Blue Mallow Flowers. Use in a potpourri blend or as part of an environmentally friendly confetti, sleep pillows and scented sachets. Even a bowl of these pleasing blue flowers can bring you pleasure. Malva sylvestris L. Sterile blue group. Plant Family: Malavacea. Other Names: Common Mallow, Cheeses, Creeping Charlie. A decoction of the flowers can be added to lotions and creams for the skin where emollient properties are required. Flowers can also be used as to make a liquid that can be used as a pH indicator for alkalies.
For centuries Blue Mallow Flowers were laid down in front of dwellings or worn as a garland for Mayday/Beltane celebrations in England. The flower has a long Wiccan association. Culpeper considered this a Venus herb, and wrote of it as “beneficial for love magick, but is also useful in Water magick.”These flowers do not have a fragrance. Blue Mallow Flowers aid and promote spiritual healing and peace. They can be incorporated into a dream pillow for soothing of nightmares or drunk as a tea or added to a bath to soften the skin ( and your character!!). A very becoming and pleasing Venus or Dark of the Moon ink can be made from Blue Mallow Flowers.
This herb is cooling and demulcent and has traditionally been used as a poultice on the stomach to ease internal aches or against the stings of small insects. Some of the most impressive health benefits of Malva sylvestris includes its ability to
- speed wound healing
- protect against infection
- reduce inflammation
- reduce signs of aging
- improve respiratory health
- optimize digestive functions
- improve sleep
- and treat headaches.
The flowers which have more mucilage than the leaves and are very good mixed with eucalyptus in a sweetened tea for coughs or boiled with some honey to make a gargle for sore throat. It was once considered a remedy for epilepsy. A complex polysaccharide in the herb known as arabino-galactose may have immune-stimulant properties. Mallow flower contains a mucus-like substance that protects and soothes the throat and mouth. Taking mallow flower syrup might make it easier for people who are constipated to pass stools. But more research is needed to confirm. Also useful for wound healing.
Always please thoroughly research any new herb you are considering using, and if pregnant, breastfeeding or taking prescribed drugs have a talk to your midwife or doctor first.
To make a cup of tea, Steep a tablespoon of blue mallow flowers in boiling water for 2 minutes, swilling them around. Strain and add a teaspoon of honey if liked and a slice of fresh lemon.