Althaea officinalis boiled and fried. The root extract (halawa extract) is sometimes used as flavoring in the making of a Middle Eastern snack called "halva". The later French version of the recipe, called ' (or ' for short), included an egg white meringue and was often flavored with rose water. "" more closely resembles contemporary commercially available marshmallows, which no longer contain "Althaea officinalis". Chemical constituents include altheahexacosanyl lactone ("n"-hexacos-2-enyl-1,5-olide), 2β-hydroxycalamene (altheacalamene) and altheacoumarin glucoside (5,6-dihydroxycoumarin-5-dodecanoate-6β--glucopyranoside), along with the known phytoconstituents lauric acid, β-sitosterol and lanosterol. Althaea officinalis Althaea officinalis, or marsh-mallow, is a perennial species indigenous to Europe, Western Asia, and
Paeonia officinalis Paeonia officinalis Paeonia officinalis, the common peony, or garden peony, is a species of flowering plant in the family Paeoniaceae, native to France, Switzerland and Italy. It is an herbaceous perennial growing to tall and wide, with leaves divided into 9 leaflets, and bowl-shaped deep pink or deep red flowers, in diameter, in late spring (May in the Northern Hemisphere). "Paeonia officinalis" was first used for medicinal purposes, then grown as an ornamental. Many selections are now used in horticulture, though the typical species is uncommon. "Paeonia officinalis" is still found wild in Europe. The cultivar 'Rubra Plena' (deep crimson