Althaea officinalis the English common name "mallow". Most of the mallows have been used as food, and are mentioned by early classic writers with this connection. Mallow was an edible vegetable among the Romans; a dish of marsh mallow was one of their delicacies. Prospero Alpini stated in 1592 that a plant of the mallow kind was eaten by the Egyptians. Many of the poorer inhabitants of Syria subsisted for weeks on herbs, of which marshmallow is one of the most common. When boiled first and fried with onions and butter, the roots are said to form a palatable dish, and in
Parietaria officinalis Parietaria officinalis Parietaria officinalis, the eastern pellitory-of-the-wall, also known as upright pellitory and lichwort, is a plant of the nettle family. Its leaves, however, are non-stinging. The plant grows on rubbish and on walls, hence the name. The pollen is a cause of allergy. It was once used in the making of certain metheglins. The leaves and flowers of "P. officianlis" contains the flavonoids kaempferol-3-bioside, the 3-glucosides and 3-rutinosides of quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin, 3-sophorosides of quercetin and kaempferol and 3-neohesperosides of kaempferol and isorhamnetin. They also contains caffeoylmalic and two pyrrole acids. It is in a different family from