Hollyhock

Dry, tickling cough with scant, sticky expectoration, worse for dry air

Burning, scalding urination with a sense of bladder irritation rather than infection

Overview. Hollyhock is the tall, large-flowered garden mallow long cultivated as an ornamental but also used medicinally much as its close relative marsh mallow. The flowers, and to a lesser extent the leaves and root, are rich in mucilage and were employed by physiomedical and eclectic practitioners as a gentle demulcent for irritated mucous membranes of the throat, chest, gut, and urinary tract. It is native to parts of Asia and Europe and is now grown worldwide as a garden plant, with the dried flowers gathered for infusions and syrups.

Clinical Notes. Hollyhock is reached for much as marsh mallow is reached for, as a soothing, mucilage-rich demulcent for dry, irritated tissues rather than as a strongly active remedy. The classic physiomedical preparation was a simple cold or lukewarm infusion of the dried flowers, used freely for dry coughs, sore throats, and to soothe an irritable bladder or gut.

Properties and Uses. The flowers are demulcent; and also yield a slightly tonic property of a somewhat nauseating taste, that acts mostly upon the renal organs. The mucilaginous qualities are best extracted by tepid water; and make a good drink for irritable coughs, and irritated stomach, bowels, bladder, and urethra. The tonic and diuretic properties are best extracted by water at nearly a boiling temperature. I have found them of considerable service in the treatment of irritable forms of spermatorrhea, and chronic sensitiveness of the prostate, neck of the bladder, and urethra. The roots are said to be similar to the flowers.

Properties and Uses. This is a pure, and among the least, irritating of the metallic astringents. Given in doses of five to fifteen grains every three or four hours, it has been used to check passive hemorrhages, and chronic dysentery and diarrhea.