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 Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Malva
Species:
M. neglecta
Binomial name
Malva neglecta

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:[1]

Uses

Leaves and young seeds can be eaten raw or cooked. Mature seeds should be cooked like rice or grains.[9]

References
  1. "Malva neglecta". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  2. "Malva neglecta". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
  3. Facciola S. Cornucopia – A Source Book of Edible Plants. Vista, Ca. Kampong Publications, 1990. 677 p.
  4. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Wild Living with Sunny: Episode 16 - Mallow Plant S'mores. YouTube.
  5. "Malva neglecta Dwarf Mallow, Common mallow PFAF Plant Database".
  6. Duke JA. CRC Handbook of Proximate Analysis Tables of Higher Plants. Boca Raton, Fl. CRC Press, 1986. 389 p.
  7. Stace, C.A. (2019). New Flora of the British Isles. Suffolk. ISBN 978-1-5272-2630-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. Rose, Francis (2006). The Wild Flower Key. London: Frederick Warne. ISBN 978-0-7232-5175-0.
  9. Nyerges, Christopher (2017). Foraging Washington: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods. Guilford, CT: Falcon Guides. ISBN 978-1-4930-2534-3. OCLC 965922681.
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