The word "mallow" is derived from Old English "mealwe", which was imported from Latin "malva", cognate with Ancient Greek μαλάχη (malakhē) meaning "mallow", both perhaps reflecting a Mediterranean term.[4]
In 1859, the colour mauve was named after the French name for this plant.
Several species are widely grown as garden flowers.[citation needed] Very easily grown, short-lived perennials are often grown as ornamental plants.[5]
Many species are edible as leaf vegetables[5] and commonly foraged. Known as ebegümeciinTurkish, it[which?] is used as vegetable in Turkey in various forms such as stuffing the leaves with bulgur or rice or using the boiled leaves as side dish. Malva verticillata (Chinese: 冬寒菜; pinyin: dōngháncài, Korean: 아욱auk) is grown on a limited commercial scale in China; when made as a herbal infusion, it is used for its colon cleansing properties and as a weight loss supplement.[citation needed]
Mild tasting, young mallow leaves[which?] can be a substitute for lettuce, whereas older leaves are better cooked as a leafy green vegetable. The buds and flowers can be used in salads. Small fruits that grow on the plants can also be eaten raw.[5]
Bodos of Northeast India cultivate a subspecies of Malva called lapha and use it extensively in their traditional cuisine, although its use is not much known among other people of India except in the northern Indian state of Kashmir where Malva leaves are a highly cherished vegetable dish called "Soachal".[citation needed]
Leaves of various species Malva have been used in traditional Austrian medicine internally as tea or externally as baths for treatment of disorders of the skin, gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract.[6] The leaves can also be chewed to soothe coughs or sore throats.[5]
The third century BC physician Diphilus of Siphnus wrote that "[mallow] juice lubricates the windpipe, nourishes, and is easily digested."[7]Horace mentions it in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: "Me pascunt olivae, / me cichorea levesque malvae" ("As for me, olives, endives, and mallows provide sustenance").[8]Lord Monboddo describes his translation of an ancient epigram that demonstrates Malva was planted upon the graves of the ancients, stemming from the belief that the dead could feed on such perfect plants.[9]
^"Malva L."Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 12 March 2007. Archived from the original on 6 May 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2010.
^ abcd"Malva Tourn. ex L."Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
^O.E.D (1989) 2nd.ed. vol.IX, p.271 col.3; P.Chantraine, Dictionnaire de la langue grecque, Klincksieck, Paris 1968, vol.2 p.662. The Italian linguist Vincenzo Cocco proposed an etymological link to Georgianmalokhi, comparing also Hebrew מַלּוּחַ (malúakh) meaning "salty". Gordon Douglas Young, Mark William Chavalas, Richard E. Averbeck, Kevin L. Danti, (eds.) Crossing boundaries and linking horizons: studies in honor of Michael C. Astour on his 80th birthday, CDL Press, 1997 pp.162-3.
Data related to Malva at Wikispecies
