Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 201 



HIGH MALLOW (Malva sylvestris) (EUROPEAN) 



is a tall biennial with a coarse branching stem, often 

 attaining a height of three feet, or even more on 

 waste land; usually, as we see it along roadsides, it 

 is only from one to two feet in height. Both the stems 

 and the leaves have a thick covering of hair; the lat- 

 ter are all borne on long stems, alternating along the 

 plant stalk, and are divided into five or seven lobes 

 with a serrate outline. The flowers grow in clusters 

 of perhaps a half dozen from the axils of the leaves; 

 they have five, heart-shaped petals of a purplish color, 

 with two or three conspicuous veins of a darker shade 

 of the same color. This species is often erroneously 

 called Marsh Mallow, because of the similarity of the 

 names. The latter plant, though, is quite different 

 from the present species. 



The Mallows get their generic name of Malva, in al- 

 lusion to the soothing effect of the mucilaginous 

 juices of the root and stem. This is used for the mak- 

 ing of a number of 'soothing compounds. 



MUSK MALLOW (Malva moschata) (EUROPEAN) 

 is a similar species with the leaves deeply and palm- 

 ately slashed and toothed. Several hairy, branching 

 stems proceed from the perennial root, to heights of 

 one or two feet. The flowers are peculiar in that the 

 ends of each of the five rose-colored petals are rough- 

 ly notched, looking as though they had been bitten off. 



This species received its name from the fact that 

 when the .leaves are crushed, they give forth a slight 

 odor of musk. The blossoms .occur, singly or in 

 pairs, from the axils of the leaves, near the ends of 

 the branches. It blooms in July and August in waste 

 places, often along roadsides, where it has made its 

 escape from gardens. It is now quite abundant in 

 northern New England and southern Canada. 



