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
Stachys officinalis Stachys officinalis Stachys officinalis is commonly known as common hedgenettle, betony, purple betony, wood betony, bishopwort, or bishop's wort. The French common name is "betoine", and "Betonie" in German. It is a perennial grassland herb growing to 1 to 2 feet tall. Pliny (25, 8, 46, § 84) calls the plant both "betonica" and "vettonica", claiming that the Vettones used it as a herbal medicine. The word "stachys" comes from the Greek, meaning "an ear of grain," and refers to the fact that the inflorescence is often a spike. "Stachys officinalis" is a perennial grassland herb growing to 30 to