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Malva multiflora
Also called Smaller Tree Mallow, Cheeseweed, Cornish Mallow, Cretan Tree Mallow, Cretan Mallow
Cretan hollyhock (Malva multiflora) is a Mediterranean annual or biennial herb with pink to purple flowers, usually grown from seed in sunny, well-drained spots. The sources describe the species, and the growing notes below come from general horticultural knowledge.
Malva multiflora (previously known as Lavatera cretica) is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known by the common names Cornish mallow and Cretan hollyhock. It is native to western Europe, North Africa, and the Mediterranean Basin, and it is naturalized in areas with a Mediterranean climate, such as parts of Australia, South Africa, and California. This is an annual or biennial herb growing a tough, somewhat hairy stem to a maximum height between 1 and 3 meters. The leaves are multilobed with flat or wavy edges, slightly hairy, and up to 10 centimeters long. The plant bears small pink or light purple flowers with petals just over a centimeter long. The fruit is disc-shaped with 7 to 10 segments.
Malva olbia · Malva trimestris · Vervain mallow · Tree Mallow · Island mallow · Musk mallow · Common mallow · Bull mallow · Spotted Stalked Tree Mallow · Low mallow · Sea Mallow · High mallow
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Malva multiflora by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
