Effect:
Emollient, calming, soothing, antitussive, laxative, anti-inflammatory, expectorant, stomachic, decongestant, soothing, slightly lowers blood sugar
Areas of application:
Hoarseness, cough, bronchitis, to prevent colds, stomach pain, painful urination, white discharge, too much stomach acid, promotes the maturation of boils and pimples, sunburn, fever, headache
Plant parts used:
Leaves, flowers and roots
Collection time:
leaves before flowering,
Root in fall or spring
Flowers between July to September
To find:
In our latitudes it would be difficult to find marshmallow growing wild. It originally comes from the area around the Caspian Sea and is only available occasionally
gardens released into the wild. It prefers moist ditches, moist meadows and salty soils. It is worth cultivating this plant in your own garden or planting it in the area.
Ingredients:
Plant mucilage, tannin, asparagine, starch, essential oil, pectin, cane sugar, minerals
Miscellaneous:
☕ Tea: 2 teaspoons of chopped marshmallow roots are mixed with 1/4 liter of water or wine. Let stand overnight or at least 2 hours. Warm slightly and drink in sips. The cold extract only contains the mucilage. If you boil it, the starch of the plant also goes into the tea, which is only desirable if you gargle.
☕ Tea: 1 teaspoon of flowers and leaves is poured with 1/4 liter of boiling water and left to steep for 10 minutes. It is then strained. 3 cups per day are sufficient.
Marshmallow is a perennial green plant with large white flowers that bloom from July to September. The plants grow to between 1 and 2 m high and form clumps with a diameter of around 80 cm. The leaves vary in shape. Some are spearhead-shaped, others have three or five lobes or may be serrated. They are covered on both sides with a fine, velvety down. The plant has many branchless stems covered with soft white hairs. The stems have sawtooth-like extensions. The flowers are somewhat trumpet-shaped, about 5 to 7.5 cm wide and about 7.5 cm deep. The flowers produce seed pods that ripen from August to October, burst open and release small, flat, black seeds.
🛑 Anyone taking medication should leave a gap of at least 4 hours between using marshmallow.
On August 15th, for the veneration of Mary, an ancient custom takes place: the “herb tuft consecration”. Marshmallow is often mentioned in the records of the witch trials as one of the nine plants that played a particularly important role in the medicine practiced by women in the Middle Ages. The nine herbs are: marshmallow, wormwood, knotweed, feverfew, agrimony, good Heinrich, real speik, boar's rue and butterbur. In the past, almost all ailments were treated with the help of these herbs.
Hildegard von Bingen: The marshmallow is warm and dry. If you have a fever, crush marshmallow in vinegar and drink it in the morning on an empty stomach and in the evening, and the fever, whatever its nature, will go away. If you have a headache, add some sage, crush it at the same time and mix it with a little tree oil. Warm it in your hand and apply it to your forehead and tie a cloth over it.