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Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-122
Marshmallow
Althaea officinalis
Marshmallow is the plant marshmallow confection was originally made from - the root can be cooked, dried and ground into the classic treat, and the leftover cooking water from any part of the plant whips up like egg white for meringue, an odd bit of kitchen chemistry no other plant here duplicates. It also has a real medicinal record, approved by German health authorities for soothing mouth, throat and stomach irritation. True to its name, it is a marsh plant that wants permanently wet, even brackish, ground rather than an ordinary bed, and it tolerates salt in the soil that would trouble most perennials.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 3–7
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Moderate · Wet
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 6–8
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3.9 ft
- Mature spread
- 31 in
- Plant spacing
- 12–24 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- None
Keep exploring
Similar plants
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Agrimony
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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