Malva neglecta

Common mallow

Family: Malvaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Common mallow is a naturalized annual found in northern and central California in disturbed places at elevations below 3,000 meters. Flowering from May to October, this plant produces white to pale lilac flowers with delicate petals approximately twice the length of the calyx. Growing with prostrate to ascending stems 20 to 60 centimeters long that are generally hairy, it spreads low across the ground. Its leaves are roughly 1 to 6 centimeters wide, typically shallowly divided into 5 to 7 lobes with dentate-crenate edges. The fruit develops in distinctive segments, typically 12 to 15 in number, with smooth or slightly ridged surfaces.

Habitat: Disturbed places

Bloom period: May-Oct

Elevation: < 3000 m

Bioregions: n&ampc CA

California counties: San Bernardino, Modoc, Siskiyou, Inyo, Lake, Tehama, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Riverside, Kern, San Diego, El Dorado, Mono, Lassen, Tulare, Plumas, Marin, Alpine, San Luis Obispo, Contra Costa, Shasta, Butte, Mariposa, Trinity, Alameda, Stanislaus, Glenn, Humboldt, Ventura, Nevada, Placer, Sierra, Yolo, Solano

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.