Took some time out this morning to admire our beloved Mauve des Bois (Malva Sylvestris), that has just started it’s floral splendor. Also known as cheese mallow, high mallow or tall mallow, she’s a real enchanter with her showy flowers of bright mauve/purple and dark veins. She grows freely in meadows, hedgerows and in fallow fields, but obviously at Les Pierres too, where we love her so much that we couldn’t wait for her to propagate herself naturally so we nursed 5 more plants from seeds this spring. They are now growing in the same spot and will hopefully increase harvest next year.
The plant contains essential oil, tannins, flavonoids and anthocyanins, especially in the flowers and has an extended history as a medicinal herb. She has also been a popular vegetable for a long time. We like to dry the flowers for use in our tea blends, which is supposed to help against a sore throat, due to the presence of mucilage in the flowers.
For the same purpose we planted seeds of another species of Mallow this year, the marsh-mallow (Althaea officinalis), which possesses it’s properties in a superior degree but is equally beautiful with striking white flowers. They are still tiny though and we have not planted them out yet.
Equally beautiful with striking white flowers
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