Mallow!!

Unidentified dormant mallow bush from the hill.

There is no doubt about it, there is mallow, from the big happy family Malvaceae, on the hill!  Multiple kinds of mallow, big mallow, little mallow, mallow that may creep along.  Having multiple types of mallow is encouraging because there are mallows native to San Diego County, multiple types of mallow!  This means the prospect of FINALLY finding a native plant may be increasing!  YEAH!!  The excitement grows, the native mallows are EXQUISITE!  DOUBLE YEAH!!!  Then reality sets in, there are a few non-native mallows out there too, also called cheeseweed (Malva neglecta) for the shape of the seed pod.   I don't know that they get this big though...  hmm...  and summer dormant...  feels pretty native to me.

I just need to figure out what I have.  There is helpful information out there about identifying mallows on foraging blogs, why because it is edible.  Mallow is the “mallow” in marshmallow before the food industry combined high fructose corn syrup, gelatin, and high speed mixing.  There is just one teensy problem right now, I can’t identify what I have.  The bush, while clearly a mallow at one time can only be identified now as Malva deadest.

Then I have a second problem, as mallow is edible, enter my ole’ pal, ole buddy Mr. Gopher, and his band of brothers, sisters, cousins, and random gophers he allows crash at his pad “the hill.”  It appears, they have not found the modern concoction of corn syrup and gelatin and still frequently dine on the more traditional delicacy.  What is not dead can only be identified as Malva disapeara.

Here one day.....

Gone the next....  Malva disapeara?  or just a gopher treat...

C’est la vie! 

Mallows are annuals, biennials, or short-lived perennials that reproduce by seeds.  I am leaving the bush and its seeds as they are in the hopes that it will show itself again in the future.  The fact that there is a “bush” of mallow the gophers did not touch is reassuring. The fact that the smaller mallow are a gopher delicacy makes me not too worried that I need to “control” it.  At least not until I get the herbopredators (aka gophers) under control.

Speaking of herbopredators again, before I could even post this Malva deadest became Malva dessertii.  The herbopredators made the giant bush into a very tasty meal, even though it was largely dead..  so again... C'est la vie!  Hope some seeds made it.  

Malva deadest made into gopher Malva dessertti