Malva L.
Annual or perennial herbs. Lvs toothed, lobed or deeply dissected. Fls usually solitary and axillary or in axillary clusters, rarely in terminal racemes; epicalyx segments (2)-3, free ± to base; calyx evenly 5-toothed; petals spreading, emarginate or deeply notched. Style branches as many as loculi, filiform. Fr. of numerous 1-seeded, indehiscent, awnless mericarps arranged in a single flat whorl round short conic apex of receptacle.
Key
2
Petals 3-5 mm long, ± = calyx; edges of mericarps slightly winged and sometimes toothed
Petals 6-15 mm long, c. 2× or > 2× calyx; edges of mericarps rounded or sharply angled but not winged
6
Upper stem lvs shallowly lobed; mericarps strongly reticulately veined on back, usually glabrous
Upper stem lvs deeply divided ± to base with deeply pinnatifid lobes; mericarps smooth on back, densely hairy
c. 40 spp., N. temperate. Naturalised spp. 6.
![Fig. 84. Frs of Ma l lva. A M. moschata; B M. neglecta; C M. nicaeensis, with calyx; D M. parviflora, with calyx. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X6C]](https://data.landcareresearch.co.nz/Image/4X6C/SysPortalPreview)
Fig. 84. Frs of Ma l lva. A M. moschata; B M. neglecta; C M. nicaeensis, with calyx; D M. parviflora, with calyx. © All rights reserved. [Image: 4X6C]
