Family |
Malvaceae
Malva punctata
(All.) Alef.
Malva punctata (All.) Alef.
First published in Oesterr. Bot. Z. 12: 258 (1862).
(Nouvelle Flore du Liban et de la Syrie, vol. 2, p. 517, under Lavatera punctata, Pl. CCXXIV, 1; 1970)
Description
Synonym: Lavatera punctata All.
Life-form & habit: Annual with a slender, erect, branched stem, 30–100 cm tall, covered by very short, appressed hairs.
Leaves: Lowermost leaves kidney-shaped and scalloped; intermediate leaves divided into three to five lobes. Uppermost leaves spear-shaped and three-lobed or lanceolate, eventually bent downwards.
Inflorescence & flowers: Flowers solitary on long, spreading stalks. Outer calyx almost as long as the true calyx, enlarging as the fruit develops, with segments joined for a considerable distance at the base. Calyx lobes long-pointed. Petals vivid pink-purple, about three times the calyx length, wedge-shaped at the base and truncate or slightly notched at the tip.
Fruit: The central fruiting column projects shortly above the surrounding carpels as a conical extension.
Flowering and habitat
Phenology: April–July.
Habitat & elevation: Fields and margins of cultivated places.
Distribution
Lebanese distribution: Saida, Ras Jedra, Nahr el Kelb, Beirut–Saida, Tripoli, Beirut, Dbaye, Kaftine, Menges, Jamhour, Hasroun, Qabb Elias and Taanail, where Mouterde records it as abundant.
Syrian distribution: Nahr Sene, Latakia, Ras Chamra, near Tell Kalakh west of Homs and Massiaf.
Recorded locations: Wadi el Salib.
Native range: Albania, Algeria, Baleares, Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., France, Greece, Iran, Italy, Kriti, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Sicilia, Transcaucasus, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye and Türkiye-in-Europe.
Introduced into: Germany.