Marshmallows are as much a part of summer as picnics, fireworks, and baseball games. There’s nothing better than one of those puffy white treats slow roasted to a rich golden brown hue over the campfire (although some slackers prefer to turn them into Tiki Torches before consuming them).  As a prominent part of the August marshscape, their amazing pink blossoms also provide nourishment for the soul.

  O.K., let’s back up a minute.  I realize that I am getting ahead of myself and mixing up my mallows and my readers.  I am actually referring to two different marshmallows here.  The first is found in a bag at your local grocer and morphs into a “Ghostbusters” character, while the second is found in your local wetland and morphs into a stunning tropical beauty.  The first is linked as one word, while the second is divided into two – Marsh Mallow. While it may seem only a coincidence, the relationship between the two is closer than you may think.

  The Marsh Mallow in question is more properly known as the Swamp Rose Mallow (a mallow of the marsh). This shrubby perennial grows in wetland conditions and pretty much hides out among the cat-tails throughout the growing season. During the mid summer blooming time it screams for attention.  Take a look at this photo of the bloom and I think you’ll agree it’s a real looker! The flowers are 4-6 inches in diameter and graced with 5 tissue-like gentle pink petals. A central spike is covered with anthers (the male part) and terminates into five pistils (the female part).

  The attention being screamed for is that of pollinating insects.  Take another look at the previous picture, or the following one, and you’ll note that the blossoms are crawling with attention in the form of flea beetles. While I’m sure they appreciate our gaze with some form of inanimate plant psyche, it’s the beetles they are after.

  The usual human reaction to this bloom (after the “wow”) is that the flower looks like a garden Hibiscus.  At this point, were you and I standing in front of one, I would whip out a card with the scientific name on it and confirm your suspicion.  The Latin name for this pink variety is Hibiscus palustris.  The garden Hibiscus, this Rose Mallow, and even those old fashioned Hollyhocks are all in the plant family called Malvaceae – the Mallows. There are over 1,000 kinds of plants in this group and most of them are tropical – thus the exotic appearance of our marsh plant. The family name means “soft” and certainly is appropriate when one considers the Staypuft connection.

 Before we turn our attention to the puffy white confection, there are a few more things I’d like you know about the Swamp Rose Mallow. Take a look at this photo of a fresh flower next to a wilted one.  The mallow is one of the few plants whose wilted petals are actually more colorful than the fresh ones. The limp blossoms look like crumpled art tissue ready to be applied to a Homecoming float.  Eventually, the fertilized flower sheds its petalware and concentrates on the seed head – a compact five parted package (see here).  By late fall, these pods turn dark brown and open up like yucca pods to distribute their seeds.

  Another member of the Mallow family, the Marshmallow, is responsible for the name of the sugary confection of the same name. This European plant doesn’t hold a candle to our Mallow in terms of floral beauty, but holds a secret within its mucilaginous root. Mucilage is a fancy term for a jelly substance and all mallows, including ours, have the gelling substance in their roots.  The Marshmallow happens to have a very high concentration of it.  This property has allowed it to be used for candy making for centuries. The Egyptians used it, the French used it (pate de guimauve), and the British as well. Those treats can collectively be called “marshmallows.”

  Traditional marshmallow recipes called for the powdered mallow root, egg white, cane sugar and vanilla extract.  Since the mid-1800’s, commercial marshmallow manufacturers have resorted to other gelling agents to do the job.  Out of employment, the original marshmallow plant now shares only a name with the Staypuft Marshmallow Man.  So, by virtue of being a cousin twice removed, our Swamp Rose Mallow can claim the title as well.