Marshmallow

Althaea officinalis, the marsh-mallow, is an erect perennial herb of the Malvaceae family native to the salt marshes, brackish ditches, and damp meadows of Europe, western Asia, and North Africa. From a thick, fleshy, branching taproot rises a soft, velvety, grey-felted stem reaching one to two metres. The leaves are alternate, ovate to triangular, three- to five-lobed, and densely covered on both surfaces with stellate hairs. From midsummer to early autumn, pale pink, five-petalled flowers about three centimetres across appear in axillary and terminal clusters, each subtended by an epicalyx of six to nine narrow bracts. The schizocarp fruit splits into many wedge-shaped mericarps. All parts, especially the root, are rich in soothing mucilage.