is a genus of about 110 species of flowering plants in the family Cistaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, especially in the Mediterranean.
Erodium is a genus of flowering plants in the botanical family Geraniaceae. The genus includes about 120 species with a subcosmopolitan distribution, native to Europe, North Africa, Asia, Australia, and more locally in North and South America. They are perennials, annuals, or subshrubs, with five-petalled flowers in shades of white, pink, and purple, that strongly resemble the better-known Geranium (crane's-bills). In English-speaking areas of Europe, the species are known as stork's-bills. In North America they are known as filarees or heron's bill.
Malva acerifolia, also frequently known under the synonyms Lavatera acerifolia or Malva canariensis is a shrub endemic to the Canary Islands, belonging to the family Malvaceae.
Achnatherum is a genus of flowering plants in the grass family, Poaceae. It includes 20 species of needlegrass native to temperate Eurasia and North Africa. Several needlegrass species have been switched between Achnatherum and genus Stipa; taxonomy between the two closely related genera is still uncertain. In 2019 Peterson et al. reorganized the genera in tribe Stipeae based on molecular DNA studies, and placed the species from the Americas into other genera.
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 as it migrated from its native home in Western Europe, North Africa and Asia through the English-speaking world.
Salsola is a genus of the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus sensu stricto is distributed in Australia, central and southwestern Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. Common names of various members of this genus and related genera are saltwort and tumbleweed or roly-poly. The genus name Salsola is from the Latin salsus, meaning 'salty'.
Eruca is a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, which includes the leaf vegetable known as arugula or rocket.
Malva parviflora is an annual or perennial herb that is native to Northern Africa, Southern Europe, and Western and Central Asia and is widely naturalised elsewhere. Common names include cheeseweed, cheeseweed mallow, Egyptian mallow, least mallow, little mallow, mallow, marshmallow, small-flowered mallow, small-flowered marshmallow, Nafa Shak, and smallflower mallow.
Malva multiflora is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Cornish mallow and Cretan hollyhock. It is native to western Europe, North Africa, and the Mediterranean Basin, and it is naturalized in areas with a Mediterranean climate, such as parts of Australia, South Africa, and California. This is an annual or biennial herb growing a tough, somewhat hairy stem to a maximum height between 1 and 3 meters. The leaves are multilobed with flat or wavy edges, slightly hairy, and up to 10 centimeters long. The plant bears small pink or light purple flowers with petals just over a centimeter long. The fruit is disc-shaped with 7 to 10 segments.
Chaenorhinum is a genus of flowering plants. It includes 27 species of annual and perennial herbs native to the Mediterranean Basin, Europe, and western Asia to the western Himalayas. They thrive in dry stony areas and scree. They are closely related to snapdragons. The leaves are linear to oblong or rounded, opposite at the base. The flowers resemble snapdragons, being typically zygomorphic, hooded, lobed and spurred. They are borne in terminal racemes or singly in the leaf axils of the branching stems.
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 up to 1.7 meters in high and can inhabit woodland areas of different soil types. The small, symmetrical flowers have five white, pink or red petals (0.8 cm) and thirteen or more stamens. Each flower has three narrow epicalyx bracts. The fruit is a dry, hairless nutlet. The leaves are simple and alternate.
Malva ludwigii is a widespread species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It is native to northern Africa, the Middle East, central Asia, and India, and disjunctly to Namibia and South Africa. A desert-adapted annual, it is also somewhat weedy, being found in cultivated land and on roadsides.