Folklore in My Garden: Marshmallow

What? Marshmallows in my garden? What’s up with that?

Although today most people associate the word with the puffy, powdered sugar covered candy that we like to toast over open fires and dunk in hot cocoa, the marshmallow is actually a plant. (Malvacaea, althea officinalis). A very pretty one. I have some growing in my garden, but as it’s only May, it won’t be in bloom for many more weeks.

The marsh mallow is one variety out of many mallow species. In North America, these native plants, some perennial and some annual, grow both in cultivation and wild along roadsides and waste places. There a tall shrub varieties, such as Rose of Sharon, and low growing types, which produce flat seed pods that look like a slice of cheese, hence the nickname, cheese plant. Hibiscus is in the mallow family.

I have found little folklore associated with mallow. Pliny believed it could cure all diseases of man, and the Celts placed the flat seed disks over they eyes of their dead to prevent evil spirits from sneaking into the head for a free ride to heaven. Because of the doctrine of signatures, the plant’s tiny hairs made it a remedy for hair loss.

More practically, the flowers are edible and have often saved people from starvation during times of famine. While it cannot cure all diseases, parts of the plants have been successfully used against coughs, sore throat, skin inflammation, fever, urinary ailments, and constipation. It is still used in alternative medicine.

How did it become associated with candy? The water left over from cooking any part of the plant can serve as a substitute for egg white in making meringues, which have long been part of the candy arsenal. The big white marshmallows we love so well in S’mores dates from the late 19th century, and originally used an extract from mallow roots. Today, gelatin, an animal product, is used, making the marshmallow unsuitable for vegetarians. I never knew that until just this minute, so as a vegetarian, I guess I’ll have to give them up, or find some made with carrageenan or agar.