DESCRIPTION: It is a perennial, herbaceous plant reaching up to 90-120 cm in height and 30-70 cm in width. It has deeply lobed leaf margins, the lower leaves being palmate with 5 indistinct lobes and the upper pinnate. The flowers are 3.5-5 cm wide, hermaphrodite with five petals and white or pink. Petals deeply notched at the tip and with vague, darker lines.
USE: The flowers, leaves, oil and seed are edible. The leaves can be used raw or cooked and have a mild pleasant flavour. Flowers and seed are eaten raw. The plant can be utilized for dye, fibre and oil. A fibre obtained from the stem is used for making cordage. Cream, yellow and green dyes can be obtained from the plant and the seed heads. The leaves are demulcent. They are also used as a mouthwash for inflammatory and catarrhal conditions. It is a very ornamental plant grown as a garden perennial. GROWING PERIOD: Perennial but quite short-lived. COMMON NAMES: Hollyhock mallow, Large-flowered mallow, Pink mallow.
European mallow. FURTHER INF: It is a plant of disturbed habitats, particularly roadsides and fields. Also found in woodland, cultivated beds, gardens, vineyards, waste places at sunny edge or in light shade. In Europe it can be found from southern Scandinavia to the northern Mediterranean and from Central France to beyond Poland and in North America in North-eastern United States. |