''Althaea'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

s native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia. It includes ''

Althaea officinalis ''Althaea officinalis'', the marsh mallow or marshmallow, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, which is used in herbalism and as an ornamental plant. A confection made from the root since ancient ...

'', also known as the marshmallow plant, whence the fluffy confection got its name. They are found on the banks of

rivers A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

and in

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

es, preferring moist, sandy

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

s. The stems grow to 1–2 m tall, and

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

in mid summer. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are palmately lobed with 3–7 lobes. ''Althaea'' species are used as food plants by the

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

e of some

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

species including '' Bucculatrix quadrigemina''.

Species

The genus formerly included a number of additional species now treated in the genus ''

Alcea ''Alcea'' is a genus of over 80 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, commonly known as the hollyhocks. They are native to Asia and Europe. The single species of hollyhock from the Americas, the streambank wild hollyhock, ...

'' (hollyhocks). , ''

Plants of the World Online Plants of the World Online (POWO) is an online database published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It was launched in March 2017 with the ultimate aim being "to enable users to access information on all the world's known seed-bearing plants by ...

'' accepts the following species: *'' Althaea armeniaca'' Ten. *'' Althaea bertramii''

Post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...

& Beauverd *''

Althaea cannabina ''Althaea cannabina'', commonly called palm-leaf marshmallow or hemp-leaved hollyhock, is a perennial herb belonging to the genus ''Althaea'' of the family Malvaceae. The leaves resemble those of hemp (''Cannabis sativa''), hence the specific ep ...

'' L. *''

Althaea damascena Althaea is the Latin rendering of Greek ''Althaia'', which may be related to Greek ''althos'' "healing". It may refer to: *Althaea (mythology), the daughter of Thestius and mother of Meleager * ''Althaea'' (plant), a genus of up to a dozen specie ...

'' Mouterde *''

Althaea hiri Althaea is the Latin rendering of Greek ''Althaia'', which may be related to Greek ''althos'' "healing". It may refer to: *Althaea (mythology), the daughter of Thestius and mother of Meleager * ''Althaea'' (plant), a genus of up to a dozen specie ...

'' Parsa *''

Althaea octaviae Althaea is the Latin rendering of Greek ''Althaia'', which may be related to Greek ''althos'' "healing". It may refer to: *Althaea (mythology), the daughter of Thestius and mother of Meleager * ''Althaea'' (plant), a genus of up to a dozen specie ...

'' Evenari *''

'' L. *''

Althaea oppenheimii Althaea is the Latin rendering of Greek ''Althaia'', which may be related to Greek ''althos'' "healing". It may refer to: * Althaea (mythology), the daughter of Thestius and mother of Meleager * ''Althaea'' (plant), a genus of up to a dozen speci ...

'' Ulbr. *''

Althaea villosa Althaea is the Latin rendering of Greek ''Althaia'', which may be related to Greek ''althos'' "healing". It may refer to: *Althaea (mythology), the daughter of Thestius and mother of Meleager * ''Althaea'' (plant), a genus of up to a dozen specie ...

'' Blatt.

Chemical constituents

The root contains

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...

(37%),

mucilage Mucilage is a thick, gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. These microorganisms include protists which use it for their locomotion. The direction of their movement is always opposite to that of the secretion of m ...

(11%),

pectin Pectin ( grc, πηκτικός ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural acid contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal, chemical component of ...

(11%),

flavonoids Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

phenolic acids Phenolic acids or phenolcarboxylic acids are types of aromatic acid compounds. Included in that class are substances containing a phenolic ring and an organic carboxylic acid function (C6-C1 skeleton). Two important naturally occurring types of ...

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

, and

asparagine Asparagine (symbol Asn or N) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated −NH form under biological conditions), an α-carboxylic acid group (which is in the depro ...

Uses

The traditional medicinal uses of the plant are reflected in the name of the genus, which comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''althainein'', meaning "to heal". The flowers and young leaves can be eaten, and are often added to salads or are boiled and fried. The roots and stem also secrete

, which is used to soften the skin, and is used in

cosmetic Cosmetic may refer to: *Cosmetics, or make-up, substances to enhance the beauty of the human body, apart from simple cleaning *Cosmetic, an adjective describing beauty, aesthetics, or appearance, especially concerning the human body *Cosmetic, a t ...

treatments. The Roman poet

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

refers to his own diet in his

Odes Odes may refer to: *The plural of ode, a type of poem * ''Odes'' (Horace), a collection of poems by the Roman author Horace, circa 23 BCE *Odes of Solomon, a pseudepigraphic book of the Bible *Book of Odes (Bible), a Deuterocanonical book of the ...

, which he describes as very simple: "As for me,

olives The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' 'M ...

endives Endive () is a leaf vegetable belonging to the genus '' Cichorium'', which includes several similar bitter-leafed vegetables. Species include '' Cichorium endivia'' (also called endive), '' Cichorium pumilum'' (also called wild endive), and ''Ci ...

, and smooth mallows provide sustenance." The root has been used since

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

antiquity in a honey-sweetened confection useful in the treatment of sore throat. The later French version of the recipe, called ''pâte de guimauve'' (or "guimauve" for short), included an eggwhite

meringue Meringue (, ; ) is a type of dessert or candy, often associated with Swiss, French, Polish and Italian cuisines, traditionally made from whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar, or cream of ...

and was often flavored with

rose water Rose water ( fa, گلاب) is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. It is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil Rose oil (rose otto, attar of rose, attar of rose ...

. ''Pâte de guimauve'' more closely resembles contemporary commercially available

marshmallow Marshmallow (, ) is a type of confectionery that is typically made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or normally molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. The sugar c ...

s, which no longer contain any actual marshmallow. The root's emulsifying property is used for cleaning

Persian carpet A Persian carpet ( fa, فرش ایرانی, translit=farš-e irâni ) or Persian rug ( fa, قالی ایرانی, translit=qâli-ye irâni ),Savory, R., ''Carpets'',(Encyclopaedia Iranica); accessed January 30, 2007. also known as Iranian ...

s in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. It is regarded as the best method to preserve the vibrancy of vegetable dyes used in coloring the carpet's wool.

Gallery

File:Althaea officinalis habitus.jpeg, ''A. officinalis'' File:Althaea officinalis0.jpg, ''A. officinalis''

Notes

References

*''Medicinal Plants of the World: Chemical Constituents, Traditional and Modern Medicinal Uses'' by Ivan A. Ross.

External links

Flora Europaea: ''Althaea''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Althaea (Genus) Malveae Malvaceae genera