Malva alcea 'Hollyhock Mallow'

[Ex. Doupovské hory 340 m., Czech Republic]

Malvaceae: herbaceous perennial plant growing to 50–125 cm tall, leaves are palmate lobed with five to seven blunt lobes. The flowers appear singly near the apex of corymbose racemes growing from the leaf axils in summer to early fall. They are 3.5–6 cm diameter, with five sepals and five bright pink petals, but sadly have no scent. Native to South-western, Central and Eastern Europe and South-western Asia, from Spain north to southern Sweden and east to Russia and Turkey.

USES:

Leaves can be used raw or cooked, and have a mild pleasant flavour. The leaves are mucilaginous and fairly bland, this is a very good perennial substitute for lettuce in a salad, producing fresh leaves from spring until the middle of summer, or until the autumn from self-sown plants. The flowers can be eaten raw, and make a very decorative addition to the salad bowl, they have a mild flavour and a texture similar to the leaves. The seeds can also be used, eaten raw, they are best used before they fully mature, the seed has a pleasant nutty taste but it is rather small and fiddly to harvest.

The leaves are demulcent. They are also used as a mouthwash for inflammatory and catarrhal conditions.

GROWING INFORMATION:

Seeds are best sown in early spring in a cold frame or greenhouse. The seed should germinate quickly and easily.

HARVESTED: 2023*

 
APPROX. 100+ SEEDS