Also known as Mallow Rose or Wild Cotton, this species is a tall plant with canelike stems reaching a height of six feet. The large ovate leaves are entire except for the lower ones, which may be lobed. The flowers are unusually large, sometimes reaching a diameter of six inches; in color the petals vary from white to cream, with red or crimson bases. Swamp Rose Mallow thrives in brackish as well as freshwater swamps, where the extensive "meadows" of these beautiful flowers make an arresting sight. Swamp Rose Mallow can be found from southern New England to Michigan, southward to Florida and Alabama; the flowers appear in July, and continue blossoming until September.
COMMON MALLOW
All of the mallows of the genus MaIva found in the United States are European plants which have escaped from cultivation and established themselves near dwellings and along roadsides. The Common Mallow, called Cheeses by children, is a trailing or erect annual with heart-shaped but lobed leaves and flowers clustered in the leaf axils. The calyx of each lower is surrounded by an outer cup of three leaf like bracts; the regular corolla consists of five petals. It can be found throughout the United States, and flowers from June to September. The still more common species, Malva neglecta, has more rounded lobes on its leaves.
MUSK MALLOW PLATE
This is a larger perennial plant, with stems up to two feet in height; its leaves are conspicuously and deeply lobed into narrow segments. The musk- scented flowers are clustered amid the leaves at the top of the plant. Musk Mallow flowers, essentially similar to those of the other mallows, have petals which are distinctly notched at the apex. Its range is from New England to Maryland, west to Nebraska; the flowers appear in June and July.
MARSHMALLOW
This inhabitant of either freshwater or brackish marshes is also a European immigrant which has made itself at home from Connecticut to Virginia. It is a rank-growing herbaceous perennial with stems up to six feet in height. The ovate leaves are somewhat three-lobed with conspicuous venation. Marshmallow flowers are pink or white, up to two inches in diameter with a number of narrow bracts beneath the calyx. The stamens form the usual column around the pistil and are united with the base of the petals. The flowering period is from July through October. The root of this species was the source of the original mucilaginous_ material known as marshmallow paste.
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