{"id":1805,"date":"2019-09-18T23:36:45","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T23:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/?p=1805"},"modified":"2019-09-18T23:36:46","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T23:36:46","slug":"mallows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/18\/mallows\/","title":{"rendered":"Mallows"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Malva <\/em>species <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout                                                   \nMalvaceae<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strictly speaking no wild member of the Malva<\/em> genus\nis poisonous, and any species you find can be tried as food. However at least\none species has poisoned cattle in Australia, probably as a result of\nconcentrating nitrates from the soil. This proves the exception to the rule and\nshows you must always be cautious about what you put into your mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutrients: The Mallows are among the richest\nplant sources of carotene (which the body converts into vitamin A), containing\nas much as 16,000 i.u. per ounce. They also contain a lot of vitamin C and many\nminerals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greens: These hardy plants may remain green\nall winter in mild climates, which makes them especially valuable in such\nareas. The tender young leaves can be used in salads, but are best boiled as\ngreens. Older leaves can be chopped and cooked as a potherb, though you might want to\nchange the cooking water once or twice. This is not necessary to remove any\nunpleasant taste, but reduces their slimy, mucilaginous quality. The dried\nleaves have been used for tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flowers:\nThe flowers can be added to salads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seedpods: The green\nseedpods have been peeled and used like Okra (a relative) to thicken soups and\nas a cooked vegetable. Their unusual shape and texture makes them an\ninteresting addition to salads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medicine: The name Mallow is derived from the\nGreek for ‘to soften’, and is a reference to their soothing properties. The\nwhole plants can be used as an emollient in the same ways as Marshmallow (Althaea<\/em>),\nthough they aren’t quite as effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nwash of the leaves, or a leaf poultice, is used for wounds and bee stings. The\nslimy liquid obtained by boiling the pods or roots has been used as a lotion\nfor skin problems like eczema or dry sore skin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nhas recently been found that foods that are rich in carotene can help prevent\nsome kinds of cancer. That would make these plants a valuable addition to the\ndiet. The leaves have been eaten to cure constipation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cultivation: Several Mallow species are grown\nas ornamentals for their lovely flowers (M. moschata, M. alcea<\/em>), while\nothers (M. neglecta<\/em> and M. rotundifolia<\/em>) are common weeds of\ngardens and fields. None of these are native, but the ornamental species may be\nfound as escapes, while the weedy types are widely naturalized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generally\nthese species prefer moist soil and full sun. \nThe annual and biennial types are grown from seed, while the perennials\nare grown from seed, division or soft cuttings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Best\nspecies include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M. moschata<\/em> \u2011 Musk Mallow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M. neglecta<\/em> \u2011 Common Mallow (Syn M.  parviflora<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M. rotundifolia<\/em> \u2011 Low Mallow <\/p>\n\n\n\n

M. sylvestris<\/em> \u2011 High Mallow<\/p>\n\n\n\n

M. verticillata<\/em> \u2011 Curly Mallow (Syn\nM. crispa<\/em>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Malva species Throughout                                                    Malvaceae Strictly speaking no wild member of the Malva genus is poisonous, and any species you find can be tried as food. However at least one species … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-useful-weeds","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mallow.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1805"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1807,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1805\/revisions\/1807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}