Althaea (plant) rose water. "Pâte de guimauve" more closely resembles contemporary commercially available marshmallows, which no longer contain any actual marshmallow. The root's emulsifying property is used for cleaning Persian carpets in the Middle East. It is regarded as the best method to preserve the vibrancy of vegetable dyes used in coloring the carpet's wool. Althaea (plant) Althaea is a genus of 6–12 species of perennial herbs native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia. It includes "Althaea officinalis", also known as the marshmallow plant, whence the fluffy confection got its name. They are found on the banks of rivers 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