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Genus Althea L.

Род 493 (3). РУЖА — ALTHAEA L,
L., Sp. Pl. ed. 1 (1753) 686; Gen. Pl.. ed. 5 (1754) 307

Fam: Malvaceae Juss.
Genus: Althea L.
English Name:   Hollyhocks

Description:

Perennial or annual herbaceous plants. Stems erect, rarely ascending, usually fibrous. Stipule entire or cut. Leaves entire, cut to digitate; petioles on top with a slightly distinct groove, most clearly at the top. Blossoms not exceeding 30 mm in diameter, with clear blossom petioles; numerous; single or collected 2 - 3 or more at the leaf grooves, at the top parts of the stems and branches in clustered or petiolate inflorescences. Double calyx; outer sepals 6 - 9, fused almost only at the base, up to 1/3 or rarely up to half, always shorter than the inner sepals; the last 5, fused to 1/3. Petals 5, entire, narrowed at the base by a silky fibrous nail; variedly colored. Stamen tube in cross section rounded, endowed at the tip of numerous petioles; usually fibrous, rarely naked; anthers yellowish or purple-red. Ovaries numerous, with one ascending seedling; styles numerous; stigmas filamentous, lateral, located along the inner surface of the styles. Fruit dry, crumbly, discoid, concave in the middle, decaying into 8 - 25 laterally flattened, rounded fruiting shares; the last unbreakable, one-sided, one-seeded, arranged in a simple circle around the short, conical or flattened tip of the flower bed, the edges without wings. Insect-pollinated and self-pollinated; propagated by seeds.

Economic importance. A. officinalis L. is used in medicine and folk medicine as a softening agent due to the presence of mucus substances throughout the plant. A. officinalis and A. cannabina L. are honey plants. In some places they grow A. cannabina as an ornamental plant.

Table for Determination of the species

1    Annual, bristly fibrous plants; anthers yellowish ................................................................................................... 1. - A. hirsuta L.
1* Perennial plants, without bristles; anthers purple-red ..................................................................................................................... 2
2    Leaves more or less triangular; internal sepals inc. ............................................................................................ 3. - A. officinalis L.
2* Leaves more or less deep 3- to 5- (7 -) - lobed; inner sepals erect during the fetus; fruit lobes naked ................ 2. - A. cannabina L.

From:   „Флора на Н Р България”, том VII, БАН, София, (1979)

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Althaea is a genus of 6–12 species of perennial herbs native to Europe, North Africa and western Asia. It includes Althaea officinalis, also known as the marshmallow plant, whence the fluffy confection got its name. They are found on the banks of rivers and in salt marshes, preferring moist, sandy soils. The stems grow to 1–2 m tall, and flower in mid summer. The leaves are palmately lobed with 3–7 lobes. Althaea species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Bucculatrix quadrigemina.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Distribution in Bulgaria:(Conspectus of the Bulgarian Vascular Flora) = conspectus&gs_l= Zlc.
Distribution:
References: „Флора на Н Р България”, том VII, БАН, София, (1979), Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

SPECIES:

Althea officinalis L. - Marsh-mallow

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