Herbs biennial, 50-100(-120) cm tall; stem sparsely stellate velutinous. Stipules ovate-lanceolate, 3-5 × 2-4 mm, stellate puberulent; petiole 2-8(-15) cm, puberulent in adaxial groove, glabrescent; leaf blade reniform or round, (3-)5-11 × (2-)5-11 cm, both surfaces very sparsely strigose or subglabrous, 5-7-lobed, lobes rounded or acute, margin crenate-serrate. Flowers 3- to many-fascicled, axillary. Pedicels 2-15(-40) mm. Epicalyx lobes filiform-lanceolate, (3-)5-6 mm, ciliate. Calyx cup-shaped, 5-8 mm, lobes broadly triangular, sparsely stellate strigose. Corolla whitish to reddish, slightly longer than sepals; petals 6-8 mm, apex retuse; claw glabrous or sparsely hairy. Filament tube 3-4 mm, glabrous or with a few simple hairs. Style branches 10-11. Schizocarp flat-globose, 5-7 mm in diam.; mericarps 10-12, abaxially smooth, ca. 1 mm thick, angles rounded and rugose, sides reticulate. Seeds purple-brown, reniform, ca. 1.5 mm in diam., glabrous. Fl. Mar-Nov.

This species is similar to Malva parviflora but differs in having a glabrous staminal column and obviously reticulate mericarps.

Hills, plains, also cultivated and becoming weedy. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, India, Korea, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan; E Africa (Ethiopia), Europe; invasive weed in North America].