Plant morphology

Mallow is a biennial or perennial erect herb with a plant height of about 50-90 cm, many branches and sparse coarse hairs. The marshmallow is a biennial erect herb. The plant is much taller than the mallow, up to 2 meters high, and the stems and branches are densely covered with barbed hair.

Leaf morphology

Compared with mallow, the leaves of marshmallow are larger, and the petiole of marshmallow is much longer than that of mallow.

Both sides of the leaf of Mallow are glabrous or only sparsely covered with short strigose on the veins, while both sides of marshmallow are hairy, sparsely covered with stellate pilose and rough on the top, and stellate hirsute or fluff on the bottom.

Stipules of Mallow, apex acuminate; Helianthus stipules apex 3-pointed.

Flower form

Mallow flowers are small and monotonous, usually purple and pink; The flowers of marshmallow are large and rich in color, including white, red, pink and yellow. The flowering period of marshmallow is from June to August, and that of mallow is from May to October.