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Herbal Glossary | Medicinal Glossary | Herbal Preparations | Ayervedic Formulas | Chinese Formulas Marsh MallowContents:Common Names | Parts Usually Used | Plant(s) & Culture | Where Found | Medicinal Properties | Biochemical Information
Scientific Names
Common Names
Parts Usually UsedDried root, dried leaves and dried flowers.
Description of Plant(s) and CultureA densely velvety, gray-white perennial plant over 5 feet tall, with erect leafy stems and a thick taproot. The lower, 5-lobed, leaves are long-stalked and lobed, heart-shaped, upper ones folded like a fan. The pale pink (or mauvish) or white flowers grow on small clusters in leaf axils of upper leaves; they have velvety sepals, appear at the height of summer. Fruits are brown-green, downy nutlets. Grown in full sun. Not heat tolerant. Not to be confused with High Mallow (M. sylvestris L.) or Common Mallow (M. neglecta Wallr).
Where FoundFound in salt marshes on the Atlantic coast, less commonly inland on damp, saline soils, in wet places. Also cultivated. Quebec to Virginia. Native to Europe.
Medicinal PropertiesTonic, nutritive, alterative, diuretic, demulcent, emollient, mucilaginous, vulnerary (heals wounds), laxative, inflammatory; flowers are expectorant
Biochemical InformationStarch, mucilage, pectin, oil, sugar, asparagin. tannin, polysaccharides, flavonoids, the leaves have salicylic and other phenolic acids.
Legends, Myths and StoriesTaking its botanical name from a Greek word, altho, meaning “to heal”, marshmallow has been used since Ancient Egyptian times. The root, rich in sugars, is very mucilaginous and softening for the tissues. The leaves are not as mucilaginous as the root and are used as an expectorant and as a soothing remedy for the urinary system. Both the leaves and the root have been used as a vegetable. All members of the mallow family have similar properties, with varieties such as garden hollyhocks and common mallows occasionally used medicinally. King Charlemagne (AD 742-814) insisted that marsh mallow be planted throughout his kingdom to ensure an abundant supply. About 800 years after Charlemagne’s death, Culpeper wrote that his son suffered from a disease called the “bloody flux” which the College of Physicians back then called the plague in the guts. Culpeper treated his son by giving him “mallow bruised and boiled both in milk and drink.” Two days later, his son was cured.
UsesUsed to treat wasting diseases, tuberculosis, diabetes, cough, pleurisy, dryness and inflammation of the lungs, bronchitis, gangrene, septicemia, ulcers, enteritis, colitis, pain of kidney stones, difficult or painful urination, diarrhea, dysentery, conjunctivitis, rheumatism, gravel in kidneys, blood in the urine, stool, or nose; and vomiting or spitting of blood. Also used as a gargle for sore throats, coughs, whooping cough, laryngitis, bronchitis, mastitis, malnutrition, and sore mouths, externally as a poultice for burns, skin eruptions, wounds, bee stings, cuts and boils. It will also release retained afterbirth.
Formulas or DosagesMarsh mallow root tea has to be made with cold water. For this reason it is ill suited as a component of tea blends that are brewed with hot water. After drying, store in air-tight container. In all cases, prepare a standard infusion or a decoction from several finely diced roots. Either preparation, applied externally, will reduce inflammation, and decoction is said to relieve soreness in the breasts. Infusion: 1 tsp. dried herb in 1 cup water, simmer for 10 minutes, let stand until cool. Drink 1 to 2 cups a day, in large mouthful doses. How SoldCapsules: take 1 capsule, up to 3 times daily to relieve symptoms. Dried Herb: mix 1 tbsp. of dried herb in 8 oz. boiling water; strain. Drink up to 3 cups of this tea daily to relieve symptoms.
BibliographyHerbal Gardening, compiled by The Robison York State Herb Garden, Cornell Plantations, Matthaei Botanical Gardens of the University of Michigan, University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley., Pantheon Books, Knopf Publishing Group, New York, 1994, first edition
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Althea
The Magic of Herbs
, by David Conway, published by Jonathan Cape, Thirty Bedford Square, London, England. (Out of print)
, by Earl Mindell, R.Ph., Ph.D., Simon & Schuster/Fireside, Rockefeller Center 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020Copyright © 1996-2010 Lynn DeVries, all rights reserved.