Malva

Malva is a genus of about 25–30 species of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae (of which it is the type genus), one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Europe. The word "mallow" is derived from Old English "malwe", which was imported from Latin "malva", cognate with Ancient Greek μαλάχη (malakhē) meaning "mallow", both perhaps reflecting a Mediterranean term. A number of species, previously considered to belong to Lavatera, have been moved to Malva.

The leaves are alternate, palmately lobed. The flowers are from 0.5–5 cm diameter, with five pink or white petals.

The colour mauve was in 1859 named after the French name for this plant.

Cultivation and uses

Several species are widely grown as garden flowers, while some are invasive weeds, particularly in the Americas where they are not native.

Many species are edible as leaf vegetables and commonly foraged in the West. Known as ebegümeci in Turkish, it is used as vegetable in Turkey in various forms such as stuffing the leaves with bulgur or rice or using the boiled leaves as side dish. Malva verticillata (Chinese: 冬寒菜; pinyin: dōngháncài, Korean: 아욱 auk) is grown on a limited commercial scale in China; when made as a herbal infusion, it is used for its colon cleansing properties and as a weight loss supplement.

Malwa

Malwa is a natural region in west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, the historical Malwa region includes districts of western Madhya Pradesh and parts of south-eastern Rajasthan. The definition of Malwa is sometimes extended to include the Nimar region north of the Vindhyas.

The Malwa region had been a separate political unit from the time of the ancient Malava Kingdom. It has been ruled by several kingdoms and dynasties, including the Avanti Kingdom, the Mauryans, the Malavas, the Guptas, the Parmaras, the Malwa sultans, the Mughals and the Marathas. Malwa continued to be an administrative division until 1947, when the Malwa Agency of British India was merged into Madhya Bharat (also known as Malwa Union) state of independent India.

Although its political borders have fluctuated throughout history, the region has developed its own distinct culture, influenced by the Rajasthani, Marathi and Gujarati cultures. Several prominent people in the history of India have hailed from Malwa, including the poet and dramatist Kalidasa, the author Bhartrihari, the mathematicians and astronomers Varahamihira and Brahmagupta, and the polymath king Bhoja. Ujjain had been the political, economic, and cultural capital of the region in ancient times, and Indore is now the largest city and commercial centre.

Romula

Romula or Malva was an ancient city in Roman Dacia, later the village of Reşca, Dobrosloveni Commune, Olt County, Romania. It was the capital of Dacia Malvensis, one of the three subdivisions of the province of Dacia.

The Roman city of Romula lay on an earlier Dacian settlement called Malva. It received the title of municipium during the rule of Hadrian (117-138) and the title of colonia during that of Septimius Severus (193-211).

The city had two belts of fortifications and two castra, in which were temporarily located units of the Legiones VII Claudia and XXII Primigenia and permanent a unit (numerus) of Syrian archers.

History

Roman times

Archaeology

See also

Notes

References

Ancient

Modern

Further reading

External links