Malva nicaeensis is an annual or biennial herb producing a hairy, upright stem up to 60 centimetres (24 in) long.

Flowers appear in the leaf axils, each with pinkish to light purple petals around 1 cm (1⁄2 in) long.

The leaves and stems are edible, and are widely collected for food, as they make an excellent garnish when chopped and fried in olive-oil with onions and spices.

In Israel, the plant is renowned for having fed the besieged Jewish population in the 1948 Battle for Jerusalem, its use similar to spinach.

Apicius, a collection of Roman cookery recipes, mentions garum being used as a fish stock to flavor cooked mallows.