Roundleaf Mallow (Malva neglecta) seeds

The Roundleaf Mallow is an annual to biennial shrub native to Europe and Western Asia. It blooms from June to autumn and delights the eye with beautiful, tender blossoms in pink and white. The roundleaf mallow is a good honey plant and food source for the cosmopolitan butterfly.

However, this tender plant has much more in store than just looking beautiful. It has been long known as a very nutritious wild vegetable and medicinal plant. All parts of the plant can be used in the kitchen.

• The fresh leaves can be used fresh as a salad or boiled as a leaf vegetable. When cooking, the leaves tend to slime, which is why the leaves of the roundleaf mallow are also often used for thickening soups.
• The blossoms can beautify the plate as edible decoration.
• The unripe seeds have a slightly nutty taste and can be snacked like nuts.
• In times of distress, the fruits were also used in the kitchen. They smell and taste of cheese and can be ground into flour.
• A stock cooked from the roots last but not least serves as a protein substitute.

In medicine as well, especially the leaves are used fresh or dried. Out of them, teas, which are applied with inflammations of the mucosae in the inside of the body, are prepared.