"Mauve is the product of serendipity and imagination. The Oxford English Dictionary's (OED) first record of the word's use is from 1859. yourDictionary.com defines it as "a moderate purple, violet, or lilac color" and adds that it is also "a dyestuff that produces a mauve color." The term is a loanword from French, in which it means "the mallow plant" or the color of its flowers."

I have never known the OED to err before. But there is a first for everything. OED--Ebbie, OED--Ebbie. Ebbie wins. Green it is. See where it says "a moderate purple, violet or mauve color"? They mean to say, and could have for the sake of clarity, 'purple, violet and green'.