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MALLOW

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 493 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MALLOW , botanically Malva, the typical genus of the natural See also:

order See also:Malvaceae, embracing about sixteen See also:species of See also:annual and perennial herbaceous See also:plants, widely distributed throughout the See also:northern hemisphere. The mallows possess the reniform one- Mallow (Malva sylvestris). See also:Flower in See also:section. 3. See also:Fruit with persistent calyx. 2. Stamens showing the See also:union 1, 2 and 5 enlarged. of the filaments into a 4. Same seen from the back See also:common See also:tube (monadel- showing the 3-leaved epi- phous). calyx. 5. See also:Seed. celled anthers which specially characterize the Malvaceae (q.v.).

The petals also are See also:

united by their See also:base to the tube formed by the coalesced filaments of the stamens. The See also:special characters which See also:separate the genus Malva from others most nearly allied to it are the involucre, consisting of a See also:row of three separate bracts attached to the See also:lower See also:part of the true calyx, and the numerous single-seeded carpels disposed in a circle around a central See also:axis, from which they become detached when ripe. The See also:flowers are mostly See also:white or pinkish, never yellow, the leaves radiate-veined, and more or less lobed or cut. Three species are natives of See also:Britain. The See also:musk mallow (Malva moschnta) is a perennial See also:herb with five-partite, deeply-cut leaves, and large See also:rose-coloured flowers clustered together at the ends of the branched stems, and is found growing along hedges and See also:borders of See also:fields, blossoming in See also:July and See also:August. It owes its name to a slight musky odour diffused by the plant in warm dry See also:weather when it is kept in a confined situation. The See also:round-leaved See also:dwarf mallow (Malva rotundifolia) is a creeping perennial, growing in See also:waste sandy places, with roundish serrate leaves and small pinkish-white flowers produced in the axils of the leaves from See also:June to See also:September. It is common throughout See also:Europe and the See also:north of See also:Africa, extending to western and northern See also:Asia. The common mallow (Malva sylvestris ), the See also:mauve of the See also:French, is an erect biennial or perennial plant with See also:long-stalked roundish-angular serrate leaves, and conspicuous axillary reddish-See also:purple flowers, blossoming from May to September. Like most plants of the order it abounds in See also:mucilage, and hence forms a favourite domestic remedy for colds and sore throats. The See also:aniline dye called mauve derives its name from its resemblance to the See also:colour of this plant. The See also:marsh mallow (See also:Althaea officinalis), the guimauve of the French, belongs to another genus having an involucre of numerous bracts.

It is a native of marshy ground near the See also:

sea or in the neighbourhood of saline springs. It is an erect perennial herb, with somewhat woody stems, velvety, ovate, acute, unequally serrate leaves, and delicate See also:pink showy flowers blooming from July to September. The flowers are said to yield a See also:good See also:deal of See also:honey to bees. The marsh mallow is remarkable for containing asparagin, C4H8N208,H20, which, if the See also:root be long kept in a See also:damp See also:place, disappears, butyric See also:acid being See also:developed. The root also contains about 25 % of See also:starch and the same quantity of mucilage, which differs from that of See also:gum arabic in containing one See also:molecule less of See also:water and in being precipitated by neutral acetate of See also:lead. It is used in pdte de guimauve lozenges. Althaea rosea is the See also:hollyhock (q.v.). The mallow of Scripture, See also:Job See also:xxx. 4, has been sometimes identified with See also:Jew's mallow (Core/See also:torus olitorius), a member of the closely allied order Tiliaceae, but more plausibly (the word nab; implying a saline plant) with Atriplex Halimus, or sea orache. In See also:Syria the Halimus was still known by the name Malluh in the See also:time of See also:Ibn Beitar. See See also:Bochart, Hieroz. in. 16.

End of Article: MALLOW

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