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
Officinalis Officinalis Officinalis, or officinale, is a Medieval Latin epithet denoting substances or organisms – mainly plants – with uses in medicine and herbalism. It commonly occurs as a specific epithet - the second term of a two-part botanical name. Officinalis is used to modify masculine and feminine nouns, while officinale is used for neuter nouns. The word "officinalis" literally means "of or belonging to an "officina"", the storeroom of a monastery, where medicines and other necessaries were kept. "Officina" was a contraction of "opificina", from "opifex" (gen. "opificis") "worker, maker, doer" (from "opus" "work") + -"fex", -"ficis", "one who does,"