Plant of the week with Alexander McCowan

If you like hollyhocks, you’ll love these

Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis, Mallards or Schloss tea) is a perennial member of the Malvaceae family, growing in moist and marshy areas of Europe. The plant attains a height of about 2m, with slender stems and lobed alternate velvety leaves, which shield the racemes of pink flowers that cluster in the axils and convert into the familiar seed pods, that are commonly called cheeses. Hollyhocks and hibiscus are members of this family.

There are thought to be over 1,000 members of this family, which derives its name from the Greek word malakos soft.

The herb has a biblical reference in the book of Job, while Dioscorides extolled its virtues as a soothing demulcent. Pliny the Elder stated ‘Whosoever shall take a spoon of the mallow, shall that day, be free from all diseases that may come to him’. Charlemagne ordered that mallows be planted throughout his kingdom to ensure an abundant supply and Culpeper cured his son of the ‘bloody flux’ in two days by administering mallow steeped in milk. The Romans used mallow flowers to decorate their graves.

The whole plant contains flavanoids, mucilage, tannins, scopoletin and the amino acid asparagine. This makes it demulcent, emollient, nutrient, alterative, antilithic, antitussive, vulnery and diuretic.

Marshmallow is a medicinal herb that has been used for over 3,000 years. The root of the herb is a major source of mucilage, which protects the mucous membranes and gives relief and protection in cases of inflammation of the alimentary canal, kidneys and bladder, also ulceration of the colon, stomach and duodenum. The plant is used to treat hiatus hernia, bronchitis and asthma, cystitis and diarrhoea. Poultices made from the leaf and flower are applied to festering wounds and to draw deeply imbedded thorns and splinters. A gargle made from the shredded root will give instant relief to inflamed and irritating throat and nasal membranes.

Marshmallows have been eaten by humans for thousands of years; the French still collect the growing tips and add them to salads, in Cyprus, the tender leaves are cooked like spinach. Anyone that likes hollyhocks in the garden, should try marshmallow, they are more rewarding.

Next week Plantain

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.