The Mallow. 135 



base, lance-shaped and fringed with parallel hairs. Their flower- 

 stalks are crowded together, much shorter than the leaf-stalks, 

 hairy, and come out from the angle formed by the stem and 

 branch. The leaves of the cup are egg-shaped on the inside, 

 and long and narrow without ; the blossom of a purplish white, 

 deeply notched at the end ; the fruit flat, the circumference con- 

 taining numerous capsules. The Mallow is of easy culture in 

 any garden soil ; but in its native place, England, notwithstand- 

 ing the strong recommendations of Gerard, one of their much 

 admired authors, this hardy annual plant is banished entirely 

 from the kitchen garden ; but it is frequently seen among flower- 

 ing shrubs, where the Malva Crispa — Syrian Crisped Mal- 

 low, has a good effect both by the singularity and agreeable pale 

 color of its curiously curled and plaited leaves. The Hortus 

 Kewensis notices thirty-four other exotic species that have been 

 brought from various parts of the world. In England there are 

 more than sixty species, some of them only humble herbs, while 

 others are tall shrubs ; and some of the tribe reach the height of 

 large trees, the trunks measuring from twenty to thirty feet in 

 diameter. Several beautiful species of the Mallow have been 

 lately brought from the Cape of Good Hope, and are now under 

 process of naturalization in both England and America. In the 

 United States we have upwards of a dozen well defined species 

 of the Mallow, four of which are exotic, and probably the one 

 introduced last, its derivation uncertain. 



The herbs and flowers of both the Rotundi folia and Sylvestris 

 are the parts commonly employed ; they have a slimy taste with- 

 out smell, abounding in mucilage, which of course water will 

 dissolve, and thus serve as a vehicle for extracting its active 

 properties* By means of the infusion or tincture of the flowers 

 which is of a bright blue, the chemists test the presence of acids 

 and alkalies, the former changing it to red and the latter to green. 

 All parts of the plant of course partake of its mucilaginous na- 

 ture ; but the roots and seeds are seldom employed. 



The infusion is useful in coughs and colds ; it forms a good 

 poultice, and is now and then employed in catarrhal, dysen- 

 teric, and nephritic complaints, for which purposes they will 

 sometimes afford satisfactory results. 



