Priscilla Hollingsworth
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Swamp Mallow - our native hibiscus

7/9/2014

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Picture
Also called Swamp Rose Mallow or Rose Mallow.  This plant is in the Hibiscus genus, and it contains various species that often hybridize with each other, and that can make exact designations hard to define.  Hibiscus moscheutos and Hibiscus coccineus seem to be the commonest swamp mallow species names.  
Picture
Some of these varieties have white, pink, or red flowers, but ours in the Phinizy Swamp are all white.  The plants prefer moist, rich soil, and can grow in standing water.  They tend to be salt-resistant.  Swamp mallow grows wild from Texas up through the Southeastern and Atlantic states to southern Ontario.   The swamp mallow plant needs lots of sun, and likes hot summers.  Each flower is open for one day.  

I really like the curving spiky projections around the base of the flower and buds, as well as the geometry of the buds and seed pods.
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There is a rose mallow bee that only pollinates this plant – it eats both the pollen and the nectar.  It looks a lot like a bumblebee, and its official name is Ptilothrix bombiformis.  It’s possible that the rose mallow bee is what is working on the stamen of the swamp mallow flower in this photo (the bee has been seen in our region), though it’s really hard to tell since the photo doesn’t have enough detail.
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Why is it called a mallow?  It looks a lot like the Althaea officinalis plant, which is also called the marsh mallow plant.  The roots of marsh mallow plants have a thick, goopy substance (similar to the juice of okra pods) which can be extracted and used for medicinal purposes – and also, when cooked with sugar and water, to make the type of candy which became known as “marshmallow”.  Later, marshmallow candy was made with egg whites as a substitute for the gel of the marsh mallow plant.  I haven’t broken a swamp mallow plant to see if it contains a gel.
Picture
Above: a mass of swamp mallow plants in the swamp.  This area is often underwater.

To plan your visit to the Phinizy Swamp, check out:
http://www.phinizyswamp.org/
(The Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy has changed its name to the Phinizy Center for Water Sciences.)
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    Author

    Priscilla Hollingsworth, artist.

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Carl Purdy Music
    Cats
    Ceramics
    Ceramic Sculpture
    Clay Musical Instruments
    Collage
    Drawing
    Dyeing
    Exhibitions
    Flowers
    Folk Art Market
    Game Pieces
    Hand Spinning
    Howard Romero
    Hums & Oms
    Installation Art
    Lightning
    Master Naturalist
    Music And Art
    New Mexico
    Ojo Caliente
    Painting
    Performing Sculpture
    Phinizy Swamp
    Phinizy Swamp
    Porcelain
    Process
    Rainbows
    Rob Foster Music
    Santa Fe
    Sarah Fletcher Photos
    Sculpture
    Sketchbooks
    Snow
    Southern Observatory
    Spring
    Sunset
    Teapots
    Vermont Studio Center
    Water
    Westobou Festival

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