FAMILY HERBAL. 213 



against sharp humours in the bowels, and for the 

 gravel. 



There is a little kind of mallow,, that has whitish 

 flowers, and lies flat upon the ground. This is of a 

 more pleasant taste than the common mallow, and has 

 the same virtues. A tea made of the roots and tops 

 of this, is very agreeable to the taste, and is excellent 

 for promoting the discharges by urine. 



Marsh Mallow. Althcea. 



A tall wild plant, of the mallow kind, fre- 

 quent with us about salt marshes, and the sides of 

 rivers where the tides come. It grows to four feet 

 in height. The stalk is round, upright, thick, and 

 somewhat hairy. The leaves are large, broad at the 

 base, small at the point, of a figure approaching to 

 triangular, and indented round the edges : they are 

 of a whitish green colour, and soft to the touch 

 like velvet. The flowers are large and white, with 

 sometimes a faint blush of reddish. They are of 

 the same size and shape with those of the common 

 mallow. 



The root is most used. It is white, long, and 

 thick, of an insipid taste, and full of a mucilaginous 

 juice. Boiled in water, and the decoction made 

 strong, it is excellent to promote urine, and bring 

 away gravel, and small stones ; it also cures stran- 

 guries, and is good in -coughs. Its virtues are the 

 same with those of the common mallow, but in a 

 greater degree. 



Vervain Mallow. Alcca. 



A very beautiful plant, both in its flower and 

 manner of growth ; common in pastures, and worthy 

 to be cherished in our gardens. It grows two feet 



