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
Rhodiola rosea and 4 petals, yellow to greenish yellow in color sometimes tipped with red, about long, and blooming in summer. Several shoots growing from the same thick root may reach in height. "R. rosea" is dioecious – having separate female and male plants. "Rhodiola rosea" was first described by Pedanius Dioscorides in De Materia Medica. Western North American plants formerly included in "R. rosea" are now treated as "Rhodiola integrifolia" and "Rhodiola rhodantha". About 140 chemical compounds are in the subterranean portions of "R. rosea". "Rhodiola" roots contain phenols, rosavin, rosin, rosarin, organic acids, terpenoids, phenolic acids and their derivatives, flavonoids,