View source for Malvastrum coromandelianum (PROSEA)

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<big>''[[Malvastrum coromandelianum]]'' (L.) Garcke</big>
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:Family: Malvaceae

== Synonyms ==

''Malva coromandeliana'' L.

== Vernacular names ==

*Philippines: salsaluyut, babara (Ilokano), kinay-lumpay (Tagalog).

== Distribution ==

Of tropical American origin, but now pantropically distributed.

== Uses ==

In the Philippines the stems are made into brooms. The bast can be twisted into rope or woven into handicrafts. Bast fibre can be extracted from the stem by retting for 1 week or more in stagnant water. It is lustrous, strong and durable, creamy white, in older stems greyish-white. The leaves are employed to treat carbuncles.

== Observations ==

An erect, annual herb or undershrub, up to 1 m tall; stem with appressed, 4-armed stellate hairs. Leaves simple, alternate; stipules linear to lanceolate, 3-7 mm long; petiole 0.5-4 cm long; blade ovate to oblong, 2-6 cm × 0.7-4 cm, base acute, obtuse, rounded or truncate, apex obtuse to acute. Flowers axillary, often in clusters of 2-4; pedicel 2-5 mm long; epicalyx segments linear to lanceolate, shorter than the calyx; calyx widely campanulate, 5-fid, 7-9 mm long, 10-15 mm in diameter; corolla stellate, about 1.5 cm in diameter, yellow; staminal column 2-3 mm long, conical. Fruit a discoid schizocarp; mericarps 10-14. Seed reniform, up to 1.5 mm in diameter, glabrous. ''M. coromandelianum'' occurs in disturbed habitats up to about 1250 m altitude. It is sun-loving and prefers areas with a dry season. It is considered a weed in much of its range.The aerial parts of ''M. coromandelianum'' have shown analgesic effects in tests with mice.

== Selected sources ==

6, 19, 46, 115, 131, 142, 189.

== Authors ==

M. Brink, P.C.M. Jansen & C.H. Bosch

[[Category:Fibres (PROSEA)]]
[[Category:PROSEA]]