From Eat the Weeds
and other things, too
by Green Deane
Mallow Madness
Lunch
Landscaping: Hibiscus
A true back
yard salad, a hibiscus blossom
is the center piece and
decorations around the edge.
The light blue flowers are tradescantias.
There are also bits of deep red H.
acetosella
leaves in the salad as well along with purslane. The dressing is
blackberry yogurt with balsamic vinegar and
olive oil
My
mother’s favorite flower was the Rose of Sharon, which of course didn’t
even go in one of my ears and out the other when I was a kid. But now
that she’s passed (at 88) and I like plants I pay more attention. The
Rose of Sharon is Hibiscus
syriacus
(high-BISS-kuss seer-ee-AY-kuss) meaning “slimy from Syria.” It’s a
mallow family member and besides mom’s favorite it happens to be the
national flower of South Korean, fitting since the flower is an Asian
native. (They first thought it came from Syria, hence the name.)
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| Rose of Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus |
In Korean, H. syriacus
is called mugunghwa, which is a variation of the word mugung, meaning
“immortality.” H.
syriacus
is also called the Rose of Althea, which is from Greek meaning “truth.”
Actually, hibiscus is also a Greek word. More on that in a moment. H. Syriacus
is a flower that has prompted folks to be poetical for a long time. And
regardless of what it is called, the hibiscus is a mallow and people
have been using plants in the mallow family for a very, very long time.
The False
Roselle Hibiscus
acetosella
Mallows
are quite consistent in their signature flower: Five separate petals
with the male and female parts fused together like a frilly spike in
the center, typified by the picture of a hibiscus taken in Greece at
the cave of St. John, on Patmos. Some part of a Mallow is usually
mucilaginous, meaning slimy. Crush almost any part of the plant and rub
it between your fingers, they will be slimy or sticky.
Hibiscus at
the Cave of St. John on Patmos, Greece
The
medicinal properties of the wet-footed low-growing marsh mallow were
mentioned by Horace, Virgil, Dioscorides and Pliny (and from whence
where the original marshmallow of peanut butter sandwich fame came
from.) The Egyptians and the Chinese used the mallow. It was even
mentioned in the Bible, book of Job, 30: 3-4: “For
want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in
former times desolate and waste. Who cut up mallows by the
bushes, and juniper roots for their meat.”
Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus
penduliflorus
Pythagoras,
the Greek philosopher and mathematician, advised against eating the
marsh mallow because it was, in Greek theology, the first messenger
sent to earth by the gods to show their sympathy with the short lives
of mortals. Thus eating mallow would dishonor the gods. The word mallow
itself comes from the Anglo Saxon word Malwe. That came from the Greek
malakos, for soft. Even Shakespeare mentions mallows, in The Tempest.
Gonzalo is saying “Had
I plantation of this Isle, my lord…” when he is
interrupted by Antonio and Sebastian saying: “He would sow it with
nettle-seed. Or docks or mallow.”
The
most common form of mallow most folks see these days is the hibiscus,
and that’s what is pictured on this page. It’s a very common landscape
shrub in warm areas and at least one species— Malvaviscus arboreus
(mal-vah-VIS-kus ar-BOR-ee-us) the tubular flower —has escaped
cultivation and naturalized. It is also called Malvaviscus penduliflorus.
Double Red, a
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
cultivar
I
usually put hibiscus flowers in salads. They don’t have any flavor but
they are pretty and add texture. The leaves of some hibiscus are edible
as well, such as pink hibiscus with red leaves on this page, upper
right. Called the False Roselle, its Latin name is Hibiscus acetosella
(hye-BISS-kus uh-set-o-. SEL-luh.) As mentioned, hibiscus means
hibiscus or slimy or sticky, and acetosella
means “a little sour.” Besides the flowers of the H. acetosella, I
use the young leaves for salads and stir fry. A close relative, H. sabdariffa
(hye-BISS-kus sab-duh-RIF-fuh) is the real roselle and is also known as
the “Florida Cranberry” the “Cranberry Hibiscus” and the Jamaican
Sorrel, thought the latter strikes me as recent and nescient.
A
tart juice can be made from its fat calyxes and it’s something of a
tradition in the West Indies. Many posters on the internet
get
these two hibiscus mixed up, but there is no need for it. The False
Roselle (H. acetosella)
resembles a small red maple where as the Cranberry Hibiscus (H. Sabdariffa) has
lance-shaped, green leaves. They look quite different in leaf shape and
color.
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| Caesar Weed, Urena Lobata |
Better
known members of this family today are okra and cotton. Cotton is the
only mallow with proven toxic properties. While refined cottonseed oil
is common — the basis for Crisco shortening (the names comes form
Crystalized Cotton Seed Oil) in its raw state it reduces potassium in
the body and increases infertility. Oddly it is also often used to pack
smoked oysters.
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| Blossom of the common okra |
As
for okra many folks don’t like its viscus texture but it brings up the
origin of words. Viscus and hibiscus come from the same Greek word,
“iviscos” which means hibiscus and has come to mean thick or sticky as
in a viscous fluid. The base word in Greek is EE-vis, a marsh
wading bird still found in English as Ibis.
While the nutritional value of the H.
acetosella (the pink one with the red leaves) is not
known, here is the nutritional breakdown of a close, edible relative:
Flowers
(Fresh weight) Water: 89.8 Protein: 0.06 Fat: 0.4 Fiber: 1.56 Calcium:
4 Phosphorus: 27 Iron: 1.7 Thiamine: 0.03 Riboflavin: 0.05 Niacin: 0.6
Vitamin C: 4.2
Fruit (Dry weight) Calories: 353 Protein: 3.9
Fat: 3.9 Carbohydrate: 86.3 Fiber: 15.7 Ash: 5.9 Calcium: 39
Phosphorus: 265 Iron: 17 Thiamine: 0.29 Riboflavin: 0.49 Niacin: 5.9
Vitamin C: 39,
Leaves (Dry weight) Protein: 15.4 Fat: 3.5 Carbohydrate: 69.7 Fiber:
15.5 Ash: 11.4 Calcium: 1670 Phosphorus: 520
One mallow is a famine food, the Caesar Weed, see an article elsewhere
here on the Caesar Weed, Urena
lobata. Also edible is the leaves of the Abelmoschus manihot.
Two final nibblettes: Some times marsh mallows are called cheeses
That’s because the flat, round, seed pod of the marsh mallow looks
something like cheese. And, the mineral malachite is named after the
mallow because its green color is similar to the mallow green.
Green Deane’s
“Itemized” Plant
Profile
Identification:
The leaves are alternate, simple, oval to lance shaped, often with a
toothed or lobed. The flowers are large, obvious, trumpet-shaped, with
five or more petals, ranging from white to pink, red, purple or yellow.
The fruit is a dry five-lobed capsule, containing several seeds in each
lobe.
Time Of Year:
Can bloom year round in warm areas.
Environment:
H.
acetosella prefers most well-drained soil. It cannot grow
in the shade. It requires moist soil.
Method Of
Preparation: Flowers and young leaves of the H. acetosella can
be eaten raw, chopped leaves can be added to stir fries.
Green Deane's
Disclaimer
Information
contained on this website is strictly and categorically intended as a
reference to be used in conjunction with experts in your area. Foraging
should never begin without the guidance and approval of a local plant
specialist. The providers of this website accept no liability for the
use or misuse of information contained in this website.
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hibiscus Page
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