Malva neglecta

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.^[2] This plant is often consumed as a food, with its leaves, stalks and seed all being considered edible.^[3][4][5] This is especially true of the seeds, which contain 21% protein and 15.2% fat.^[6]

Malva neglecta
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Malvales
Family:	Malvaceae
Genus:	Malva
Species:	M. neglecta
Binomial name
Malva neglecta Wallr.
Synonyms[1]
List Malva fruticans Dorner ex Rchb. Malva orbiculata Pomel Malva prostrata Gilib. Malva rotundifolia var. crispa Wimm. & Grab. Malva rotundifolia var. grandior Wahlenb. Malva rotundifolia var. intermedia Ball Malva rotundifolia var. perennans Post Malva salvitellensis V.Brig. Malva vulgaris Fr.

Description

Dwarf mallow is a prostrate, downy, annual herbaceous plant, growing to approximately 60 cm. The leaves are alternate with long, strongly channeled petioles (up to 12 cm) and narrowly triangular stipules. Each leaf is reniform or with 5–7 shallow lobes, the basal leaves are 3–7 cm. The flowers are single-stalked and occur in clusters of 2–5 in the leaf axils. The flower stalks are shorter than the leaf stalks, with the leaves partially obscuring the flowers. The fruits are schizocarps, which split into 10–12 mericarps (nutlets) and are smooth and hairy.^[7][8]

Distribution

Native

Palearctic:

Macaronesia: Canary Islands

Northern Africa: Algeria, Morocco

Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia

Western Asia: Afghanistan, Cyprus, Sinai, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Syria, Turkey

Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia

Soviet Middle Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

Mongolia: Mongolia

China: Xinjiang

Indian Subcontinent: India, Pakistan

Northern Europe: Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom

Middle Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland

Southeastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Sardinia, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania,

Southwestern Europe: France, Portugal, Spain

Source:^[9]

Uses

Leaves and young seeds can be eaten raw or cooked. Mature seeds should be cooked like rice or grains.^[10]

Botanical gallery

• 
  Plant spreads along ground, leaves not large, leaves fairly uniform size (Antalya)
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  Spreading on rocks, similarly (Edinburgh)
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  Flowers, fruits and leaves
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  Flowers, fruits and leaves, closer
• 
  Flowers can be pink with bold veins or may be pale
• 
  Paler form, hairs (visible) in centre at petal stalks
• 
  Flower much larger than calyx, green calyx with 5 broad parts, epicalyx at base formed of 3 narrow strips
• 
  Flowers may have long to very long stalks
• 
  Fruits
• 
  Fruits
• 
  Fruiting undersides, showing epicalyx of 3 narrow strips
• 
  Flowers and fruits from side showing the features above, stalks reasonably long
• 
  Hairs a mixture of stellate (star-like) and simple
• 
  Hairs a mixture of stellate (star-like) and simple
• 
  Leaf
• 
  Leaf underside
• 
  Leaf underside