Common Mallow (Malva neglecta)

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (November 2025) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Weg-Malve]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|de|Weg-Malve}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

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.

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]

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]

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]

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

Dwarf Mallow leaves contain Vitamin C and the flowers contain tannin. The plant has 1-Octacosanol ^[11] Ascorbic (acid)Choline,^[11] alkaloid and saponin (general have been found in the plant, it has a certain antioxidant content)^[12] It has a high nitrate content, similar to that of arugula.^[13][14]

In culinary applications the leaves may be useful in salads, cooked similar to spinach, or for thickening soups. The leaves release a thickening agent similar to okra which is also in the mallow family. The seeds can be eaten raw or cooked and have a nutty flavor.^[13] In the past seeds were ground into flour in times of need.^[15] The root is ground and used as a meat substitute. In Pakistan it is made into a dish called panirak. In Jewish and Egyptian cooking it is often made into a stew called Mulukhiyah.

A lab study has shown that the plant is good for stomach ulcers^[16] In Ethnobiology, dwarf mallow it is used for catarrh, enteritis, sore throat, hoarse voice, and as an expectorant.^[17]

• 
  Plant spreads along ground, leaves not large, leaves fairly uniform size (Antalya)
• 
  Spreading on rocks, similarly (Edinburgh)
• 
  Flowers, fruits and leaves
• 
  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

• Media related to Malva neglecta at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Malva neglecta at Wikispecies
• UniProt. "Species Malva neglecta (Common mallow)". Retrieved 9 May 2008.
• Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). "PLANTS Profile, Malva neglecta". The PLANTS Database. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 9 May 2008.
• "Malva neglecta". Plants for a Future.
• "Malva neglecta". Calflora. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database.
• Malva neglecta in the CalPhotos photo database, University of California, Berkeley