Common Mallow - Malva sylvestris

Description

Medium to tall, hairy plant to 1.5 metres, but often with sprawling stems. Leaves kidney shaped to rounded-heart-shaped in outline with 3 to 7 shallow, rather rounded toothed lobes. Flowers pink to purple with darker veins. 20 to 50 mm in clusters of 2 or more at the leaf axils.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Meadows , road verges and waste places.

When to see it

June to September.

Life History

Biennial.

UK Status

Fairly common throughout Britain, though less so in Scotland.

VC55 Status

Fairly common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 368 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Common Mallow
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Malvales
Family:
Malvaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
234
First record:
19/06/2006 (Calow, Graham)
Last record:
22/08/2023 (Strong, Kate)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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Latest images

Latest records

Photo of the association

Malvapion malvae

1.8 to 2.4mm.  This small weevil feeds on Mallows, especially on waste ground or brownfield sites. It is orange-brown with yellow-orange legs and covered in a dense pubescence.