MUSK MALLOW 



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111 



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The flowers are rose-pink ur white, large, clustered near the suniniit. 

 The calyx consists of 5 sepals. The outer calyx-teeth are narrow and 

 hairy, the fruit-stalks being erect in fruit, the fruit downy. The 5 petals 

 are nearly blunt at the tip, with veins of deeper colour, branched, 

 fringed with hairs. The carpels are rounded, and covered with coarse 

 hairs on the back. 



Often the stem is 2 ft. high. The Bowers last and bloom 

 and August. Ihe plant is a 

 deciduous, herbaceous peren- 

 nial. 



Musk Mallow is proter- 

 androus. The ends ot the 

 anther-stalks curve downwards 

 and unite in a tube round 

 the pistil. When the numer- 

 ous anthers wither the stig- 

 mas spread out above and 

 obviate self-pollination. The 

 visitors are Itymenoptera 

 (Apidae), A/>is nwllijica, Che- 

 lostonia, Andrena; Diptera 

 (Bombylidee), Systrechus\ Le- 

 pidoptera, Hesperia syh'anzis. 



The seeds are dispersed 

 by the plant's own agency. 

 The capsule, a schizocarp, 

 consists of a number of aggre- 

 gate carpels whicli break up 

 when the plant is ripe, and 



naturally aid in dispersal around the plant, the single seeds remaining 

 in the carpel. 



Musk Mallow is a sand plant. re(|uiring a sand soil, and it is found 

 very frequently on such formations as the Middle Lias Marlstone. 



.A fungus, Puccinia niahacearuni, the Hollyhock disease, is parasitic 

 on it. The Swift Moth [Hepia/iis sy/z'aiius) and Eubo/ia cercniiahi live 

 on this food plant, and 3 beetles, Podagrica fuscipes, Crepidodera fusci- 

 cornis. C. 7-uJipcs. 



Alalva, Pliny, is from the Greek ma/akox, soft, and is Latin for 

 Mallow, given becau.se of its emollient characters. Mosc/ia/a (Latin) 

 refers to its musk-like scent. This pretty wild flower is called Musk 

 Mallow because its foliage has a musky odour. 



Mlsk Mallow (Malvu iiKisrliafd, l..| 



