Malva nicaeensis

Bull mallow

Family: Malvaceae · Type: annual · Not Native

Bull mallow is a naturalized annual herb found in the California Floristic Province in disturbed places at elevations below 1,200 meters. Flowering from February to July, this plant produces pink to blue-violet flowers 5 to 12 millimeters long that turn blue when dry. Growing with decumbent or ascending stems 20 to 60 centimeters tall and sparsely covered in stellate hairs, it has a sprawling growth habit. Its round to kidney-shaped leaves are 3 to 12 centimeters wide with 5 to 7 shallow, somewhat pointed lobes and slightly wavy edges. The fruit consists of 7 to 10 segments with strongly net-veined and pitted surfaces.

Habitat: Disturbed places

Bloom period: Feb-Jul

Elevation: < 1200 m

Bioregions: CA-FP

California counties: Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Los Angeles, Ventura, Alameda, San Francisco, Butte, San Benito, San Mateo, San Joaquin, Monterey, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Contra Costa, Amador, Yolo, Orange, Riverside, Sonoma, San Diego, El Dorado, Lake, Sutter, Sacramento, Solano, Kings, Placer, Tehama, Glenn, Marin, Yuba, Humboldt, Napa, Stanislaus, Colusa, Mendocino, Del Norte, Fresno, Santa Cruz, Mariposa

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