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What is a mallow?
Characteristics of mallow (Malva silvestris)
Common noun: Common mallow, high mallow
Scientific noun: Malva sylvestris L.
Family: Mallow family – Malvaceae
Habitat: By the side of the paths, waste lands and dry grasslands.
Mallow description
Perennial plant of the mallow family – malvaceae – up to 1,5 m.
Hairy stems, ligneous at the base, lying or erect.
Very variable leaves, generally palmately divided and lobed, with toothed lobes, and long stalks.
Pink or purple flowers, with darker purple veins, 2 to 4 cm wide. Sepals twice or four times smaller than petals.
Fruits with protruding angles, downy.
Picking-up and storing mallows
Spring is the best season to collect the flowers before they are in their bloom. Leaves should be collected when the plant is in full bloom either in Spring or Summer. They should be kept in a dry air-tightened container.
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Mallow uses
Mallow is a woody-stemmed perennial used as:
- Edible plant: The leaves are eaten as a vegetable, raw in salad or cooked in soups or garnishes.
- Colouring: The flowers and leaves are used for dyeing.
- For its fiber: The fiber from the stems of this plant can be used to make paper and rope.
- As a medicinal plant
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