Classification of Mallow

King­dom: Plants

Clade: Angiosperm (Flower plant); Eudi­cots

Order: Mal­vale

Fam­i­ly: Mal­vaceae

Introducing the Family Malvaceae

The Mal­vaceae fam­i­ly is impres­sive. Many if not all of these fam­i­ly mem­bers seem to offer a pow­er­house of med­i­c­i­nal ben­e­fits. I am impressed with the diver­si­fied nature of the species with­in this fam­i­ly. A few of its fam­i­ly mem­bers are list­ed below.

• Cot­ton
• Hibis­cus
• Okra
• Cacao
• Hol­ly­hock
• Marsh­mal­low
• Com­mon Mal­low

Common Mallow, Genus Malva

Although com­mon mal­low is not as pow­er­ful as its rel­a­tive marsh­mal­low, it still has its use­ful­ness and is wor­thy of men­tion. Com­mon Mal­low can be found near­ly every­where. This avail­abil­i­ty makes it both acces­si­ble and valu­able. Come along with me as we explore and dis­cov­er how diver­si­fied com­mon mal­low is.

Environments Common Mallow Thrives in

Com­mon mal­low thrives in every grow­ing con­di­tion, from waste­lands to the trop­ics. It can be trans­for­ma­tive as it changes com­pact­ed waste­land into a well con­di­tioned earth. This trans­for­ma­tive abil­i­ty com­bined with it’s nutri­ent rich con­stituents and abil­i­ty to thrive in any con­di­tion make it an excel­lent con­tender as a cov­er crop. Peo­ple and crea­tures love com­mon mal­low. The bees love it too. What­ev­er attracts bees is wel­come in my back­yard!

Common Mallow History and Ancient Traditions

I am not the only one who appre­ci­ates this lit­tle herb. In fact, most ancient cul­tures shared this appre­ci­a­tion, valu­ing mal­low as a plant with rich his­tor­i­cal sig­nif­i­cance. For instance, com­mon mal­low was a trea­sured veg­etable in local mar­kets through­out antiq­ui­ty. Fur­ther­more, mal­low was prized not only for its nutri­tion­al con­tent but also for its ver­sa­til­i­ty as a med­i­c­i­nal plant. Con­se­quent­ly, the ancients used this herb to treat a wide range of con­di­tions, includ­ing sore­ness, swelling, gas­troin­testi­nal issues, coughs, and skin prob­lems.

Modern Thoughts

Unlike cul­tures of the past, in today’s mod­ern world, com­mon mal­low is under­ap­pre­ci­at­ed. It is seen more as a nui­sance weed ver­sus a nutri­tion­al sta­ple and med­i­c­i­nal mar­vel. For exam­ple, you will find meth­ods for marsh­mal­low weed erad­i­ca­tion, instead of instruc­tions on the prin­ci­ples of its med­i­c­i­nal appli­ca­tions. For­tu­nate­ly, there are still groups of peo­ple who real­ize the val­ue of this ancient herb and its diverse med­i­c­i­nal appli­ca­tions.

Modern Uses of Mallow

Com­mon mal­low, with its unique sooth­ing prop­er­ties, is a herb that not only offers a range of culi­nary pos­si­bil­i­ties but also packs a nutri­tion­al punch. All parts of this herb, from the roots to the leaves, fruit, and flow­ers, are edi­ble. These aer­i­al parts can be enjoyed in their raw form or cooked. When cooked, the leaves and roots reveal their mucilagi­nous prop­er­ties, adding a unique tex­ture and a wealth of nutri­ents to your dish­es.

Young mal­low leaves and flow­ers, with their mild fla­vor, can add a delight­ful touch to any sal­ad. When cooked, the old­er leaves resem­ble spinach. For a crunchy snack, try fry­ing some leaves in hot avo­ca­do oil to make mal­low chips. The roots, when cooked, can be used to cre­ate a fan­tas­tic veg­etable cream, or blend­ed with water to make a nutri­tious plant-based milk. And don’t for­get the fruit of mal­low, which look like mini cheese wheels and have a unique, deli­cious taste when picked fresh and eat­en on their own, a fla­vor that will sure­ly pique your curios­i­ty and leave you eager for more!

Medicinal Facts

The com­mon mal­low’s high mucilage con­tent makes it an effec­tive anti-inflam­ma­to­ry. Com­mon mal­low helps to heal and reg­u­late the uri­nary, diges­tive, and res­pi­ra­to­ry sys­tems.  This mucilage is rich in pro­tein and Carbs. 

Mal­low, being mucilagi­nous, has a unique qual­i­ty when brewed into a tea. The tea nat­u­ral­ly thick­ens, cre­at­ing a gen­tle coat­ing for your throat and diges­tive tract. This nat­ur­al thick­en­ing is a key fea­ture that makes mal­low tea an effec­tive rem­e­dy for a sore throat.

Mal­low improves sleep, treats headaches, and reduces some of the signs of aging.  Add mal­low to improve face masks.  

You can har­vest the leaves from spring through sum­mer, and the mal­low flow­ers in late spring. Mid-sum­mer is when the mal­low seed pods are formed. The har­vest­ed mal­low herb should be dried and stored in a cool dry place. The dried herb is now ready to make tea or tinc­tures.

Constituents of The Common Mallow Plant

The Prop­er­ties are list­ed below.

• Vit­a­min A, B, C and E
• Inulin (pre­dom­i­nate­ly the root)
• Mag­ne­sium
• Zinc
• Sele­ni­um
• Potas­si­um
• Iron

Com­mon mal­low’s glob­al pop­u­lar­i­ty is a tes­ta­ment to its impres­sive range of uses. Whether it’s enhanc­ing the fla­vor of your din­ner, pro­vid­ing a boost to your health, or offer­ing a relax­ing tea expe­ri­ence. Con­sid­er adding this plant to your back­yard gar­den. Com­mon mal­low has it all. Join the glob­al com­mu­ni­ty of mal­low enthu­si­asts and dis­cov­er its won­ders in your next soup or sal­ad, know­ing that you’re tak­ing care of your health.

Marshmallow, Genus Althaea

Now I get to intro­duce you to the pow­er­house, the marsh­mal­low plant! Marsh­mal­low is in the same fam­i­ly as the Com­mon Mal­low plant. Although marsh­mal­low seems to have many more prac­ti­cal and med­i­c­i­nal uses than its coun­ter­part, com­mon mal­low. Marsh­mal­low thrives in the same envi­ron­ments as com­mon mal­low. 

History and Ancient Traditions of Marshmallow

The marsh­mal­low plant, a main sta­ple for sev­er­al thou­sand years, has a cap­ti­vat­ing his­to­ry that dates back to ancient Egypt around 2000 BC. The marsh­mal­low plant, ini­tial­ly a med­ical won­der, under­went a remark­able trans­for­ma­tion and also became known as a sweet can­dy, made with its sap, hon­ey, and nuts. This treat became a cher­ished sweet can­dy reserved for roy­al­ty, known as the marsh­mal­low.

The Arabs per­fect­ed this prac­tice dur­ing the medieval era by extract­ing marsh­mal­low root juice, mak­ing an excel­lent bind­ing agent for delec­table con­fec­tions. Lat­er, by the 1700s, the French made a sig­nif­i­cant culi­nary inno­va­tion by intro­duc­ing the more mod­ern ver­sion of the marsh­mal­low. They , a loss that we should be con­cerned about,accomplished this by com­bin­ing marsh­mal­low sap with egg whites, sug­ar, and rose water, cre­at­ing a foamy meringue-like con­fec­tion. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, today’s man­u­fac­tur­ers have dropped the med­i­c­i­nal marsh­mal­low root ingre­di­ent and replaced it with genet­i­cal­ly mod­i­fied ingre­di­ents mixed with gelatin.

Ancient Rome con­sid­ered this herb a nutri­tion­al sta­ple. Marsh­mal­low was a del­i­ca­cy in ancient Chi­na. Most of the ancient world used marsh­mal­low as a pow­er­ful med­i­cine. The plant was sold in the mar­ket­place as a trea­sured veg­etable.

Modern World View of Marshmallow

It’s a pity that in the USA, the marsh­mal­low root, much like the com­mon mal­low, is often over­looked as a ‘weed’. How­ev­er, in many oth­er coun­tries, this plant is high­ly regard­ed for its nutri­tion­al and med­i­c­i­nal prop­er­ties. It’s a sta­ple in mar­kets world­wide, and its taste is akin to parsnips. The marsh­mal­low root is a trea­sure trove of health ben­e­fits, wait­ing to be dis­cov­ered. Nutri­tion is not the only use of the marsh­mal­low plant in mod­ern times. The root sap can be used as a sub­sti­tute for egg whites. The stem’s fibers can be used to make cordage and paper.

Medicinal Uses of Marshmallow

Mucilaginous Traits

The marsh­mal­low plant, with its high mucilage con­tent, is a potent heal­er. This gum­my sub­stance, secret­ed by some plants, is a blend of pro­tein and car­bo­hy­drates. The mucilage gives the plant its demul­cent prop­er­ties, which are instru­men­tal in pro­tect­ing tis­sues and sooth­ing inflamed cells. This unique fea­ture not only enables the herb to heal the diges­tive tract, soothe the uri­nary tract, and even treat skin issues such as boils and ulcers, but also pro­vides a pro­tec­tive shield to our body. In essence, the marsh­mal­low plant is a stand­out demul­cent, sooth­ing, and coating,bringing relief to our body.

Gen­er­al­ly speak­ing, marsh­mal­low root helps to heal col­i­tis, irri­ta­ble bow­el syn­drome, and diver­ti­c­uli­tis. The root also heals such ail­ments as dry cough, bronchial asth­ma, bronchial con­ges­tion, jam­ming of the bron­chi­oles, and pleurisy.

Applications of The Marshmallow Plant

Infusion

To make this tea, place about two tea­spoons of dried marsh­mal­low leaves or root into a tea infuser and put it into a mug. Then, add 1 cup of boil­ing water and allow it to steep for 10–15 min­utes.

Decoction

A decoc­tion, the result of boil­ing a plant to release its essence into a thick, con­cen­trat­ed liquor, is a process that is of utmost impor­tance in this recipe. It requires spe­cif­ic ingre­di­ents, with 25 grams of Marsh­mal­low root being a key com­po­nent that adds unique fla­vor and health ben­e­fits. Start by plac­ing 1 liter of pure or dis­tilled water into a pan. Then, add the Marsh­mal­low root. Final­ly, bring the mix­ture to a boil and con­tin­ue boil­ing until it has reduced to 750 ml.

Poultice

A poul­tice is a soft, moist mass of plant mate­r­i­al that is applied to the body to relieve sore­ness or inflam­ma­tion and kept in place with a cloth. There are a few dif­fer­ent types of poul­tices you can make with the marsh­mal­low plant; they are list­ed below.

• Make a poul­tice with fresh leaves. First, mac­er­ate the leaves into a pulp. Bind the poul­tice with flour or clay to help it adhere togeth­er. Apply to the skin and cov­er with an organ­ic fab­ric.
• A poul­tice made with dried leaves. First, moist­en the dry leaves with a small amount of hot, pure water. Add a binder as nec­es­sary and apply it to the skin, then cov­er with a flan­nel or cot­ton cloth.
• Blend the root pow­der with water and apply to the skin. Then cov­er with organ­ic nat­ur­al cloth.

Before apply­ing a poul­tice, it’s cru­cial to ensure the affect­ed area is clean. This sim­ple step can help pre­vent infec­tion and ensure the poul­tice can work effec­tive­ly. Whether warm or cool, a poul­tice can be a pow­er­ful tool for pain relief and skin care. Always mon­i­tor for any signs of an aller­gic reac­tion when using any form of med­ica­tion.

Compress

An herbal com­press, with its sooth­ing prop­er­ties, is a gen­tle way to alle­vi­ate inflam­ma­tion or stop bleed­ing. To make one, sim­ply boil 1 cup of water, add 1 tea­spoon of the herb, steep for about 10–15 min­utes, and then apply the infused pad to the skin.

Tincture

A tinc­ture by def­i­n­i­tion is an extrac­tion of plant con­stituents dis­solved in alco­hol. Mak­ing a tinc­ture, such as the marsh­mal­low tinc­ture, is a sim­ple process. You start by mea­sur­ing out 2 oz of marsh­mal­low herb and plac­ing it in a pint of alco­hol (I use 100 proof). Then, all you need to do is shake the con­tents dai­ly for about 2 weeks. After this, strain the herb from the alco­hol and store it in an amber jar or drop­per bot­tle. This home­made marsh­mal­low tinc­ture is a potent rem­e­dy for heal­ing inflamed mucus mem­branes in the diges­tive and uri­nary sys­tems, mak­ing it a valu­able addi­tion to your nat­ur­al health solu­tions.

Ointment

An oint­ment is a smooth oil prepa­ra­tion designed to be applied to the skin. This sooth­ing marsh­mal­low oint­ment, made by melt­ing 50 grams of lano­lin, 50 grams of beeswax, and 300 grams of soft paraf­fin, and adding 100 grams of pow­dered marsh­mal­low root and 100 grams of pow­dered slip­pery elm, is not just any oint­ment. It’s a pow­er­ful heal­ing rem­e­dy that can be used on injuries, skin ulcers, and as a draw­ing salve, pro­vid­ing effec­tive relief and com­fort.

Additional Uses

Embrace the nat­ur­al heal­ing pow­ers of this herb. Its warm infu­sions, a prod­uct of nature, can be used to cure cys­ti­tis and fre­quent uri­na­tion. Addi­tion­al­ly, drink­ing this tea can help alle­vi­ate bronchial and uri­nary dis­or­ders, pro­vid­ing a nat­ur­al rem­e­dy for your over­all well-being. Fur­ther­more, marsh­mal­low tea can be used as a heal­ing mouth­wash, har­ness­ing the nat­ur­al heal­ing prop­er­ties of the herb. Final­ly, the crushed marsh­mal­low flow­ers can be infused to com­fort inflamed skin, a nat­ur­al solu­tion for your skin. More­over, you can make a syrup from this flower infu­sion to cre­ate an effec­tive cough expec­to­rant, a nat­ur­al rem­e­dy for your cough.

Dosages

Hot or cold tea; steep leaves, or boil the root . Con­sume the tea 3–5 times dai­ly

Tinc­ture: 5–15 ml 3x dai­ly

Constituents of The Marshmallow Plant

• 37% Starch
• 11% Mucilage
• 11 % Pectin
• flavonoids
• phe­no­li­cacids
• asparagine

Conclusion

With this new­found under­stand­ing, you can now eth­i­cal­ly and respon­si­bly incor­po­rate com­mon mal­low and marsh­mal­low into your cook­ing. We’ve explored the ori­gins of these mal­lows and the intrigu­ing evo­lu­tion that led to the cre­ation of marsh­mal­lows. Now, it’s time to ven­ture out and find these mal­lows, per­haps even cul­ti­vate them in your own back­yard. Once you do, you’ll be able to appre­ci­ate their unique fla­vor and tex­ture, which can add a delight­ful twist to your culi­nary cre­ations.

Marsh­mal­low and Astra­galus root are two herbs that are easy to use and a must-have for your herbal med­i­cine cab­i­net. When com­bined in equal parts, they cre­ate a pow­er­ful anti­his­t­a­mine. Mix the herbs and con­sume. Tak­ing equal parts of the tinc­tures every half hour until the aller­gic reac­tion sub­sides is the most effec­tive method.

I love to explore the world of plants cre­at­ed by Yah. Yah made every­thing with per­fect con­struc­tion, includ­ing our bod­ies. Our cre­ator knows our bod­ies bet­ter than any sci­en­tist or human being. It makes sense that He would cre­ate the ide­al med­i­cine and food for our bod­ies. Trust Yah!

Recipes and Useful Links

https://elmaskincare.com/herbs/herbs_mallow.htm

https://www.washcoll.edu/learn-by-doing/lifelong-learning/plants/malvaceae/malva-neglecta.php

Com­mon mal­low / Mal­va neglec­ta

https://www.learningherbs.com/blog/mallow-uses#gsc.tab=0

Homemade Marshmallow Ingredients

Gelatin pow­der is used to give marsh­mal­lows their shape. Using a high-qual­i­ty grass-fed gelatin pow­der will also pro­vide vit­a­mins and nutri­ents.

Often, agar agar pow­der can be used as a gelatin sub­sti­tute in recipes at a 1:1 ratio. I haven’t test­ed for this recipe, but if you pre­fer a veg­e­tar­i­an or veg­an marsh­mal­low it’s a pos­si­ble option.

Raw hon­ey makes these home­made marsh­mal­lows sweet! For a veg­an option, you could use maple syrup or try this home­made veg­an hon­ey (along with agar agar for the gelatin) as a sub­sti­tute. I haven’t test­ed it in this recipe, but I can say it’s a good hon­ey alter­na­tive!

Vanil­la bean pow­der adds an earthy and nat­ur­al deli­cious touch of vanil­la fla­vor to these fluffy cubes.

Marsh­mal­low root pow­der is the ground form of the herbal marsh­mal­low root. It adds clas­sic fla­vor as well as herbal ben­e­fits to these tasty treats.

Arrow­root pow­der is a gluten-free and aller­gy-friend­ly root pow­der that is sim­i­lar to corn­starch. In this recipe, it’s used to keep the marsh­mal­lows from stick­ing.

Tapi­o­ca pow­der or corn­starch could be used to sub for the arrow­root pow­der, what­ev­er you have and your sys­tem tol­er­ates the best.

Marshmallow Recipe

First, bloom the gelatin in the bowl of a stand mix­er by pour­ing the gelatin over 1/2 cup of warm water and let­ting it sit for about 10 min­utes.

In the mean­time, add the oth­er half cup of water, hon­ey, and salt into a small pot.

On the stove­top, using a can­dy ther­mome­ter, tog­gle the heat between medi­um and high. Avoid stir­ring the mix­ture after the first minute so it doesn’t boil over.

Bring the tem­per­a­ture up to between 230–240° F (110–115° C), which takes about 10–14 min­utes.

Mix the gelatin on low speed, and slow­ly pour the hon­ey mix­ture into the stand mix­er. Slow­ly increase the speed to high and whip until the mix­ture has reached its “peak.”

This means it will look and feel like pure marsh­mal­low fluff, yay! It took mine about 6–10 min­utes to reach its peak. In the last minute of whip­ping, add the marsh­mal­low root and vanil­la bean pow­der.

As the marsh­mal­lows are beat­ing to peak fluff in the mix­er, pre­pare a 9×9 pan with parch­ment paper. Dust the parch­ment paper with half of the arrow­root pow­der to keep the marsh­mal­lows from stick­ing.

When the marsh­mal­low mix­ture is at its peak, quick­ly scoop it into the pan, and flat­ten the top with an off­set spat­u­la. Dust the rest of the arrow­root pow­der onto the top of the parch­ment paper. 

Put the oth­er piece of parch­ment paper over the top of the pan of marsh­mal­lows, so it can set overnight.

The next day, you can take the marsh­mal­low out of the pan by care­ful­ly flip­ping it upside down onto a cut­ting board. Take the parch­ment paper off and use a sharp knife to cut the marsh­mal­lows into cubes.

How long do homemade marshmallows keep?

These home­made marsh­mal­lows are deli­cious right away, but can also be stored in a jar in the fridge for 1–2 weeks.

https://www.growforagecookferment.com/homemade-marshmallows

Mallow Soup

2–3 large hand­fuls of mal­low leaves
2 table­spoons but­ter
1 large or 2 small onions, fine­ly sliced
1 large car­rot, chopped
2 cel­ery sticks, chopped
1 large gar­lic clove, crushed
4 cups good chick­en or veg­etable stock
1 medi­um pota­to
2 table­spoons yogurt or crème fraiche (option­al)
a pinch of fresh­ly grat­ed nut­meg
salt and fresh­ly ground black pep­per

Melt the but­ter in a large pan and sauté the onion, plus the car­rot, cel­ery and gar­lic, until soft but not brown. Add the stock. Bring to the boil and sim­mer until the pota­to and car­rot are soft and can be mashed with a fork. Add the mal­low leaves and sim­mer for 5–10 min­utes. Sea­son with salt, pep­per and nut­meg. Puree the soup with a hand blender. Return to the pan, stir in the cream and warm to taste. Serve gar­nished with a drop of yogurt or cream and a gen­er­ous sprin­kling of chopped herbs (chives, pars­ley, rose­mary, or thyme work well). 

https://www.integrativeasheville.org/plant-profile-mallow-malva-neglecta-and-other-species/#:~:text=Along%20with%20being%20delicious%2C%20it,used%20externally%20as%20a%20poultice.

Marshmallow face mask

The marsh­mal­low face mask is also apt for sen­si­tive skin and the ingre­di­ents required to pre­pare it include:

• 2 table­spoon­fuls (30 ml) of a potent decoc­tion pre­pared with marsh­mal­low root
• Supe­ri­or qual­i­ty oat­meal
• 2 table­spoon­fuls (30 grams) of nat­ur­al yoghurt

Blend the marsh­mal­low infu­sion and the yoghurt and add the oat­meal. Stir the mix­ture thor­ough­ly to pre­pare a paste. Apply this mix­ture uni­form­ly and gen­tly to your face.

https://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_marshmallow.htm

https://mountainairnaturals.com

©Jen­nifer Wal­lace 2025