Authors: Franch.
A formerly popular houseplant, but highly allergenic, probably representing cultivated forms of P. forbesii. A tender biennial or annual species with tiers of whorls of pink (to lilac or white) flat-faced flowers with notched petals with slender silver calyces borne on silver-farinose slender stems. Leaves hairy, crinkled, dentate and often mealy especially below. Western China as a weed of beanfields etc, flowering in winter, now very scarce. It is unclear whether modern P. malacoides ever occurred in the wild or was developed in cultivation. Still a popular bedding plant in subtropical areas, e.g. Sydney.
