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A tall plant (Alcea rosea) native to the Middle East and widely cultivated for its showy clusters of very large, variously colored flowers. Also called althea.
[Middle English holihocke, marsh mallow : holi, holy; see holy + hoc, mallow (from Old English).]
For more information on hollyhock, visit Britannica.com.
The noun has 2 meanings:
Meaning #1:
any of various plants of the genus Althaea; similar to but having smaller flowers than genus Alcea
Synonyms: althea, althaea
Meaning #2:
any of various tall plants of the genus Alcea; native to the Middle East but widely naturalized and cultivated for its very large variously colored flowers
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 Alcea setosa
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The hollyhocks comprise about 60 species of flowering plants in the genus Alcea (Ál-ce-a) in the mallow family Malvaceae, native to southwest and central Asia. They are biennial or short-lived perennial plants growing to 3.5 m tall, with broad, rounded, palmately lobed leaves and numerous flowers, pink or yellow in the wild species, on the erect central stem.
Alcea species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Bucculatrix quadrigemina and the Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui).
About 60 species, including:
Hollyhocks are popular garden ornamental plants, cultivars selected, particularly from A. rosea. The flowers have been selected for variations in colour, with dark purple, red and white-flowered plants available in addition to the colours found in wild plants.
Hollyhocks are very drought resistant, and do well in full sun locations that might be too hot or dry for other plants. They produce large, flat coin-shaped seeds (1/2" diameter) that seem to grow easily wherever they drop. While an individual plant might only live a handful of years, by that time chances are good it will leave plenty of descendants. They have very long taproots which make transplanting difficult.
A stylized, symmetrical hollyhock is the seal of the Tokugawa family in Japan, and is often used as a reference to the era in Japan's history where that family ruled the country. Also known is the character 'Aoi no Ue' (or 'Awoi no Uye' 葵上, 'Lady Hollyhock') from The Tale of Genji.
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Copyrights:
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hollyhock". Read more |
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