We find in ancient authors of a more modern date, distinct mention of three species of malvaceous plants, which are still common in the South of Europe. These are, the Common Mallow, _Malva Silvestris_, Linn.; the Marsh Mallow, _Althæa Officinalis_, Linn.; and the Hempleaved Mallow, _Althæa Cannabina_, Linn. The Common Mallow is called by the Latin writers _Malva_, by the Greek Μαλάχη, or Μολόχη. This plant was used for food from the earliest times. Hesiod represents living on Mallows and asphodel as the sign of moderation, contentment, and simplicity of manners. Νήπιοι, οὐδ’ ἴσασιν ὅσῳ πλέον ἥμισυ παντὸς, Οὐδ’ ὅσον ἐν μαλάχῃ τε καὶ ἀσφοδέλῳ μέγ’ ὄνειαρ.--_Op. et Dies_, 41. Fools! not to know how much more the half is than the whole, and how much benefit there is in mallows and asphodel. A dish of these vegetables was probably the cheapest of all kinds of food; they grew wild in the meadow and by the wayside, and were gathered and dressed without any labor or trouble. Various authors however mention the cultivation of the Common Mallow in gardens. See Virgil, _Moretum_, 73. Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ l. xix. c. 22 and 31. Isidori _Orig._ l. xvii. c. 10. Papiæ _Vocabular._ v. _Malva. Geoponica_, xii. l. Palladuis, iii. 24. xi. ll. Dioscorides (_l._ ii. c. III.) calls it the Garden Mallow. Aristophanes (_Plutus_ 544.) mentions eating the shoots of mallows instead of bread, intending by this to represent a vile and destitute kind of living. Plutarch (_Septem Sapientum Convivium_) says, “The mallow is good for food, and the Anthericus is sweet.” According to Le Clerc ὁ ἀνθέρικος (_Anthericus_) means the scapus of the asphodel: if he is right, this plant was eaten as we now eat asparagus. It is also remarkable that on this supposition Plutarch mentions the same two plants, which are also mentioned together by Hesiod. According to Theophrastus (_Hist. Plant._ vii. 7. 2.) the mallow was not eaten raw, as in a salad, but required to be cooked. Cicero (_Epist. ad Fam._ vii. 26.) mentions the highly-seasoned vegetables at a dinner given by his friend Lentulus. Having been made ill by them, he says, that he, “who easily abstained from oysters and lampreys, had been deceived by beet and mallows.” Probably the leaves of the mallow were on this occasion boiled, chopped, and seasoned, much in the same way as spinach is now prepared in France. Moschus in the following well-known lines refers to the common mallow together with other culinary vegetables: Αἲ, αἲ, ταὶ μαλάχαι μὲν, ἐπὰν κατὰ κᾶπον ὄλωνται, Ἠδὲ τὰ χλωρὰ σέλινα, τό τ’ εὐθαλὲς οὖλον ἄνηθον, Ὕστερον αὖ ζώοντι, καὶ εἰς ἔτος ἄλλο φυόντι. Mallows, alas! die down, and parsley, and flourishing fennel; Then they spring up afresh, and live next year in the garden.