Malva parviflora

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Malva parviflora
Malva parviflora small.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Malva
Species:
M. parviflora
Binomial name
Malva parviflora
L.

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. [1] Common names include cheeseweed, [1] cheeseweed mallow, Egyptian mallow, [1] least mallow, [2] little mallow, [1] mallow, [3] marshmallow, [3] small-flowered mallow, [4] small-flowered marshmallow, [5] Nafa Shak, and smallflower mallow. [3]

Contents

Description

M. parviflora has a decumbent or erect habit, growing up to 50–80 cm in height. [4] [6] The broad leaves have 5 to 7 shallow lobes and are 8 to 10 cm in diameter. [4] The lobe edges are round toothed, with varying hairiness. [6] It has small white or pink flowers year-round at the base of leaf stalks; flowers have 4 to 10 mm long petals. [4] [6] The 2 mm seeds are reddish-brown and kidney-shaped. [6]

Newly sprouted plants have hairless, heart-shaped cotyledons with long stalks. These cotyledons are 3–12 mm long and 3–8 mm wide. Stalks usually do have hairs. The first leaf is rounder and larger than the others. True leaves are round and weakly lobed with wavy, shallow-toothed edges and a red spot at the leaf base. The plant rapidly grows a deep taproot. [6]

M. parviflora leaf extracts possess anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. [7] In nitrogen-rich soils, [8] the plant's leaves and seeds can be toxic to cattle and poultry due to an accumulation of nitrates. [6]

M. parviflora has 2n=42 chromosomes. [9]

Taxonomy

Malva parviflora was described by Carl Linnaeus and published in Demonstrationes Plantarum in Horto Upsaliensi on October 3, 1753. [10]

Etymology

The genus name "Malva"' is derived from Latin malva, -ae, a word used in Ancient Rome to refer to various types of mallow, primarily common mallow ( Malva sylvestris ), but also marshmallow ( Althaea officinalis ) and tree mallow ( Malva arborea ). Mallow was described, with its many virtues and properties, by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia (20, LXXXIV). [11] [12] The species name "parviflora" means "of small flowers" and is a compound that comes from Latin parvum, -i, "small" (which in turn comes from Greek παύρος), and flora, from flos, -ris, "flower".

Synonyms

Distribution and habitat

M. parviflora typically grows on agricultural lands and in disturbed sites such as roadsides. [6] Its native range extends from the Mediterranean, through West Asia, and to Central Asia and can be found in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Malta, Spain, France, and Portugal. The species is widely naturalized elsewhere, [1] including in North America since the 19th century. [8]

Uses

M. parviflora is sometimes used medicinally in infusions, cooking, or poultices as a laxative, moisturizer or antitussive. [9] In Mexico, M. parviflora is consumed as a quelite and used in traditional medicine to treat wounds, stomach problems such as gastritis, and problems with the liver, throat, and intestines. [13] The entire plant is edible and can be eaten both raw and cooked. It has a mildly green flavor similar to chard and a mild, earthy aroma. [8]

In the 20th century, naturalist Alfonso Herrera Fernández  [ es ] mentioned that "the dried and pulverized leaves form a powder known as mallow flour which, alone or mixed with flaxseed flour, is used to make moisturizing poultices. The flowers are used in infusions as diaphoretics." [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bract</span> Modified or specialized leaf

In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale.

<i>Althaea officinalis</i> Species of plant

Althaea officinalis, the marsh mallow or marshmallow, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, which is used in herbalism and as an ornamental plant. A confection made from the root since ancient Egyptian times evolved into today's marshmallow treat, but most modern marshmallow treats no longer contain any marsh-mallow root.

<i>Malva</i> Genus of flowering plants

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.

<i>Malva moschata</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Malva acerifolia</i> Species of plant in the family Malvaceae

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.

<i>Malva alcea</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Malva sylvestris</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Malva preissiana</i> Species of flowering plant

Malva preissiana, the Australian hollyhock or native hollyhock, is a herbaceous perennial in the family Malvaceae, found in all Australian states.

<i>Malva neglecta</i> Species of flowering plant

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 buttonweed, cheeseplant, cheeseweed, dwarf mallow, and roundleaf mallow. This plant is often consumed as a food, with its leaves, stalks and seed all being considered edible. This is especially true of the seeds, which contain 21% protein and 15.2% fat.

<i>Malva multiflora</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<i>Malva nicaeensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Malva nicaeensis is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names bull mallow and French mallow.

<i>Althaea cannabina</i> Species of flowering plant

Althaea cannabina, commonly called palm-leaf marshmallow or hemp-leaved hollyhock, is a perennial herb belonging to the genus Althaea of the family Malvaceae. The leaves resemble those of hemp, hence the specific epithet cannabina ("hemp-like").

<i>Malva punctata</i> Species of tree

Malva punctata, commonly called spotted-stalked tree-mallow or annual tree mallow, is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the genus Malva of the family Malvaceae.

<i>Malva verticillata</i> Species of flowering plant

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 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.

<i>Malva setigera</i> Species of plant in the mallow family.

Malva setigera, also known as Althaea hirsuta, the rough marsh-mallow, hairy marsh-mallow, hispid marsh-mallow or hairy mallow, is a species of annual herb in the family Malvaceae. It has a self-supporting growth form and simple, broad leaves. Individuals can grow to 28 cm (11 in).

Malvella sherardiana, or Sherard's malvella, is a perennial plant native to Spain and from Greece to Crimea, southeastward to Iran, the only old world species in the genus Malvella.

<i>Alcea digitata</i> Species of flowering plant

Alcea digitata, the fingered hollyhock, is a tall hollyhock with large flowers native to the Middle East.

Malva unguiculata, the bryony-leaved tree-mallow, is a very tall perennial tree-mallow with large pink flowers native to the East Mediterranean.

Alcea remotiflora is a species of hollyhock plant native from Turkey to Iran.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Malva parviflora". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 2008-06-02.
  2. ↑ BSBI List 2007 (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-06-26. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  3. 1 2 3 "Malva parviflora". FloraBase . Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "New South Wales Flora Online: Malva parviflora". Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, Sydney, Australia.
  5. ↑ "Malva parviflora L." Electronic Flora of South Australia Fact Sheet. State Herbarium of South Australia. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Little mallow (cheeseweed)". UC IPM. Regents of the University of California. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  7. ↑ Bouriche H, Meziti H, Senator A, Arnhold J"Anti-inflammatory, free radical-scavenging, and metal-chelating activities of Malva parviflora." Pharm Biol. 2011 May 19;
  8. 1 2 3 "Foraged Mallow (Cheeseweed)". Specialty Produce. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  9. 1 2 "Malva" (PDF). Flora Iberica. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  10. 1 2 "Malva parviflora". WFO Plant List. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  11. ↑ B. Thayer, Pliny the Elder: the Natural History, Liber XX
  12. ↑ Pline l'Ancien, Histoire naturelle, Liber XX, Traitant des remèdes fournis par les plantes de jardin. Texte français, Edition d'Émile Littré, Durocher, Paris 1848-1850
  13. ↑ Mendiola Almaraz, Lorena (2005-04-29). "Análisis biodirigido de Malva parviflora para validar su uso tradicional como auxiliar en el tratamiento de la gastritis" . Retrieved 2024-05-20.
  14. ↑ "En Medicina tradicional mexicana" . Retrieved 2024-05-20.
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