Malva parviflora

Malva parviflora is an annual or perennial herb that is native to Northern Africa, Southern Europe, and Western and Central Asia and is widely naturalised elsewhere. Common names include cheeseweed, cheeseweed mallow, Egyptian mallow, least mallow, little mallow, mallow, marshmallow, small-flowered mallow, small-flowered marshmallow, Nafa Shak, and smallflower mallow.

Description
M. parviflora has a decumbent or erect habit, growing up to 50–80 cm in height. The broad leaves have 5 to 7 shallow lobes and are 8 to 10 cm in diameter. The lobe edges are round toothed, with varying hairiness. It has small white or pink flowers year-round at the base of leaf stalks; flowers have 4 to 10 mm long petals. The 2 mm seeds are reddish-brown and kidney-shaped.

Newly sprouted plants have hairless, heart-shaped cotyledons with long stalks. These cotyledons are 3–12 mm long and 3–8 mm wide. Stalks usually do have hairs. The first leaf is rounder and larger than the others. True leaves are round and weakly lobed with wavy, shallow-toothed edges and a red spot at the leaf base. The plant rapidly grows a deep taproot.

M. parviflora leaf extracts possess anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. In nitrogen-rich soils, the plant's leaves and seeds can be toxic to cattle and poultry due to an accumulation of nitrates.

M. parviflora has 2n=42 chromosomes.

Taxonomy
Malva parviflora was described by Carl Linnaeus and published in Demonstrationes Plantarum in Horto Upsaliensi on October 3, 1753.

The genus name “Malva”' is derived from Latin malva, -ae, a word used in Ancient Rome to refer to various types of mallow, primarily common mallow (Malva sylvestris), but also marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) and tree mallow (Malva arborea). Mallow was described, with its many virtues and properties, by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia (20, LXXXIV). The species name “parviflora” means “of small flowers” and is a compound that comes from Latin parvum, -i, "small" (which in turn comes from Greek παύρος), and flora, from flos, -ris, "flower".
 * Etymology:
 * Synonyms:
 * Malva flexuosa Hornem.
 * Malva microcarpa Pers.
 * Malva microcalyx C.A.Mey.
 * Malva musiana Sennen
 * Malva mareotica Delile ex DC.
 * Malva coronata Pomel
 * Malva bivoniana C.Presl
 * Malva polycarpa Sennen
 * Malva trionoides DC.
 * Malva simpliciuscula Steud.
 * Althaea mareotica Alef.
 * Althaea microcarpa Alef.
 * Althaea parviflora Alef.
 * Malva heterocarpa Shuttlew.

Distribution and Habitat
M. parviflora typically grows on agricultural lands and in disturbed sites such as roadsides. Its native range extends from the Mediterranean, through West Asia, and to Central Asia and can be found in Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Malta, Spain, France, and Portugal. The species is widely naturalized elsewhere, including in North America since the 19th century.

Uses
M. parviflora is sometimes used medicinally in infusions, cooking, or poultices as a laxative, moisturizer or antitussive. In Mexico, M. parviflora is consumed as a quelite and used in traditional medicine to treat wounds, stomach problems such as gastritis, and problems with the liver, throat, and intestines. The entire plant is edible and can be eaten both raw and cooked. It has a mildly green flavor similar to chard and a mild, earthy aroma.

In the 20th century, naturalist Alfonso Herrera Fernández mentioned that "the dried and pulverized leaves form a powder known as mallow flour which, alone or mixed with flaxseed flour, is used to make moisturizing poultices. The flowers are used in infusions as diaphoretics."