Alcea rosea

Hollyhock ( Alcea rosea)

The hollyhock ( Alcea rosea, Syn: .. Althaea rosea (L.) Cav, Cav A. sinensis ), also Hollyhock, poplar Rose, Rose Bauer or garden hollyhock, called a plant of the Mallow family is ( Malvaceae ).

Description

Vegetative characteristics

The Hollyhock is a biennial to short-lived perennial herbaceous plant, plant height 1-2, rarely reaches up to 3 feet. The aboveground plant parts usually have star hair ( trichomes ). The stem is stout, erect, scarcely branched and intense hairy.

The first year in a basal rosette of leaves and in the second year on the stem are arranged distributed leaves are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The petiole is 5-15 cm long and has star hair. Those with a diameter of 6 to 16 cm nearly circular leaf blade is hairy tomentose to woolly, weak three to siebenlappig, sometimes notched. The middle leaf lobe is about 3 cm long and 4-6 cm wide. The stipules are about 8 mm long, ovate and three-lobed.

Generative features

The flowers are individually or collectively in the upper leaf axils and in a terminal inflorescence aged men. The bracts are leaf-like foliage. The hairy flower stems are about 5 mm long and longer to fruit maturity at 8 to 10 mm. The showy flowers are hermaphroditic and radial symmetry. The cup- shaped outer cup is six to siebenlappig, 8 to 10 mm long and is intensively covered with stellate hairs. The five intense tomentose hairy sepals are fused bell- shaped, the calyx has a diameter of 2 to 3 cm and the Goblet lobes are 1.2 to 1.5 cm long. The five free, 4 cm long petals are pink to purple or blackish red, rarely white or yellow and nailed. The corolla has a diameter of 6 to 10 cm. The stamen tube is smooth and about 2 cm long and the free areas of the stamens are only about 2 mm long. The vielästige stylus is hairy fluffy.

The fluffy hairy schizocarp is disc- shaped with a diameter of about 2 cm. The many (20 to 40 ) are almost circular part fruit have a diameter of from 7 to 8 mm and are longitudinally ribbed.

The flowering period extends depending on the location from February to October. The blossoms of hollyhocks are served and fertilized mainly by bumblebees.

Origin

The hollyhock possibly comes from the Balkans or from southern Italy. It is probably a cultural hybrid.

Use

There are numerous varieties of hollyhock with single and double flowers in different colors. It is spread used as an ornamental plant for perennial borders and cottage gardens.

Rarely it is also grown as a medicinal and Dye plant. For the extraction of dyes only black and red variants are used because their petals contain anthocyanin ( malvidin ) in large quantities. Previously, hereby, for example wine or desserts were stained, today it is no longer meaningful. Because of the tannins and mucilage contained in the hollyhock it is contained in numerous Cough mixtures.

Swell

• Sultanul Abedin: Malvaceae in the Flora of Pakistan: Alcea rosea - Online. ( Description section )
• Susanne Bickel Sandkötter: crops and their ingredients. Quelle & Meyer Verlag, Wiebelsheim 2001, ISBN 3-494-02252-6.
• Corner Hardt J. Hunter, Friedrich Ebel, Peter Hanelt, Gerd Müller K. (ed.): Rothmaler Exkursionsflora of Germany. Volume 5: Herbaceous ornamental and useful plants. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8274-0918-8.