Marsh Mallow.
Also see: Common Mallow - Marsh Mallow - Vervain Mallow - Musk Mallow
Althaea.
A tall wild plant, of the mallow kind, frequent with us about salt marshes, and the sides of rivers where the tides come. It grows to four feet in height. The stalk is round, upright, thick, and somewhat hairy. The leaves are large, broad at the base, small at the point, of a figure approaching to triangular, and indented round the edges: they are of a whitish green colour, and soft to the touch like velvet. The flowers are large and white, with sometimes a faint blush of reddish. They are of the same size and shape with those of the common mallow.
The root is most used. It is white, long, and thick, of an insipid taste, and full of a mucilaginous juice. Boiled in water, and the decoction made strong, it is excellent to promote urine, and bring away gravel, and small stones; it also cures stranguries, and is good in coughs. Its virtues are the same with those of the common mallow, but in a greater degree.
