For one of our final Flower Friday’s of the season, we’re going to demonstrate one of our most favorite flowers! This particular species of Mallow is an extra special one, too!
The true name of this flower is Malva, indicative of its genus being from the Malvaceae family. This family is comprised of about 60 different species. Though Mallow specifically may not be familiar to you, you’re likely familiar with other flowers in this family like Hibiscus and Hollyhock. This family of flowers are sometimes called “The Mallows.”
Given the name, it’s likely to remind you of marshmallows. One of the earliest culinary uses, as far back as Egyptian times, used the roots of a specific Mallow species to develop this well known sugary treat. Unfortunately, modern marshmallows are no longer made from the Mallow root, despite the confection holding onto its etymologic roots.
Many varieties of mallow are edible. In places like Turkey and throughout much of western Asia, the mallow leaves are harvested. Young leaves are often eaten raw in salads and other dishes, whereas more mature leaves are cooked down like spinach. Some varieties produce an edible fruit, called cheeses. And yes, it’s because they look like small cheeses!
Mallow do tend to be rather bioactive, having a rich history in eastern and other forms of natural medicine. In Spain, the mallow was used to treat the stinging sensation received when coming into contact with nettles. Given its various natural compounds, it has also been used to treat skin disorders, respiratory issues and gastrointestinal problems. It also exhibits good antiseptic properties, being used to treat burns, wounds, tonsilitis and other issues.
Modern medicine has also taken an interest to mallow, with several studies showing it to be incredibly bioactive. These studies have illustrated the mallow flower to provide many beneficial compounds, including having antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer and anti-inflammatory capabilities. In the cancer research world, certain mallow extracts have demonstrated cytotoxic activity against human cancer cells. All of
this makes the mallow a pharmacologically interesting plant!
Given that this flower’s native region being Africa, Asia and some of Europe, it’s still holding up remarkably well given our cooler temperatures of late. We find it to be remarkably cold tolerant, often lasting past our initial frosts. It’s a mid-season bloomer, providing us with long lasting and gorgeous blooms throughout the latter half of summer.
We’re particularly enamored by this particular species of Mallow. The neon pink color with a splash of green in the center is a super unique thing to see among flowers. We find it almost iridescent. This year, we planted it among Nicotiana and it has provided us with a wonderful, tall pink and white display in our whiskey barrel planters.
We hope you all have a great weekend! We’re looking like we’re going to get swamped with rain here soon, so we’ll dodging rain drops as much as we can! We’ve got harvesting and preservation to do!
