MalvaPseudolavatera
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Malva pseudolavatera Contoversy
© W.P. Armstrong & S. Disparti (20 April 2024)   

The Palomar College campus and arboretum has a splendid collection of trees and shrubs in the plant family Malvaceae. The native species Malacothamnus fasciculatus is common in the hills of coastal sage scrub east of campus. There are also several naturalized Malva species in nearby Twin Oaks Valley and throughout San Diego County. One of the most historically interesting, fast spreading species with beautiful flowers is Malva pseudolavatera. I believe it is listed incorrectly as Malva multiflora in many scholarly floras, such as the Jepson Flora of Calif. Vascular Plants and World Flora Online. I have attempted to shed some light on this complicated taxonomic controversy in following paragraphs. [Note: Although the cotton seed bug Oxycarenus hyalinipennis has been found on this Malva species in south Escondido, I have not observed it in Twin Oaks Valley. I will check during the coming summer & fall months.]

The naturalized Malva link is especially interesting because it mentions the edible M. parviflora that grows in Syria, Paslistine & Gaza. In fact, starving Palistinians in Gaza were eating this nourishing, cooked herb during the Israeli war with Hamas. M. pseudolavatera also grows in this region.

Cretan Mallow (Malva pseudolavatera) in Twin Oaks Valley

Listing For Malva pseudolavatera in Jepson eFlora

Malva multiflora (Cav.) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso NATURALIZED Habit: Annual, biennial, subshrub, sparsely stellate hairy. Stem: 10--30 dm; base woody or not. Leaf: blade 4--10 cm, shallowly 5-lobed above, crenate, base truncate to +- cordate. Inflorescence: flowers in leaf axils; involucel calyx, bractlet free parts ovate to round. Flower: calyx +- 4 mm, greatly larger in fruit; petals 1--1.6 cm, white to pale pink, generally with 3 dark veins. Fruit: segments 7--10, glabrous to puberulent, generally +- cross-ridged on back. Chromosomes: 2n=44,112. Ecology: Uncommon. Disturbed places on coastal bluffs, dunes, occasionally inland; Elevation: 50 m. Bioregional Distribution: CCo, SCo; Distribution Outside California: native to southern Europe. Flowering Time: Apr--Jun Synonyms: Lavatera cretica L.; Malva linnaei M.F. Ray superfl.; Malva pseudolavatera Webb. & Berthel. Jepson eFlora Author: Steven R. Hill

Naturalized Malva in San Diego County & Elsewhere in Coastal California
[Malva multiflora (Cav.) Soldano, Banfi & Galasso invalid because incorrect basionym.]

Listed as Malva pseudolavatera Webb & Berthel. in 2012 The Jepson Manual (2nd Edition)

Our tentative name for this Malva species: Malva pseudolavatera (L.) Webb & Berthel.
See following correction for our tentative binomial by Christopher Davis at Cambridge University, UK.

Correction by Christopher Davis (Personal Communication, 22 April 2024): "The (L.) in names implies that the basionym was published by Linnaeus, and used in a later combination. That would have been the case if the combination “Malva cretica” had been possible for Lavatera cretica L., but that name was already taken for an entirely different species. However, Malva pseudolavatera was the original name, not a combination."

Webb & Berthelot (1836) transferred basionym Lavatera cretica L. (1753) to the genus Malva; however, Malva cretica already existed & applied to a different species. In other words, an invalid homonym (Malva cretica) would be produced if they did not also change specific epithet cretica. Therfore, they came up with a completely new name for this species (Malva pseudolavatera Webb & Berthel.) that does not require Linnaeus as parenthetical authority (L.). I am very familiar with the complexity & ramifications of changing historic plant names in my research on duckweed subfamily Lemnoideae (formerly Lemnaceae). The following link explains how changing historical 200-year-old type specimen in duckweed family can cause enormous chaos in the taxonomy of duckweeds.

  Changing Type Specimen (Basionym) Lemna punctata G.F.W. Meyer.  

Malva multiflora cannot be the correct binomial because the basionym Malope multiflora description by Cavanilles in 1786 doesn't match flowers of our Malva species. Flora Europea Vol.2 (1968) describes Malope multiflora as "3-4 small, white flowers in each leaf-axil" (See Addendum). In adition, Cavanilles (1786) also includes Lavatera cretica L. in his same publication. Therefore, Malva multiflora published by Soldano, Banfi, & Galasso (2005) cannot be used because basionym they selected (Malope multiflora) does not describe any known species. (See Addendum). Lavatera cretica named by Linnaeus in 1753 (Species Plantarum) appears to be the earliest correct description. Since holotype was not designated by Linnaeus, a lectotype for Linnaeus collection was published in Collectanea Botanica (1968). The new binomial Malva pseudolavatera was published by Webb & Berthel. in 1836.

Addendum:

D.A. Webb (Flora Europea Vol. 2, 1968, Cambridge Univ. Press) has an interesting statement under Malope multiflora Cav.: "Malope multifora Cav. from S. Spain has never been seen since its original discovery and may belong to some other genus. It is said to have 3-4 small, white flowers in each leaf-axil." According to Fernandes (Flora Iberica, 2006), Lavatera cretica L. is the accepted name for Malope multiflora. This latter synonomy might be the source of some confusion since this statement does not agree with previous statement by D.A. Webb in Flora Europea.

The correct name Malva pseudolavatera (incorrectly accepted as M. multiflora) needs to be clarified in an updated, peer-reviewed publication. For example, there is remarkable confusion using search command for this species and its synonyms in the database for Consortium of California Herbaria.

Malva pseudolavatera Is Correct Name; Malva multiflora Invalid Binomial
From C.J. Davis At Cambridge University (Personal Communication, 6 November 2019)

... "Yes, the nomenclature has been a bit tricky. It started when Martin Forbes Ray did his PhD on the circumscription of Malva, and realised that Lavatera cretica (and others such as L. arborea) was really a species of Malva, very close to M. sylvestris (type species, as well as M. neglecta & M. nicaeensis), all occurring in California as introductions. He renamed L. cretica as Malva linnaei, but this wasn't really necessary, since the species had already been named."

"Unfortunately, J.A. Devesa (Flora Vascular de Andalucía Occidental, 1987) had included the obscure name Malope multiflora as a synonym of Lavatera cretica. I corresponded with him, and we attempted to track down any evidence such as type material, to no avail. However, even the description as it stands cannot refer to Lavatera cretica. I had imagined this description (attached) referred to something like Malachra fasciata, but it's really impossible to tell. I've also attached my old correspondence with Devesa. Please feel free to use any of this. For this reason, Malva multiflora is an invalid combination, and Malva pseudolavatera (an ugly mouthful to be sure) stands."

In his reply, Dr. Devisa stated "I have revised my notes about the inclusion of Malope multiflora Cav. into Lavatera cretica L. in Flora Vasc. And. Occid. (which I still keep), and I do not have this name assigned into it. It was likely included in the edition phase previous to the publication of Flora Vascular de Andalucía Occidental (Valdés & al., 1987), where it was intended to include all the species described in the territory. If so, it was based on an interpretation of the protologue, since there is no type material. Consequently, I think that without further information and without the existence of the type, the name is very difficult to interpret and should not be used in any sense.

Steven Disparti & I recently (20 April 2024) checked the online version of J.A. Devesa & J. Paira Flora Vascular de Andalucía Occidental (Malvaceae) and it still has Malope multiflora listed as a synonym of Lavatera cretica.

Additional note from WPA & S. Disparti (14 Nov 2019): We have consulted several scholarly Italian & Spanish references where supposed basionym Malope multiflora is described as having "3-4 small, white flowers in each leaf-axil" and Lavatera cretica is listed as a separate species. This is clearly not the plant we know as Malva pseudolavatera; therefore, Malva multiflora cannot be the correct name for our plant.