Malva sylvestris, L.

8. M. sylvestris L. View in CoL , Sp. Pl. 689 (1753)

(inch M. ambigua Guss. , M. erecta C. Presi , M. mauritiana L. ).

Biennial or perennial, with simple and stellate hairs. Stems up to 150 cm, erect to decumbent, woody at the base. Leaves very variable in size, reniform to suborbicular-cordate, more or less palmatifid,

with 3-7 semicircular to oblong, crenate lobes. Epicalyx-segments oblong-lanceolate to elliptical; sepals stellate-pubescent beneath; petals 12-30 mm, pink to purple, with darker veins, bearded. Mericarps glabrous or pubescent, strongly reticulate; dorsal face flat; angles sharp, but not winged. 2n = 42. Almost throughout Europe except the extreme north. All except Fa Is Sb, but only as an alien in much of the north.

Very variable in habit, indumentum, leaf-shape, corolla and length of pedicels. The variants that have been recognized represent local races, and the correlation of characters which they exhibit is not maintained on a continental scale.