Prospero Alpini stated in 1592 that a plant of the mallow kind was eaten by the Egyptians. Mallow was an edible vegetable among the Romans a dish of marsh mallow was one of their delicacies. Most of the mallows have been used as food, and are mentioned by early classic writers with this connection. In Russia, the root syrup is sold without a prescription by pharmacies, with intent to treat respiratory and digestive ailments. Marshmallow is traditionally used as relief for irritation of mucous membranes, including use as a gargle for mouth and throat ulcers and gastric ulcers. This use is reflected in the name of the genus, which comes from the Greek ἀλθαίνειν ( althainein), meaning "to heal." The Latin specific epithet officinalis indicates plants with some culinary or medicinal value. officinalis (marshmallow) have been used in traditional herbal medicine. Marshmallows are used in gardening as ornamental plants. The roots are perennial, thick, long and tapering, very tough and pliant, whitish yellow outside, white and fibrous within.Ĭhemical constituents include altheahexacosanyl lactone ( n-hexacos-2-enyl-1,5-olide), 2β-hydroxycalamene (altheacalamene) and altheacoumarin glucoside (5,6-dihydroxycoumarin-5-dodecanoate-6β- D-glucopyranoside), along with the known phytoconstituents lauric acid, β-sitosterol and lanosterol. The common mallow is frequently called "marsh mallow" in colloquial terms, but the true marsh mallow is distinguished from all the other mallows growing in Great Britain by the numerous divisions of the outer calyx (six to nine cleft), by the hoary down which thickly clothes the stems and foliage, and by the numerous panicles of blush-coloured flowers, paler than the common mallow. The flowers are in bloom during August and September, and are followed, as in other species of this order, by the flat, round fruit which are popularly called "cheeses". The stamens are united into a tube, the anthers, kidney-shaped and one-celled. The lilac-pink flowers are shaped like those of the common mallow, but are smaller and of a pale colour, and are either axillary, or in panicles, more often the latter. They are soft and velvety on both sides, due to a dense covering of stellate hairs. The leaves are shortly petioled, roundish, ovate- cordate, 50 to 75 mm (2 to 3 in) long, and about 30 mm ( 1 + 1⁄ 4 in) broad, entire or three to five lobed, irregularly toothed at the margin, and thick. This herbaceous perennial has stems which die down in the autumn, They typically grow 90 to 120 cm (3 to 4 ft), but can reach 2.0 m ( 6 + 1⁄ 2 ft) and put out only a few lateral branches. A confection made from the root since ancient Egyptian times evolved into today's marshmallow treat, but most modern marshmallow treats no longer contain any marsh-mallow root. Althaea officinalis, the marsh mallow or marshmallow, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, which is used in herbalism and as an ornamental plant.
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