Malva alcea Malva alcea Malva alcea (greater musk-mallow, cut-leaved mallow, vervain mallow or hollyhock mallow) is a plant in the mallow family native to southwestern, central and eastern Europe and southwestern Asia, from Spain north to southern Sweden and east to Russia and Turkey. It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 50–125 cm tall, with stems covered in stellate hairs, meaning they branch at the free end into several strands. The leaves are 2–8 cm long and 2–8 cm broad, palmately lobed with five to seven blunt lobes; basal leaves on the lower stem are very shallowly lobed, those higher on
Acis rosea (flower stalks) are short, 1–5 mm long. There are two spathes. "Acis rosea" was first described in 1804 by F. Martin, as "Leucojum roseum". In 1829, Robert Sweet transferred it to "Acis". However, "Acis" was not accepted by most botanists, who continued to use a broadly circumscribed "Leucojum". "Acis" was reinstated in 2004, after it was determined on morphological and molecular grounds that the broadly defined genus "Leucojum" was paraphyletic. "Acis rosea" is native to the two western Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia. It is found in rocky ground, dry pastures and sandy places. "Acis rosea" is cultivated as