Alcea is a genus of over 80 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, commonly known as the hollyhocks. They are native to Asia and Europe. The single species of hollyhock from the Americas, the streambank wild hollyhock, belongs to a different genus.
Description Hollyhocks are annual, biennial, or perennial plants usually taking an erect, unbranched form. The herbage usually has a coating of star-shaped hairs. The leaf blades are often lobed or toothed, and are borne on long petioles. The flowers may be solitary or arranged in fascicles or racemes. The notched petals are usually over three centimeters wide and may be pink, white, purple, or yellow. The fruit is a schizocarp, a dry disc divided into over 15 sections that contain seeds.
Species The following species are accepted:
Alcea abchazica Iljin Alcea acaulis (Cav.) Alef. Alcea afghanica I.Riedl Alcea antoninae Iljin Alcea apterocarpa (Fenzl) Boiss. Alcea arbelensis Boiss. & Hausskn. Alcea assadii Pakravan Alcea aucheri (Boiss.) Alef. Alcea baldshuanica (Bornm.) Iljin Alcea biennis Winterl Alcea calvertii (Boiss.) Boiss. Alcea chrysantha (Sam.) Zohary Alcea damascena (Mouterde) Mouterde Alcea denudata Boiss. Alcea digitata (Boiss.) Alef. Alcea dissecta (Baker f.) Zohary Alcea djahromi Parsa Alcea excubita Iljin Alcea fasciculiflora Zohary Alcea ficifolia L. – Antwerp hollyhock Alcea flavovirens (Boiss. & Buhse) Iljin Alcea freyniana Iljin Alcea froloviana (Litv.) Iljin Alcea galilaea Zohary Alcea ghahremanii Pakravan & Assadi Alcea gorganica (Rech.f., Aellen & Esfand.) Zohary Alcea heldreichii (Boiss.) Boiss. Alcea hohenackeri Boiss. Alcea hyrcana Grossh. Alcea ilamica Pakravan Alcea iranshahrii Pakravan, Ghahr. & Assadi Alcea karakalensis Freyn Alcea karsiana (Bordz.) Litv. Alcea koelzii I.Riedl Alcea kopetdaghensis Iljin Alcea kuhsanguia Parsa Alcea kurdica (Schltdl.) Alef. Alcea kusjariensis (Iljin ex Grossh.) Iljin Alcea lasiocalycina Boiss. Alcea lavateriflora (DC.) Boiss. Alcea lenkoranica Iljin Alcea litvinovii (Iljin) Iljin Alcea loftusii (Baker f.) Zohary Alcea longipedicellata I.Riedl Alcea mazandaranica Pakravan & Ghahr. Alcea mosulensis I.Riedl Alcea mozaffarianii Ghahr. & Pakravan & Assadi Alcea nikitinii Iljin Alcea nudiflora (Lindl.) Boiss. Alcea peduncularis Boiss. & Hausskn. Alcea pisidica Hub.-Mor. Alcea popovii Iljin Alcea rechingeri (Zohary) I.Riedl Alcea remotiflora (Boiss. & Heldr.) Alef. Alcea rhyticarpa (Trautv.) Iljin Alcea rosea L. – common hollyhock Alcea rosulata I.Riedl Alcea rufescens (Boiss.) Boiss. Alcea rugosa Alef. Alcea scabridula I.Riedl Alcea schirazana Alef. Alcea semnanica Pakravan Alcea setosa (Boiss.) Alef. – bristly hollyhock Alcea sophiae Iljin Alcea sosnovskyi Iljin Alcea sotudehi Parsa Alcea striata (DC.) Alef. Alcea sulphurea (Boiss. & Hohen.) Alef. Alcea sycophylla Iljin & V.V.Nikitin Alcea tabrisiana (Boiss. & Buhse) Iljin Alcea talassica Iljin Alcea tarica Pakravan & Ghahr. Alcea teheranica Parsa Alcea tholozanii Stapf Alcea transcaucasica (Iljin) Iljin Alcea turcomanica Iljin Alcea turkeviczii Iljin Alcea vameghii Parsa Alcea wilhelminae I.Riedl Alcea woronowii (Iljin ex Grossh.) Iljin Alcea xanthochlora I.Riedl
Uses Hollyhocks are popular garden ornamental plants. They are easily grown from seed. Plants with red flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Cultivars have been bred, especially from A. rosea. They include the double-flowered 'Chater's Double', the raspberry-colored 'Creme de Cassis', and 'The Watchman', which has dark, nearly black, maroon flowers.Hollyhock: A. rosea. Better Homes and Gardens.
The stems of hollyhocks can be used as firewood, and the roots have been used medicinally.
Pests and diseases
Alcea species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Bucculatrix quadrigemina and Vanessa cardui, the painted lady.
The mallow flea beetle (Podagrica fuscicornis) is a pest that makes tiny holes in the leaves. Cutworms, aphids, and capsid bugs use the plant as a food source in hotter and drier conditions.Brickell, Christopher, ed. The Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. Dorling Kindersly, London. 1996. pg. 93. A number of weevils use A. rosea as their host plant, including Rhopalapion longirostre, Alocentron curvirostre, and Aspidapion validum.Wilhelm, G., et al. (2011). Sexual dimorphism in head structures of the weevil Rhopalapion longirostre (Olivier 1807) (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea): a response to ecological demands of egg deposition. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 104(3) 642-60.
The plants are also susceptible to the pathogenic fungus Puccinia malvacearum, the hollyhock rust.Hollyhock rust. Royal Horticultural Society.
Culture The Aoi Matsuri (Hollyhock Festival) is one of the three main festivals of the city of Kyoto. During the Victorian era, the hollyhock symbolized both ambition and fecundity in the language of flowers.
The UK National Collection of hollyhocks is held by Jonathan Sheppard in Lincolnshire.
Gallery
References
External links