Malva neglecta

Malva neglecta is a species of plant of the family Malvaceae, native to most of the Old World except sub-Saharan Africa. It is an annual growing to 0.6 m (2 ft). It is known as common mallow in the United States and also as buttonweed, cheeseplant, cheeseweed, dwarf mallow, and roundleaf mallow. This plant is often consumed as a food, with its leaves, stalks and seed all being considered edible. This is especially true of the seeds, which contain 21% protein and 15.2% fat.

Description
Dwarf mallow is a prostrate, downy, annual herbaceous plant, growing to approximately 60 cm. The leaves are alternate with long, strongly channeled petioles (up to 12 cm) and narrowly triangular stipules. Each leaf is reniform or with 5–7 shallow lobes, the basal leaves are 3–7 cm. The flowers are single-stalked and occur in clusters of 2–5 in the leaf axils. The flower stalks are shorter than the leaf stalks, with the leaves partially obscuring the flowers. The fruits are schizocarps, which split into 10–12 mericarps (nutlets) and are smooth and hairy.

Distribution

 * Native
 * Palearctic:
 * Macaronesia: Canary Islands
 * Northern Africa: Algeria, Morocco
 * Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabia
 * Western Asia: Afghanistan, Cyprus, Sinai, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Syria, Turkey
 * Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
 * Soviet Middle Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
 * Mongolia: Mongolia
 * China: Xinjiang
 * Indian Subcontinent: India, Pakistan
 * Northern Europe: Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom
 * Middle Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland
 * Southeastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Sardinia, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania,
 * Southwestern Europe: France, Portugal, Spain

Source:

Uses
Leaves and young seeds can be eaten raw or cooked. Mature seeds should be cooked like rice or grains.