This is my friend Althea. She is just the most calm soothing herb you could ever run into – great for almost all tissues (skin, intestines, lungs, any mucous membranes) and so gentle.

A little more detail for you. Althea officinalis or marshmallow is full of mucilage and immunomodulating polysaccharides, so using it internally as a tea or externally as a wash has great benefits. One of marshmallow’s original uses was for poultices for wounds and burns. Those constituents are better extracted with water than alcohol or oil. One tablespoon to a cup of hot water is great for a tea.

One of the most common uses that I have for marshmallow is to balance out other herbs in a formula. Marshmallow is moistening (OK – wet) and most other herbs are dry, so adding a little of her can make other teas not so drying (I’m looking at you, nettle!).

Several cautions about marshmallow. The mucilage can make the tea go bad quickly. About 3 days is the longest I can keep a tea, even refrigerated, before it starts getting strings of ‘ick’ in it. It’s probably not harmful, I just think it looks gross. Also all that mucilage can coat your stomach enough, that if you take any pills at the same time, they will not absorb as well. Just a couple things to keep in mind.

This is Althea officinalis’ cousin (or sister?). Holly hock or Althea rosea. The herbal uses are almost identical to marshmallow (Althea officinalis). Both plants are of the same genus, so that isn’t terribly surprising. I did see a mention that hollyhock can be a mild laxative, so maybe there are some very slight differences.

Hollyhocks are very easy to save seeds from. The green pods you see in the photo above will dry out later this summer and be filled with lots of seeds. You can just let them fall where they may to strengthen your flower bed, or collect them to start them somewhere else.