Study on some ecomorphological, phenological, and phytochemical characteristics of common mallow (Malva sylvestris L.) in two native habitats of Ferdows and Tabas regions

To compare some ecomorphological, phenological and phytochemical properties of common mallow (Malva sylvestris L.) in two regions Ferdows and Tabas, three habitats from each region were randomly selected and studied in 2018. Soil analysis of the habitats indicated the growth of the plant in sandy loam soils. On the other hand, the soil of these two habitats was alkaline with low salinity. Soil lime content was higher than crop soils. The results of phenological studies also showed that in Ferdows, this plant grows in early April and blooms in June. Then the seeds begin to ripen in late October and fall in late November. In Tabas, the plant begins to grow in the second half of March, flowers in May and flowering continues until early autumn. The seeds start to ripen in the second half of August and fall in early November. In Ferdows and Tabas, the recession period of plant activities coincided with dryness of the environment and the onset of the cold season, respectively. Phytochemical analysis of leaves, flowers, seeds, and stems extracts of the plant in two regions showed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, emodol or emodine, saponins, carbohydrates, starch, sterols, steroids, anthocyanosides, and cumarins in low to high amounts in each organ of the plant. Anthracenoside was not found in any of the three ethanol, aqueous and ether extracts. Also, four phenolic acids (linoleic, linolenic, synergic, and paracomaric acids) were detected by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) in seeds, stems, flowers, and leaves of the plant in both areas. The results also showed that the anthocyanin content of the leaves decreased with increasing the region's altitude.