Common mallow (Malva sylvestris leaves)
Description
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. Known as common mallow to English-speaking Europeans, it acquired the common names of cheeses, high mallow and tall mallow (mauve des bois by the French) as it migrated from its native home in Western Europe, North Africa and Asia through the English-speaking world. M. sylvestris is a vigorously healthy plant with showy flowers of bright mauve-purple, with dark veins; a handsome plant, often standing 3 or 4 feet (1 m) high and growing freely in Meadows, hedgerows and in fallow fields. Malva sylvestris is a spreading herb,which is an annual in North Africa,biennialin the Mediterranean and a perennial elsewhere. Three feet (one meter) tall (3 meters has been observed in a wild or escaped from cultivation setting, and several cultivated plants of 2 meter or more in height with a growth habit which can be straight or decumbent, branched and covered with fine soft hairs or none at all, M. sylvestris is pleasing in appearance when it first starts to flower, but as the summer advances, "the leaves lose their deep green color and the stems assume a ragged appearance".
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class:
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Order: Malvales
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Family: Malvaceae
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Genus: Malvales
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