M. pusilla is a perennial and annual herb, usually procumbent, many branched, 20-50 cm tall, scabrous. Stipule small, ovate-lanceolate, 4-6 × 2-3 mm;petiole 3-12 cm, stellate velutinous;leaf blade reniform, rarely 5-7-lobed, 1-3 × 1-4 cm, papery, abaxially sparsely stellate puberulent, adaxially sparsely velutinous, base cordate, margin minutely denticulate, apex rounded. Flowers usually 3-4-fascicled, axillary, rarely solitary on stem. Pedicel 2-5 cm, sparsely stellate puberulent. Epicalyx lobes lanceolate, 2-5 × 1-1.5 mm, stellate puberulent. Calyx campanulate, 5-6 mm, stellate puberulent, 5-lobed, lobes triangularly acuminate. Corolla white to pinkish, 10-12 mm in diameter;petals obcordate, 9-15 × 3-5 mm, apex notched;claw bearded. Filament tube stellate puberulent. Style branches 13-15. Fruit flat globose, 5-6 mm in diameter;mericarps 12-15, abaxially smooth, angles rounded, puberulent. Seeds reniform, approximately 1 mm in diameter, reticulate or not (Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2014).
Related invasive species
- Malva pusilla
Related Farm Practice
- Orchards
- Hosts
- Flora
M. pusilla is a cosmopolitan weed found principally in temperate regions of the world (Randall, 2012). It is a fast-growing, annual or perennial herb with the capacity to grow forming dense patches in gardens, yards, roadsides, waste ground, orchards, pastures and agricultural fields (Makowski and Morrison, 1989;DAISIE, 2014). M. pusilla is listed as invasive in Canada, the United States, and the Dominican Republic and in many countries in Europe (see distribution table for details;Kairo et al., 2003;DAISIE, 2014;USDA-NRCS, 2014).
M. pusilla is a weed of field crops including wheat, lentil, and flax, and in orchards and pasture lands principally in the United States and Canada (Steffey, 1980;Makowski and Morrison, 1989).