Re: [gardeners] Althea officinalis uses
Jane Burdekin (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Wed, 10 Mar 1999 09:17:21 -0600
>At 05:07 AM 3/9/99 -0700, you wrote:
>>Thanks for the info and sites Cynthia. I finally found a picture of the
>>Althaea officinalis and it is not the plant I am finding in the garden. I
>>have found quite a few uses for it too, and it is available in the natural
>>food stores here in town. Maybe the plant I am looking for is the other
>>Malvas you mentioned. Thanks for the site. I'm off to check them out.
>>Hmmm, that is not it. The plant I am looking at in the garden is
>>definately a weed and the plants I just looked at are things you would
>>actually want to plant. This weed is low to the ground and spreads out in
>>a rosette shape. The leaves are round and scalloped on the edges. It
>>produces small whitish/purplish flowers and forms a button shaped like a
>>hollyhock seed button later. It has a carrot like tap root that is heading
>>for China and if you leave any piece of it a new plant (weed) will form.
>>Any ideas???
>>
>>Jane
>>
>My grandmother called it "button weed" for the shape of the seed cases.
>It's common mallow or Malva neglecta. When it first germinates, it has
>back-to-back heart-shaped primary leaves. Notice when it spreads that
>nothing grows under it. You may have one with 12 to 15 inch stems, all
>going back to a single root. It's one of the banes of my existence.
>Margaret
Hi Margaret,
You are right about the bane of our existence! I can't believe how much of
that I have pulled. I find the garden fork to work the best. I still
haven't been able to figure out uses for it. We also used to call it
button weed and we ate quite a bit of it too. No telling what kids will
eat. Wonder if it still tastes the same?
Jane