Alcea rosea L.

Hollyhock

Biennial, or occasionally annual or short-lived perennial herbs to 2 m or more tall. Stems hairy at the tip. Leaves roundish with 3, 5 or 7 toothed lobes, rough on both surfaces, the largest leaves are at the base and long stalked. Bracts below calyx (epicalyx) (5-)6(-9). Flowers about 5-10 cm wide, 1-4 in the axils of small leaves; stalks short. Sepals fused at the base, single or double, from yellow or white to pink and purple. Fruit segments furrowed on the back and edged with rough wings. [Althaea rosea (L.) Cav.]

Probably native to W Asia but widely naturalised

Possibly of hybrid origin.

Occasionally grown as an annual bedding plant.

Naturalised in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.

Seed or sideshoots.

Medicinal.

Fruit without a central projection.

Source: Marshall, L. (1997). Abutilon. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.

kingdom Plantae
phylum   Tracheophyta
class    Magnoliopsida
superorder     Rosanae
order      Malvales
family       Malvaceae
genus        Alcea L.