Althaea officinalis L.

Locations ofAlthaea officinalis L. in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Malvaceae
Botanical Name
Althaea officinalis L.
Common Name
Common Marsh-mallow
Synonym(s)
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Althaea officinalis L.
Comments
Native of Africa; the entire plant, particularly the root, abounds with a mild mucilage, which has emollient properties. A mucilaginous paste made from the roots was originally used to make marshmallows.
Habitat
An old-fashioned garden and medicinal plant that has become locally established along roadsides, around old gardens and homesites, and in oligohaline and mesohaline tidal marshes of the central Coastal Plain. Infrequent but probably more widely scattered than the current map indicates.
Native Status
Introduced

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