marsh mallow

8.0

A wild plant with soft leaves and pale pink flowers that grows in wetlands

noun
/mɑrʃ ˈmæl.oʊ/

: malva de los pantanos

Wild marsh mallow plants thrive in the wetlands near the river.

Examples

The root of the marsh mallow was once used to make medicinal syrups.
In the garden, the marsh mallow's pale pink flowers attract many bees.
The marsh mallow plant thrives in wetland areas.
I found some marsh mallows growing near the riverbank.
In the garden, the marsh mallow's pale pink flowers attract many bees.
The root of the marsh mallow was once used to make medicinal syrups.
Wild marsh mallow plants thrive in the wetlands near the river.

Synonyms

Althea officinalis

vsmarsh mallow

Specialized

9.9

A European plant with lilac-pink flowers whose roots are used for medicine

is the common nontechnical name rather than the botanical form

white mallow

vsmarsh mallow

8.5

A small European plant with pink flowers and triangular leaves that lives for many years

is the more widely used common name rather than this variant

Surface Forms

marsh mallow singular

marsh mallows plural

Morphology

marsh + mallow

The compound is directly compositional: 'marsh' (wetland) + 'mallow' (a flowering plant) yields a mallow that grows in marshes, matching the dictionary definition. This straightforward noun-noun composition is common across languages and follows predictable English compounding patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should understand it.

Etymology

Marsh mallow comes from a simple picture: marsh means wet ground and mallow is the soft plant whose thick root people once used to make 'medicinal syrups'. So the name tells you it is a soft plant that grows in wetlands and was used for soothing medicines.