Malva

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Malva

Malva was also an ancient Roman city
Romula

Romula or Malva was an ancient city in Roman Dacia, nowadays being the village of Resca, Dobrosloveni Commune, Olt County, Romania It was the capital of Dacia Malvensis, one of the three subdivisions of the province of Dacia....
in present Romania. It is also an alternative spelling for the Indian region and state Malwa, and the pseudonym of Syrian artist Omar Hamdi
Omar Hamdi

Omar "Malva" Hamdi is a Syrian Kurdish artist. Lives and works in Vienna, Austria since 1978....
.

Malva is a genus of about 25–30 species of herbaceous

Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaf and stem that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. A herbaceous plant may be Annual plant, Biennial plant or Perennial plant....
annual

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
, biennial

Biennial plant

A biennial plant is a flowering plant that takes two years to complete its biological lifecycle. In the first year the plant grows leaves, stems, and roots , then it enters a period of dormancy over the colder months....
, and perennial plant

Perennial plant

A perennial plant or perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years. When used by gardeners or horticulturalists, this term applies specifically to perennial herbaceous plants....
s in the family Malvaceae

Malvaceae

Malvaceae, or the mallow family, is a family of flowering plants containing over 200 genera with close to 2,300 species. Judd & al. The largest genera in terms of number of species include Hibiscus , Sterculia , Dombeya , Pavonia and Sida ....
(of which it is the type genus), one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow
Mallow

Mallow or Mallows may refer to:Nature:* Malvaceae, family of plants; in particular the following genera:** Abelmoschus** Althaea ? Marsh mallow...
.

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Encyclopedia

Malva is a genus of about 25–30 species of herbaceous

Herbaceous

Annual plant

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates flowers and dies in one year. True annuals will only live longer than a year if they are prevented from setting seed....
, biennial

Biennial plant

Perennial plant

Malvaceae

Africa

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km? including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area....
, Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent. It covers 8.6% of the Earth's total surface area and, with over 4 billion people, it contains more than 60% of the world's current human population....
and Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
.

The leaves

Leaf

In botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant Organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate fully into the tissues....
are alternate, palmately lobed; the flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s are from 0.5–5 cm diameter, with five pink or white petals.

Malva species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera

Lepidoptera is an order of insect that includes moths and butterfly. It is one of the most speciose orders in the class Insecta, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterfly, skipper , and Hedylidae....
species including Grizzled Skipper
Grizzled Skipper

----The Grizzled Skipper Pyrgus malvae is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family....
.

The colour mauve
Mauve

Mauve is a pale lavender -lilac color, one of many in the range of purples.Mauve is more grey and more blue than a pale tint of magenta would be....
was in 1859 named after the French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
name for this plant.

Cultivation and uses
Several species are widely grown as garden
Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials....
flowers, while some are invasive weeds
Invasive species

Invasive species is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically....
, particularly in the Americas
Americas

The Americas are the region of the Western hemisphere that consists of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions....
where they are not native.

Many species are edible as leaf vegetable
Leaf vegetable

Leaf vegetables, also called potherbs, greens, or leafy greens, are plant leaf eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender Petiole s and shoots....
s. Malva verticillata (Korean: ?is grown on a limited commercial scale in China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
; when made as a herbal infusion, it is used for its colon cleansing properties and as a weight loss supplement.

Very easily grown, short-lived perennials often grown as ornamental plants. Mild tasting young mallow leaves can be a substitute for lettuce
Lettuce

Lettuce is a temperate annual plant or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. In many countries, it is typically eaten cold, raw, in salads, hamburgers, tacos, and in many other dishes....
, whereas older leaves are better cooked as a leafy green vegetable. The buds and flowers can be used in salads.

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.

History
This plant is one of the earliest cited in recorded literature. Horace
Horace

This article is about the Roman poet Horace. For other uses, see Horace .Quintus Horatius Flaccus, , known in the English language world as Horace, was the leading Roman Empire Lyric poetry during the time of Augustus....
mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: "Me pascunt olivae, me cichorea, me malvae" ("As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance"). Lord Monboddo describes his translation of an ancient epigram
Epigram

An Epigram is a brief, clever, and usually memorable statement. Derived from the "to write on - inscribe", the literary device has been employed for over two millennia....
that demonstrates malva was planted upon the graves of the ancients, stemming from the belief that the dead could feed on such perfect plants.

Mallow, which grows wild in Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
, was widely used as a source of nourishment in wartime and periods of austerity. Known as hubeza, it was used in salads, soups and other dishes

Species list

Malva aegyptia
Malva alcea
Malva alcea

Malva alcea is a plant in the Malvaceae native to southwestern, central and eastern Europe and southwestern Asia, from Spain north to southern Sweden and east to Russia and Turkey....
L.-- Greater Musk-mallow, vervain mallow
Malva assurgentiflora
Malva brasiliensis Desr. -- Brazilian mallow
Malva canariensis
Malva cretica
Malva dendromorpha -- Tree Mallow
Malva hispanica
Malva microcarpa
Malva microphylla
Malva mohileviensis
Malva moschata
Malva moschata

Malva moschata is a species of Malva native to Europe and southwestern Asia, from Spain north to the British Isles and Poland, and east to southern Russia and Turkey....
L. -- Musk-mallow
Malva neglecta
Malva neglecta

Malva neglecta is also known as Common mallow in the United States and also buttonweed, cheeseplant, cheeseweed, dwarf mallow and roundleaf mallow....
- Dwarf Mallow. buttonweed, cheeseplant, cheeseweed, common mallow, roundleaf mallow
Malva nicaeensis All. - French Mallow, bull mallow
Malva oxyloba
Malva pacifica
Malva parviflora
Malva parviflora

Malva parviflora is an annual or perennial herb that is native to Northern Africa, Europe and Asia and is widely naturalised elsewhere. Common names include Cheesewood , Cheesewood Mallow, Egyptian Mallow, Least Mallow, Little Mallow, Mallow, Marshmallow, Small-flowered Mallow , Small-flo...
L. -- Least Mallow, cheeseweed, cheeseweed mallow, small-whorl mallow
Malva preissiana
Malva preissiana

Malva preissiana is a herbaceous perennial in the family Malvaceae, found in New South Wales and Queensland in Australia....
- Australian Hollyhock
Malva pseudolavatera
Malva pusilla - Small Mallow
Malva qaiseri
Malva rotundifolia L. -- low mallow, Malva rotundifolia
Malva sinensis
Malva stipulacea
Malva sylvestris
Malva sylvestris

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....
L. -- Common Mallow, high mallow
Malva tournefortiana
Malva trifida
Malva verticillata L. -- Chinese Mallow, cluster mallow
Malva wigandii

Sources:

Malva

Cultivation and uses

History

Species list

External links