MALVASTRUM

Malvastrum A. Gray, Mem. Acad. Arts. n. s., 4: 21. 1849; Masters in Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 321. 1875; Hutch., Gen. Fl. Pl. 2: 563. 1967; Fl. China @ eFloras.org 12: 269; Fl. North Amer. @ eFloras.org vol. 6; Fl. Pak. @ eFloras.org p. 89.

Herbs, perennial (sometimes annual) or subshrubs, erect. Leaves simple; stipules lanceolate or falcate; leaf blade ovate or lanceolate, entire, sometimes obscurely 3-lobed, margin crenate or dentate; foliate nectaries lacking. Flowers axillary, solitary or in cymose clusters, sometimes aggregated into terminal spikes. Epicalyx lobes 3, free, subulate or filiform or lanceolate. Calyx cup-shaped, 5-lobed. Corolla yellow or +/- orange, broadly campanulate; petals 5, scarcely longer than calyx. Staminal tube included within corolla, glabrous or puberulent; anthers clustered at apex. Ovary 5-18-loculed; ovule 1 per locule; styles as many as carpels, slender; stigmas capitate. Fruit a schizocarp, oblate, mericarps 5-18, indehiscent, reddish brown, horseshoe-shaped with a prominent ventral notch, sometimes 2- or 3- cuspidate. Seeds solitary, reniform, glabrous.

23 species

Malvastrum coromandelianum

Malvastrum coromandelianum (L.) Garcke, Bonplandia (Hannover) 5: 297. 1857; Maheshwari, Illustr. Fl. Delhi. f. 26. 1966; Bross., Blumea 14: 152. 1966; Sharma & Kachroo, Fl. Jammu (Illustr.) 2: t. 36. 1983; Malva coromandeliana L., Sp. Pl. 687. 1753; Malvastrum tricuspidatum (R. Br.) A. Gray, Pl. Wright. 1: 16. 1852; Masters in Hook. f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 1: 321. 1875; Parker, For. Fl. Punj. ed. 1: 36. 1918 (Reprint 1973); Duthie, Fl. Upper Gang. Plain. 1: 75. 1960; Malva tricuspidata R. Br., W. T. Ait. Hort. Kew, ed. 2.4: 22. 1812.

Annuals, subshrubs, up to 1.5 m tall, most parts pilose appressed, stellate pubescent. Stipules linear or linear-lanceolate, 5-7 mm; petiole 0.7-3 cm, densely pilose; leaf blade 3-7 cm x 0.8-4 cm, ovate or ovate-lanceolate; abaxially pilose and stellate pilose, adaxially sparsely hairy, margins coarsely dentate, apex acute or obtuse. Flowers actinomorphic, bisexual, 5-merous, hypogynous, solitary, axillary, sometimes few clustered, ca. 2 cm across. Pedicel 3-5 mm, pilose. Epicalyx 3, free, segments filiform, 7-9 mm x 0.5-0.7 mm, pilose. Calyx campanulate or shallowly cup-shaped, 5-7 mm in flower and ca. 1 cm long in fruit; tube ca. 3 mm long; lobes 5, ca. 7 mm long, triangular-ovate, abaxially sparsely pubescent with stellate hairs, adaxially nearly glabrous, apex acuminate. Petals 5, free, apricot-yellow, obovate, ca. 1.2 cm x 4-5 mm, apex unequally emarginate. Stamens many, monoadelphous; staminal tube ca. 5 mm long, hairy, tube antheriferous with no sterile teeth. Carpels 8-15; ovary hairy, 8-15-locular, one ovule per loculus; styles as many as carpels, 2.5 mm long; stigmas capitate; Fruit a schizocarp, ca. 6 mm in diameter, mericarps 8-15, reniform, sparsely pubescent with simple hairs mixed with stellate hairs, ca. 2.5 mm in diameter, 3-cusped (2 abaxial, 1 apical). Seeds ca. 1 mm in diameter.

Flowering and Fruiting: February to September
Common Names: Threelobe False Mallow, False Mallow, Broom Weed, Clock Plant, Prickly Malvastrum, Spiked Malvastrum; Kharenti (Hindi)