Summary ⁴

Malva moschata (musk-mallow) is a species of Malva native to Europe and southwestern Asia, from Spain north to the British Isles and Poland, and east to southern Russia and Turkey.

Cultivation and uses ⁵

It is often grown as an ornamental plant for its attractive scented flowers, produced for a long period through the summer. Several cultivars have been selected for variation on flower colour, including 'Rosea' with dark pink flowers. The form 'Alba' (white flowered) has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Leaves and flowers of muskmallow are common additions to "wild" salads. The seeds are also edible.

It has been introduced to and become naturalised in several areas with temperate climates away from its native range, including Scandinavia, New Zealand, and North America.

Ecology ⁵

It occurs on dry, but fertile soils at altitudes from sea level up to 1,500 m. Natural hybrids with the closely related Malva alcea are occasionally found.

The flowers are usually pollinated by bees.

Associations ⁶

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / feeds on
gregarious, covered by blackened epidermis, finally erumpent by a slit pycnidium of Phomopsis coelomycetous anamorph of Phomopsis malvacearum feeds on stem of Malva moschata
Remarks: season: 7-9

Foodplant / gall
pulvinate telium of Puccinia malvacearum causes gall of live stem of Malva moschata
Remarks: season: 4-11

Foodplant / parasite
colony of Ramularia anamorph of Ramularia keithii parasitises live leaf of Malva moschata

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Comrade Foot, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/56380734@N05/6081417213/
2. (c) Tab Tannery, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/tabtannery/6081881194/
3. (c) Vadim Piottukh, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/vadim_pp/10549387965/
4. Adapted by Bea Steinemann from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malva_moschata
5. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malva_moschata
6. (c) BioImages, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/22910430

More Info

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