Annuals Dictionary: Malva
Mallow family
Malvaceae
Mal’va. Mallow . About 30 species of widely distributed herbs, several grown for ornament, but some rather weedy.
Description
Leaves alternate, usually angled, lobed, or dissected. Flowers mostly in the leaf axils, solitary or clustered, most with 2 or 3 involucre-like bracts beneath them. Calyx united, but 5-cleft. Petals 5, with a notch at the tip, mostly pink or white.
How to Grow
Easy to grow in any ordinary garden soil. Sow seeds where desired. These mallows tend to escape and become weeds. They are less satisfactory than those found in the closely related genus Hibiscus . Mallows prefer cool weather.
Malva verticillata var. crispa
Curled Mallow . To 6 ft. (1.8 m) high. Flowers white to purplish, with petals ? in. (6 mm) wide, in. (13 mm) long. Eurasia. Hardy annual.