Musk mallow or Common mallow: how to tell them apart?
Musk mallow and Common mallow look alike and are often mixed up. Here is how to tell them apart, feature by feature, with their photos and the details to look for.
⚡ The quick answer
Musk mallow
Malva moschata
Common mallow
Malva sylvestris
Common mallow has large bright pink flowers with dark purple veins and rounded, barely lobed leaves, whereas musk mallow has paler flowers and a musky scent, with deeply cut upper leaves.
🍃 Leaves
Deeply cut into fine strips, bright green
Rounded, with 5-7 shallow lobes, long-stalked
🌸 Flowers
Large pale pink flowers with 5 notched petals, faintly musky
Pink-violet, veined darker, five notched petals
🍎 Fruits
Small fruits in a segmented disc
Small round, flat fruit, shaped like a miniature wheel of cheese
🪵 Bark
Upright herbaceous clump, hairy stems
Upright herbaceous stem, slightly hairy
📏 Size
40 to 80 cm tall
50 cm to 1.2 m
🗺️ Habitat
Meadows, banks, gardens, ordinary soils
Wasteland, path edges, rubble
⚠️ Toxicity
No known toxicity, edible plant.
No known toxicity; edible plant traditionally used in herbal medicine
🔎 And from the Common mallow side
Common mallow has large bright pink flowers with dark purple veins and rounded, barely lobed leaves, whereas musk mallow has paler flowers and a musky scent, with deeply cut upper leaves.
🌿 Go further
Want to practise spotting these details on real photos? Floraneo offers profiles and quizzes for dozens of look-alike species.
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.