Description: Biennial or short-lived perennial herbs. Stems usually erect with a few short branches.
Leaves simple, entire or lobed.
Inflorescence racemose, terminal, usually more than half the height of the plant. Epicalyx fused at the base, mostly 5-lobed. Calyx fused at the base, 5-lobed. Petals usually large and showy. Staminal tube 5-angled.
Fruit a schizocarp with c. 40 indehiscent mericarps, each mericarp with an almost complete transverse septum, the upper loculus sterile, the lower 1-seeded.
Distribution and occurrence: World: c. 60 species, Mediterranean. Australia: 1 species (naturalized). Hollyhocks
Text by A. S. Mitchell & E. H. Norris
Taxon concept:
| One species in NSW: Alcea rosea |
|
