Nature on our doorsteps: Marvellous Mallows

A plant that is sometimes seen growing on waste ground, along roadside edges and railway lines is the tall, spreading, Common Mallow.

This plant belongs to a large group of plants that also includes the wild Marsh Mallow, and the flowering garden bush called Lavatera.

Common Mallow can grow up to 1.5m high on sturdy stems that are covered in short fine hairs.

Its green leaves have five lobes, and its flowers are a lovely shade of pink. Indeed, the French word for Mallow is ‘mauve’, which gives this particular shade of pink its name.

The flowers have 5 big petals that have purple-coloured veins running in towards the centre of the flower.

These act as guidelines for visiting insects, directing them into the base of the petal where the flower’s rich nectar is stored.

This attracts bumblebees, butterflies, hoverflies, and honeybees.

Purple lines on Mallow’s petals help direct visiting insects down into the store of nectar

Common Mallow grows extensively across Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia, and it was well known for centuries as a medicinal plant to treat colds, coughs, and inflammatory problems.

The leaves and stems were boiled to extract its sticky sap. After this was cooled and sieved, it was either drunk or it was mixed with egg white and honey to be eaten as a healing, comforting treatment.

One of Common Mallow’s relatives is the Marsh Mallow, a plant that grows in wet grasslands and marshes.

Because the roots of Marsh Mallow are particularly rich in the sticky sap, this plant was once widely grown and used in folk medicine.

In the 19th Century, however, French chefs added cornstarch to the medicinal mixture.

This gave it a fluffy texture and made it easier to pour it into sweet moulds. This was when Marshmallow sweets became very popular as a confectionary.

Today, Marshmallow sweets no longer contain the sticky medicinal extract of Mallow root.

The main ingredients include sugar, water, and lots of whipped-in air. Instead of Mallow’s sticky root sap, gelatin is now used as the stiffening agent.