Common Mallow Identification Guide
Identify common mallow by its rounded, shallowly lobed leaves on long stalks, small pinkish-white five-petaled flowers, and flat disc-shaped 'cheese' fruits.
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Key Identifying Features
Common mallow (Malva neglecta), also called cheeseweed, is a low-spreading annual or biennial with rounded, shallowly lobed leaves held on long stalks and small pinkish-white five-petaled flowers. Its most distinctive feature is the fruit: a flat, round, segmented disc that looks like a tiny wheel of cheese, which gives the plant its "cheeseweed" nickname. It often sprawls from a stout taproot in a circular mat.
- Rounded, shallowly lobed leaves with scalloped edges
- Long leaf stalks attaching near the leaf center
- Small pink-to-white flowers with five notched petals
- Flat, round, cheese-wheel-shaped fruits
Leaves & Stems
Leaves are circular to kidney-shaped, 1 to 3 inches wide, with 5 to 7 shallow rounded lobes and toothed margins, somewhat crinkled, and attached by a long stalk that joins near the center-back of the leaf (giving an almost umbrella-like look). A small reddish spot often marks the leaf base where the stalk attaches. Stems sprawl outward along the ground, then turn up at the tips, and are slightly hairy. The plant grows from a deep, tough taproot.
Flowers & Fruit
Flowers are small, about half an inch across, white to pale pink or lavender with five petals, each notched at the tip and often marked with darker veins. They arise in clusters from the leaf axils. The fruit is the signature feature: a flat, round, button-like disc that breaks into wedge-shaped segments like a miniature wheel of cheese — hence "cheeseweed." Flowering and fruiting continue through the growing season.
How to Tell It Apart from Look-Alikes
- Ground ivy (creeping Charlie): Has scalloped rounded leaves too but is in the mint family with square stems, opposite leaves, and a minty smell; mallow stems are round and leaves alternate.
- Velvetleaf: Same family but much taller with large velvety heart-shaped leaves and crown-shaped pods.
- Geranium/cranesbill seedlings: Have more deeply divided leaves and beaked fruits, not flat cheese-wheel discs.
Where You'll Find It
Common mallow grows in gardens, lawns, roadsides, vacant lots, cultivated fields, and disturbed waste ground throughout temperate regions. It tolerates compacted, poor soils and full sun, and its deep taproot makes established plants persistent. It is common in vegetable gardens and along fences.
Quick ID Checklist
- Rounded, shallowly lobed scalloped leaves on long stalks
- Round (not square) sprawling stems
- Small pink-white five-petaled flowers
- Flat, round cheese-wheel-shaped fruits
- Deep taproot; sprawling mat habit
Round scalloped leaves plus the flat cheese-wheel fruit confirm common mallow.
Frequently asked questions
Why is common mallow called cheeseweed?
Its fruit is a flat, round, segmented disc that breaks into wedge-shaped pieces resembling a tiny wheel of cheese cut into slices. This distinctive 'cheese' fruit is the easiest way to confirm the plant.
How do I tell common mallow from ground ivy?
Both have rounded scalloped leaves, but ground ivy is a mint with square stems, opposite leaves, and a minty smell, while common mallow has round stems, alternate leaves, and the signature cheese-wheel fruits.
Why is common mallow hard to pull out?
It grows from a deep, tough taproot. Established plants resist hand-pulling because the top breaks off while the root remains, allowing the plant to regrow.
Where does common mallow grow?
It grows in gardens, lawns, roadsides, vacant lots, cultivated fields, and disturbed waste ground throughout temperate regions, tolerating compacted, poor soils and full sun.
Common Mallow identified by the community
Recent Common Mallow specimens identified with Plant Identifier.
