Malva sylvestris

Malva sylvestris

€5,90
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Malva sylvestris
  • Malva sylvestris
  • Malva sylvestris
  • Malva sylvestris
  • Malva sylvestris
Malva sylvestris

Malva sylvestris

€5,90
Organic
Sustainable
Locally grown

Malva sylvestris, also known as Common Mallow or Wild Mallow, is a medicinal, tinctorial and edible plant that has been cultivated in gardens for a very long time.

It is also a hardy, drought tolerant perennial herb that prefers to grow in full sun in well-drained, often nutrient-enriched soils.

The flowers are a soft pinkish-mauve, streaked with deep purplish-violet. Just gorgous.

The leaves are a rich, slightly glossy dark green, rounded and shallowly cut into 5 lobes, 4 to 8 cm wide. 

Mallows thrive in most soil types and require very little maintenance, making them a great ally for beginner gardeners and naturalistic planting. They prefer to be planted in full sun or partial shade (particularly in the south of France) and can handle chalky, limestone soils. 
Flowering May, June, July, August, September
Flower Color Pink
Exposure Full Sun
Frost Tolerance -10°C to -15°C
Size 80cm H x 80cm W, Outdoors
Soil Dry, Well-draining, Sandy, Chalky
Origin Europe
pda650
€5,90
10 left

🪴9x9 cm

🚂 Ships across EU
🌱 Grown in our nursery

☀️ Sun Loving
💦 Drought Tolerant
🌸 Long Flowering Season
🧑‍🍳 The young leaves and shoots are edible raw or cooked
Gardening Tips
The Botany


Wild Mallow belongs to the Malvaceae family, along with lavatera, hibiscus and hollyhocks.

It is a characteristic species of European wasteland with xerophilous perennials — that is, warm, dry environments. It grows naturally on clay-limestone soils, along paths and fences, on embankments and old walls.

The long, arid summers of the Mediterranean region suit it perfectly, and it is very common there. It is considered an indicator plant of human presence, past or present. It rarely lives more than three or four seasons, but self-seeds very readily.

It quickly forms large, bushy clumps that flower from spring through to the end of summer.


The flowers, 4 to 6 cm in diameter, are clustered in the leaf axils and made up of 5 notched petals in a mauve-pink colour streaked with dark purplish-violet. As they fade, the petals turn a bluish-violet.

The Myth

After pollination by insects, small round fruits form — known as "cheeses" — which gives the plant its folk name of Cheese Plant.

In Morocco, Tunisia and Palestine, Malva leaves are steamed with garlic and tomatoes, and eaten as an appetizer or salad. In Egypt, the leaves are made into a stew-like vegetable dish, especially in winter, known as khobeiza, which is similar to Molokheia.

In traditional medicine, M. sylvestris has been used in herbalism.

Mucilage is present in many of the family Malvaceae including M. sylvestris, especially the fruit. The seeds are used internally in a decoction or herbal tea as a demulcent, and the leaves may be used in poultices as an emollient for external applications.

It is also a fabulous dye plant - used as a natural yellow dye for centuries, producing dyes of various yellow-green colors from the plant and its seeds

Other Names:
Common mallow
Cheese
High mallow / Tall mallow
Mauve des bois

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