Malva alceaL.

european mallowvervain mallow

WFO wfo-0000449278 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Malva alcea, photographed by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas
fig. a Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-06-04 / obs. 203241041
Malva alcea, photographed by Patrick Hacker
fig. b Patrick Hacker, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 168062836
Malva alcea, photographed by Caleb Catto
fig. c Caleb Catto, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 162939480
Malva alcea, photographed by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas
fig. d Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159537711
Malva alcea, photographed by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas
fig. e Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 159537463
Malva alcea, photographed by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas
fig. f Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 161840992
Malva alcea, photographed by Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas
fig. g Alexis Tinker-Tsavalas, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 161841015
Malva alcea, photographed by Johan Kjær Prehn
fig. h Johan Kjær Prehn, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 157160863

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 25 botanical countries

Regions where Malva alcea is native: Türkiye, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Corse, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, Sardegna, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine TürkiyeAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCorseCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyNetherlandsNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwitzerlandUkraine Sardegna
Native distribution of Malva alcea, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Austria AUT EUROPE
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Corse COR
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
France FRA
Germany GER
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Netherlands NET
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
Sardegna SAR
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Switzerland SWI
Ukraine UKR
Türkiye TUR ASIA-TEMPERATE

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 31 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Alcea palmata Gilib.
  • Bismalva alcea (L.) Medik.
  • Bismalva fastigiata Fourr.
  • Malva abulensis Cav.
  • Malva alcea prol. cannabina (J.Serres) Rouy
  • Malva alcea prol. italica (Pollini) Rouy
  • Malva alcea subsp. bismalva (Bernh. ex Lej.) P.Fourn.
  • Malva alcea subsp. excisa Holub
  • Malva alcea subsp. fastigiata (Cav.) O.Bolòs & Vigo
  • Malva alcea var. grandiflora Gaudin
  • Malva alcea var. morenii (Pollini) DC.
  • Malva alcea var. multidentata W.D.J.Koch
  • Malva alcea var. triloba Lázaro Ibiza & Tubilla
  • Malva alceoides Ten.
  • Malva bismalva Bernh. ex Lej.
  • Malva cannabina J.Serres
  • Malva decumbens Host
  • Malva divotiana Biau
  • Malva fastigiata Cav.
  • Malva fastigiata f. rotundata Merino
  • Malva fastigiata var. abulensis (Cav.) Lázaro Ibiza
  • Malva fastigiata var. foliolosa Vayr.
  • Malva fastigiata var. foliosa Vayr.
  • Malva fastigiata var. lobata (Cav.) Willk.

and 7 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.