| TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Annual, perennial herb, shrubs, trees, generally stellate-hairy; juice sticky; inner bark tough, fibrous
Leaves alternate, simple, petioled; blade generally palmately veined or lobed, stipules present
Inflorescence often leafy; whorl or involucre of bractlets often subtending calyx
Flower generally bisexual, radial; calyx lobes 5, margins abutting in bud; petals 5, free (fused at base to filament tube, so falling together); stamens many, filaments fused into a tube surrounding style, tube fused in turn to petal bases; pistil 1, ovary superior, chambers generally 5 or more, style branches, stigmas generally 1 or 2 X as many as chambers
Fruit of 5–many disk- or wedge-shaped segments, loculicidal capsule, or berry
Genera in family: 100 genera, 2000 species: worldwide, especially warm regions; some cultivated (e.g., Abelmoschus , okra; Alcea ; Gossypium , cotton; Hibiscus , Malvaviscus )
Recent taxonomic note: Recently treated to include Sterculiaceae [Angiosperm phylogeny Group 1998 Ann Missouri Bot Gard 85:531–553; Alverson et al. 1999 Amer J Bot 86:1474–1486; Bayer et al. 1999 Bot J Linn Soc 129:267–303]
Mature fruit important for identification.
Annual, biennial, perennial herb, generally ± glabrous
Stem prostrate to erect, generally < 1 m
Leaf petioled; blade round to reniform, generally crenate, lobes 0 or shallow
Inflorescence: flowers 1–several in axils; bractlets subtending calyx generally 3, free
Flower: calyx lobes ± = tube; petals white, pink, or purple; anthers borne along filament tube, not clustered; stigmas linear, on inner side of style branches
Fruit: segments generally 6–15, indehiscent; beak 0
Seed 1 per segment
Species in genus: 100 species: Eur, Asia, Africa
Etymology: (Greek: mallow)
Some species reportedly TOXIC to livestock from selenium or nitrate concentration .
| Introduced |
Annual, biennial
Stem decumbent, 2–6 dm, generally densely stellate-hairy
Leaf: blade 2–6 cm, lobes 0 (or 5–7, obscure), crenate
Inflorescence: flowers 3–6 per axil; pedicel in fruit < 25 mm; bractlets 3–5 mm, ± broadly linear
Flower: calyx generally 4–6 mm, not much enlarged in fruit, lobes acuminate; petals 8–13 mm, pale lilac or white, claws hairy; stamen-tube hairy
Fruit: segments ± 15, puberulent, back round, smooth or weakly ridged, not net-veined, margins rounded
Ecology: Disturbed places
Elevation: < 3000 m.
Bioregional distribution: n&c California
Distribution outside California: native to Eurasia
Flowering time: May–Oct
[sometimes identified as M. rotundifolia L. or M. verticillata L. var. crispa L.] The latter would key here, but has glabrous stamen-tube, 8–11 fruit segments; cultivated for salad, likely waif.