Many plants claim kinship to the mallow plant. Cotton and okra, hollyhocks and rose of Sharon are but a few of the plants that are classified as mallows. Here above Sulfur Creek we have one very beautiful mallow that grows along the creek bank. It is called Turk's cap. The plant is a leafy shrub that gets about two feet high. It will grow about anywhere, but likes the shady forest areas best. It gets its name from the shape of the blossom. It starts out as a bright red bud that is tightly furled. To the early settlers it looked just like a turban that a Turk or Hindu would wear. As the flower matures, it sends out a long stem from the middle of the bud. It never does open up all the way but makes a very pretty sight with the tightly wrapped red petals and the long delicate stamen sticking out. When the flower drops, a fruit is formed that is often called the Mexican apple. I understand that in Mexico there is a larger version of this plant that has a much larger fruit and it is collected and eaten. I've tried eating the fruit that grows around here and you would need to be very hungry and have lots of time to collect them. They are sweet, but small and full of seeds. We have other mallows that grow wild here. The copper mallow is a spindly plant with coppery orange flowers. The wine cup is a beautiful flower that is also called the poppy mallow. I had a problem with the crew several years ago after John Ahrnes over at Westcave told them that the petals of the wine cup were edible. Suddenly the crew was having wine cup salad when they were playing house and I was afraid that we wouldn't have any left! We invoked the rule of ten and now I have a bumper crop of wine cups each spring. The rule of ten says that if you can count ten plants in a ring made with your arms, you can pick one flower, but if there are not ten plants, you can't pick. There are lots of rules you can use with children to help them better enjoy the our of doors, but that's another story. © Copyright 1986, 1996, 1998 by Sulfur Creek Enterprises, Austin, Texas |
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