{"id":22974,"date":"2019-07-29T11:42:34","date_gmt":"2019-07-29T09:42:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?p=22974"},"modified":"2019-07-29T11:42:34","modified_gmt":"2019-07-29T09:42:34","slug":"edimental-of-the-day-is-malva-alcea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?p=22974","title":{"rendered":"Edimental of the Day is Malva alcea"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Malva alcea<\/em>\u00a0(greater musk-mallow,\u00a0cut-leaved mallow,\u00a0vervain mallow\u00a0or\u00a0hollyhock mallow \/ Norw: rosekattost)\u00a0is a mallow native to southwestern,\u00a0 central and eastern\u00a0Europe\u00a0and southwestern\u00a0Asia, from\u00a0Spain\u00a0north to southern\u00a0Sweden\u00a0and east to\u00a0Russia\u00a0and\u00a0Turkey.\u00a0 It is easy to confuse with musk mallow (<em>Malva moschata<\/em>). It is a much larger plant than <em>moschata. <\/em>My plant is the upright form\u00a0<em>Malva alcea var. fastigiata <\/em>and reaches 1.8m, double the height of <em>moschata. <\/em>I had this for many years, but it was sterile and I suspected it was a hybrid with <em>moschata.<\/em>\u00a0It finally died after some 15 years and I sourced new seed through the Scottish Rock Gardening Club seed list in winter 2012-2013. It grew quickly, produced seed and has self-sowed in a few places in the garden, growing well in the half shady conditions my garden provides for. Here it is, filmed from my balcony today:<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 790px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-22974-1\" width=\"790\" height=\"444\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Malva_alcea.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Malva_alcea.mp4\">http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Malva_alcea.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>It is often planted in gardens as it flowers for a long time in summer. It has naturalised in the UK (see\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.brc.ac.uk\/plantatlas\/plant\/malva-alcea\">https:\/\/www.brc.ac.uk\/plantatlas\/plant\/malva-alcea<\/a>) and also here in Norway there are a number of observations, particularly around Oslo.<\/p>\n<p>This summer, I&#8217;ve been using this mallow much more than before as I now have a lot of it and it has replaced <em>moschata<\/em>\u00a0in a few places, suggesting that these may be hybrids! This really is one of the most useful perennial vegetables in the summer garden. Along with other mallows you can pick off leaves, young flower buds and flowers over an extended period! I use them in various stir-fry dishes, in soups, on pizza, in quiches and mixed salads!<\/p>\n<p>It is surprisingly not often mentioned as edible in ethnobotanical studies (maybe underreported due to confusion with <em>moschata<\/em>?). However, a quick search revealed it being used traditionally in Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria!<\/p>\n<p>If I had written my book today, this may well have replaced <em>moschata. <\/em>I did mention <em>alcea\u00a0<\/em>in the book under the account of<em> moschata<\/em> as follows:<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>I have less experience with Malva alcea, greater musk mallow, which is, as the English name suggests, a larger plant. It has a similar range to musk mallow, except that it isn\u2019t found in the UK. I\u2019ve only grown the form \u2018Fastigiata\u2019 which is long-lived and a nice ornamental, needing staking up during the summer. My plant was sterile and is<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em> thought possibly to be a hybrid between M. alcea and M. moschata. The flowers are also good in salads.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Bees love it too!<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few pictures of it in the garden today:<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-22974 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-large'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=22977'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"593\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910688.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910688.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910688-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910688-768x577.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=22983'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1170737-768x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1170737-768x1024.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1170737-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1170737-300x400.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1170737.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=22982'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"593\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910680.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910680.jpg 1000w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910680-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910680-768x577.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=22981'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"593\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910681.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910681.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910681-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910681-768x577.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=22980'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"593\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910685.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910685.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910685-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910685-768x577.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=22979'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"593\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910686.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910686.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910686-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910686-768x577.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/?attachment_id=22978'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"790\" height=\"593\" src=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910687.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910687.jpg 800w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910687-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/P1910687-768x577.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Malva alcea\u00a0(greater musk-mallow,\u00a0cut-leaved mallow,\u00a0vervain mallow\u00a0or\u00a0hollyhock mallow \/ Norw: rosekattost)\u00a0is a mallow native to southwestern,\u00a0 central and eastern\u00a0Europe\u00a0and southwestern\u00a0Asia, from\u00a0Spain\u00a0north to southern\u00a0Sweden\u00a0and east to\u00a0Russia\u00a0and\u00a0Turkey.\u00a0 It is easy to confuse [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[225,3143,10,1355],"tags":[3198,1368],"class_list":["post-22974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-edible-flowers","category-edientomental","category-edimentals","category-perennial-vegetables","tag-malva-alcea","tag-malva-moschata"],"views":4549,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22974"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22984,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22974\/revisions\/22984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.edimentals.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}