Witnessed by: Western · Unani
Common mallow (Malva sylvestris), of the Malvaceae family. Sprawling biennial or perennial herb with rounded lobed leaves and pink-purple veined flowers; native range: Europe, North Africa and temperate Asia; naturalised widely. Globally recognized as khubbazi (خبازى) in Arabic, and common mallow, high mallow, cheeses in English. The part used is leaves and flowers. Soft, downy, rounded leaves and streaked mauve flowers; the crushed leaf is bland and slippery, thick with a cool, tasteless mucilage.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
COMMON MALLOW
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- common mallow
- Scientific name
- Malva sylvestris L.
- Family
- Malvaceae
Form
- Part used
- leaves and flowers
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Western
- mucilaginous · sweet · bland
- Unani
- bland · sweet
Temperature
- Western
- cool (and moist)
- Unani
- temperate (moist, tending cold)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- lungs · bowels · mucous membranes · skin
- Unani
- lungs · intestines · skin
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Western
- demulcent, emollient, mildly laxative, expectorant and anti-inflammatory
- Unani
- mulaiyin (laxative), munzij (demulcent and coctive), mulattif (soothing) and muhallil (resolvent)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- few; only its mild laxative effect in excess
- Toxicity
- essentially non-toxic
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