MUSK MALLOW 



The flowers are rose-pink or white, large, clustered near the summit. 

 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 flowers last and bloom in July 

 and August. The plant is a 

 deciduous, herbaceous peren- 

 nial. 



Musk Mallow is proter- 

 androus. The ends of 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 Hymenoptera 

 (Apidse), Apis mellifica, Che- 

 lostoma, Andrena; Diptera 

 (Bombylidae), Systrechus; Le- 

 pidoptera, Hesperia sylvamis. 



The seeds are dispersed 

 by the plant's own agency. 

 The capsule, a schizocarp, 

 consists of a number of aggre- 

 gate carpels which 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, requiring a sand soil, and it is found 

 very frequently on such formations as the Middle Lias Marlstone. 



A fungus, Puccinia malvacearum, the Hollyhock disease, is parasitic 

 on it. The Swift Moth (Hepialus sylvamis) and Eubolia ceromata live 

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

 cornis, C. rujipes. 



Malva, Pliny, is from the Greek malakos, soft, and is Latin for 

 Mallow, given because of its emollient characters. Moschata (Latin) 

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

 Mallow because its foliage has a musky odour. 



MUSK MALLOW (Mal-va moschata, L.) 



