delirium florens
Malva sylvestris - 'Zebrina'
The Zebra mallow is a very old cultivar of Malva sylvestris, the common mallow, information about which can be found here flic.kr/p/2qAnQG4 . This specific cultivar seems to be very old and, as far as I could ascertain, its origins appear not to have been documented.
While researching the plant, I came across another of Malva sylvestris' common names, French mallow, which appears to be used specifically in the US. This may be due to the fact that it was one of the plants a certain Thomas Jefferson, American Founding Father and third president of the United States, introduced there. Jefferson, like many of his contemporaries was of the opinion that "The greatest service which can be rendered any country is, to add an useful plant to its culture […]". Knowing the devastation the more invasive plants thus introduced have done, we may disagree today. However, politicians and scientifically minded people of the age had to consider feeding the steadily growing population of the former colonies. While he was in France for negotiations with Great Britain and other European nations (1784-1789), Thomas Jefferson sent seeds and cuttings of plants and trees back to the American colonies. While he was abroad, he also visited other countries and exported, sometimes, as in the case of stolen and smuggled rice from Italy, illegally, plants from these countries.
After his return to the US, Jefferson continued his efforts importing and spreading plants from other parts of the world. He conducted, and had enslaved people conduct, experiments on his Virginia plantation, Monticello. He carefully documented failure and success of these experiments.
The above Jefferson quote is from the Appendix to the "Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies, from the papers of Thomas Jefferson", written and edited by Thomas Jefferson himself as well as his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. Amusingly, most sources who quote this add "The Fruit Hunters" to the quote. This refers to a 2012 documentary film that seems to include that quote. People apparently continue to re-quote without checking.
Malva sylvestris - 'Zebrina'
The Zebra mallow is a very old cultivar of Malva sylvestris, the common mallow, information about which can be found here flic.kr/p/2qAnQG4 . This specific cultivar seems to be very old and, as far as I could ascertain, its origins appear not to have been documented.
While researching the plant, I came across another of Malva sylvestris' common names, French mallow, which appears to be used specifically in the US. This may be due to the fact that it was one of the plants a certain Thomas Jefferson, American Founding Father and third president of the United States, introduced there. Jefferson, like many of his contemporaries was of the opinion that "The greatest service which can be rendered any country is, to add an useful plant to its culture […]". Knowing the devastation the more invasive plants thus introduced have done, we may disagree today. However, politicians and scientifically minded people of the age had to consider feeding the steadily growing population of the former colonies. While he was in France for negotiations with Great Britain and other European nations (1784-1789), Thomas Jefferson sent seeds and cuttings of plants and trees back to the American colonies. While he was abroad, he also visited other countries and exported, sometimes, as in the case of stolen and smuggled rice from Italy, illegally, plants from these countries.
After his return to the US, Jefferson continued his efforts importing and spreading plants from other parts of the world. He conducted, and had enslaved people conduct, experiments on his Virginia plantation, Monticello. He carefully documented failure and success of these experiments.
The above Jefferson quote is from the Appendix to the "Memoir, correspondence, and miscellanies, from the papers of Thomas Jefferson", written and edited by Thomas Jefferson himself as well as his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. Amusingly, most sources who quote this add "The Fruit Hunters" to the quote. This refers to a 2012 documentary film that seems to include that quote. People apparently continue to re-quote without checking.