Ontario Weeds: Common mallow
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Excerpt from Publication 505, Ontario Weeds,
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Table of Contents
- Name
- Other Names
- Family
- General Description
- Stems and Roots
- Leaves
- Flowers and Fruit
- Habitat
- Similar Species
- Related Links
Name: Common mallow, Malva neglecta
Wallr.,
Other Names: mauve négligée,
Cheeses, Garden mallow, Round-leaved mallow, amours
Family: Mallow Family (Malvaceae)
General Description: Annual, biennial
or short-lived perennial, reproducing only by seed.
Common mallow. A. Seedling. B.Base of flowering stem.
D. Fruit (ring of "seeds").
Leaves: Leaves alternate (1 per node), long-stalked; blades rounded or kidney-shaped with a deep heart-shaped base, shallowly lobed and toothed; stipules green to purplish or brownish, triangular, 2.5-6mm (1/10-1/4in.) long.
Flowers & Fruit: Flowers in axils of leaves; sepals 5, in a ring; petals 5, white to pinkish or lilac, 1-1.5cm (2/5-3/5in.) across and with a column of stamens in the centre covering the pistil; fruit a circle of about 12 to 14 dry sections ("seeds"), each section having flat sides but being rounded on its back, very finely hairy, and containing 1 dark brown seed. Flowers from June to late autumn.
Habitat: Common mallow occurs throughout most of Ontario and is a very frequent weed in lawns, gardens, barnyards, roadsides, waste places and occasionally in cultivated fields.
Similar Species: It is distinguished by its low stature, its rounded to kidney-shaped leaves, its flowers 1-1.5cm (2/5-3/5in.) across witha central column of stamens and the individual sections in the ring of fruits rounded and not prominently veined.
Related Links
... on general Weed
topics
... on weed identification, order OMAFRA
Publication 505: Ontario Weeds
... on weed control, order OMAFRA
Publication 75: Guide To Weed Control
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