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 okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ornamentals, such as Alcea (hollyhock), Malva (mallow), and Tilia. The largest genera in terms of number of species include Hibiscus, Sterculia, Dombeya, Pavonia and Sida.
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.
Malva moschata, the musk mallow or musk-mallow, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae, native to Europe and southwestern Asia, from Spain north to the British Isles and Poland, and east to southern Russia and Turkey. Growing to 60 cm (24 in) tall, it is a herbaceous perennial with hairy stems and foliage, and pink saucer-shaped flowers in summer.
Malvoideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, which includes in the minimum the genus Malva. It was first used by Burnett in 1835, but was not much used until recently, where, within the framework of the APG System, which unites the families Malvaceae, Bombacaceae, Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae of the Cronquist system, the aggregate family Malvaceae is divided into 9 subfamilies, including Malvoideae. The Malvoideae of Kubitzki and Bayer includes 4 tribes:
Malva phoenicea, often still known under the synonyms Lavatera phoenicea and Navaea phoenicea, is a large shrub of the family Malvaceae and tribe Malveae, endemic to the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
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.
Malva alcea is a plant in the mallow family native to southwestern, central and eastern Europe and southwestern Asia, from Spain north to southern Sweden and east to Russia and Turkey.
Malva thuringiaca, the garden tree-mallow, is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family Malvaceae, native to eastern Europe and southwestern Asia, from southern Germany south to Italy, and east to southern Russia, Kazakhstan, and Turkey.
Malva arborea, the tree mallow, is a species of mallow native to the coasts of western Europe and the Mediterranean region, from Ireland and Britain south to Algeria and Libya, and east to Greece.
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.
Malva preissiana, the Australian hollyhock or native hollyhock, is a herbaceous perennial in the family Malvaceae, found in all Australian states.
Malva vein clearing virus also known as MVCV is a species of Potyvirus in the family Potyviridae that was isolated in 1957 from Malva sylvestris in Germany which is transmitted by the aphids Aphis umbrella and Myzus persicae. The insects mechanically inoculate the malvaceous hosts.
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.
Malveae is a tribe of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, subfamily Malvoideae. The tribe circumscribes approximately 70 genera and 1040 species and has the greatest species diversity out the three tribes that make up Malvoideae. The flowers of Malveae are five-merous with a characteristic staminal column, a trait found throughout Malvoideae. Although there are not many economically important species within Malveae, the tribe includes Althaea officinalis, otherwise known as the marsh-mallow.
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 13 or more stamens. Each flower has 3 narrow epicalyx bracts. The fruit is a dry, hairless nutlet. The leaves are simple and alternate.
Malva pusilla, also known as Malva rotundifolia, the low mallow, small mallow, or the round-leaved mallow, is an annual and biennial herb species of the Mallow genus Malva in the family of Malvaceae. Malva is a genus that consists of about 30 species of plants. This genus consists of plants named mallows. Mallows grow in many regions, including temperate, subtropical, and tropical areas.
Malva subovata, the tree mallow, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae, native to the shores of the western and central Mediterranean. As its synonym Lavatera maritima it has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Malva tournefortiana is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae, native to Morocco, Portugal, Spain and France. A hexaploid, it is in section Bismalva with M. moschata and M. alcea.
Malva aegyptia, the Egyptian mallow, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae. It is native to North Africa, Spain, Greece, and western Asia as far as Turkmenistan, and has been introduced to South Africa. With Althaea hirsuta it is a parent of the ancient hybrid × Malvalthaea transcaucasica.
Malva hispanica, the Spanish mallow, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae, native to the western Mediterranean. Uniquely in its genus, Malva hispanica flowers possess a bilobed epicalyx, which is derived from an ancestral trimerous structure and represents a loss of the adaxial epicalyx lobe.
