The story
Possibly a calque of Classical Greek δενδρομαλάχη (dendromalákhē) from δένδρον (déndron, “tree”) + μαλάχη (malákhē, “mallow”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
tree mallow
Today it means: Malva arborea, a mallow native to the British Isles and Mediterranean Europe and Africa. Full definition →