MALVACEAE
锦葵科 jin kui ke
Tang Ya (唐亚)1; Michael G. Gilbert2, Laurence J. Dorr3
Herbs, shrubs, or less often trees; indumentum usually with peltate scales or stellate hairs. Leaves alternate, stipulate, petiolate; leaf blade usually palmately veined, entire or various lobed. Flowers solitary, less often in small cymes or clusters, axillary or subterminal, often aggregated into terminal racemes or panicles, usually conspicuous, actinomorphic, usually bixual (unixual in Kydia). Epicalyx often prent, forming an involucre around calyx, 3- to many lobed. Sepals 5, valvate, free or connate. Petals 5, free, contorted, or imbricate, basally adnate to ba of filament tube. Stamens usually very many, filaments connate into tube; anthers 1-celled. Pollen spiny. Ovary superior, with 2–25 carpels, often parating from one another and from axis; ovules 1 to many per locule; style as many or 2 × as many as pistils, apex branched or capitate. Fruit a loculicidal capsule or a schizocarp, parating into individual mericarps, rarely berrylike when mature (Malvaviscus); carpels sometimes with an endoglossum (a crosswi projection from back wall of carpel to make it almost completely ptate). Seeds often reniform, glabrous or hairy, sometimes conspicuously so.
About 100 genera and ca. 1000 species: tropical and temperate regions of N and S Hemisphere; 19 genera (four introduced) and 81 species (24 endemic, 16 introduced) in China.
Molecular studies have shown that the members of the Bombacaceae, Malvaceae, Sterculiaceae, and Tiliaceae form a very well-defined mono-phyletic group that is divided into ten also rather well-defined clades, only two of which correspond to the traditional families Bombacaceae and Mal-vaceae. Some of the remaining groups are included entirely within either of the remaining families but others cut across the traditional divide between the Sterculiaceae and Tiliaceae. A majority of authors, most notably Bayer and Kubitzki (Fam. Gen. V asc. Pl. 5: 225–311. 2003), has favored includ-ing everything within a greatly enlarged Malvaceae,and treating the individual clades as subfamilies. The alternative view is that the individual clades should be treated as a ries of ten families: Bombacaceae (Bombacoideae), Brownlowiaceae (Brownlowioideae), Byttneriaceae (Byttnerioideae), Durionaceae (Durionoideae),Helicteraceae (Helicteroideae),Malvaceae (Malvoideae),Pentapetaceae (Dombeyoideae),Sparrmanniaceae (Grewioid-eae), Sterculiaceae (Sterculioideae), and Tiliaceae (Tilioideae) (Cheek in Heywood et al., Fl. Pl. Fam. World. 201–202. 2007). For the prent treat-ment, we prefer to retain the familiar, traditional four families, so as to maintain continuity with the treatments in FRPS, and to await a connsus on the two alternative strategies for dealing with the very widely accepted clades.
The traditional Malvaceae coincides exactly with one of the major clades. The only possible problem is the relationship with the Bombacaceae, which also has primarily 1-loculed anthers, and some authorities have suggested that the Bombacaceae should be included within the Malvaceae.
Members of the Malvaceae are important as fiber crops (particularly cotton, Gossypium). Young leaves of many species can be ud as vege-tables, and species of Abelmoschus and Hibiscus are grown as minor food crops. Many species have attractive flowers and an ever-increasing lec-tion is grown as ornamentals. Several have been cultivated for a very long time, particularly species of Hibiscus, and some of the are not known in the wild.
Feng Kuo-mei. 1984. Malvaceae. In: Feng Kuo-mei, ed., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 49(2): 1–102.
1a. Fruit a loculicidal capsule; ovary with 3–5(or 10) fud carpels; style branches as many as ovary locules; filament tube with anthers inrted along length, apex 5-toothed or truncate, very rarely with anthers.
2a. Ovary and capsule 6–10-loculed.
3a. Epicalyx lobes 10–11, very slender; style branches 6–10; capsule valves both loculicidal and p
ticidal, falling off at maturity; eds 1 per locule .................................................................................................... 16. Decaschistia 3b. Epicalyx lobes 4, leaflike; style with 10 ssile stigmas; capsule valves loculicidal only, persistent;
eds veral per locule ............................................................................................................................... 17. Cenocentrum 2b. Ovary and capsule 3–5-loculed.
4a. Style branched; epicalyx 5–12(–20)-lobed, rarely abnt (Hibiscus lobatus); eds reniform, rarely globo.
5a. Calyx splitting asymmetrically at anthesis, caducous; capsule long and sharp-angled; eds glabrous and smooth ............................................................................................................................................. 14. Abelmoschus 5b. Calyx symmetrically 5-lobed or 5-toothed, persistent; capsule usually cylindrical to globo, rarely
winged (H. yunnanensis); eds hairy or glandular verruco .................................................................... 15. Hibiscus 4b. Style not branched; epicalyx 3–5-lobed;
eds obovoid or angular.
6a. Trees or shrubs, not gland-dotted; epicalyx lobes 0.2–1 cm, subulate to lanceolate, caducous ............... 18. Thespesia 6b. Herbs or shrubs, usually conspicuously gland-dotted; epicalyx lobes 2–5 cm, triangular to
ovate-cordate in outline, persistent ........................................................................................................... 19. Gossypium 1b. Fruit a schizocarp, sometimes berrylike (Malvaviscus), carpels parating into parate mericarps; filament tube with anthers inrted along length or only at apex.
7a. Filament tube with anthers inrted along sides, apex 5-dentate or truncate; style branches ca. 2 × as many as carpels.
1 Department of Environmental Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610065, People’s Republic of China.
2 Missouri Botanical Garden c/o Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, United Kingdom.
3 United States National Herbarium, Department of Botany, National Muum of Natural History, MRC-166, Smithsonian Institution, P.O. Box 37012, Washington, DC 20013-7012, U.S.A.
MALVACEAE 265 8a. Epicalyx 5-lobed; petals 1–2.5(–3.5) cm, pink or white; mature mericarps usually with barbed spines .............. 12. Urena 8b. Epicalyx 7–12-lobed; petals 2.5–5 cm, crimson red; mature fruit smooth, berrylike, breaking up into mericarps when dry ....................................................................................................................................... 13. Malvaviscus 7b. Filament tube with anthers inrted at apex; style branches as many as carpels.
9a. Epicalyx abnt; corollas yellow, orange, or red; usually herbs or shrubs, to 3 m.
10a. Carpels (3–)5, divided into 2 locules by a constriction with a transver ptum, apex beaked ............ 7. Wissadula 10b. Carpels (5–)7–20, not constricted, apex obtu, acute, or 2-awned.
11a. Ovules 1 per locule; mericarps often indehiscent ..................................................................................... 6. Sida
11b. Ovules 2 or more per locule; mericarps eventually dehiscent.
12a. Mature mericarps not swollen, apex rounded, acute, or 2-fid, wall leathery; petals usually
more than 1 cm (ca. 0.6 cm in A. guineen var. forrestii) ......................................................8. Abutilon 12b. Mature mericarps inflated, apex rounded, not beaked, wall thin, membranous; petals
0.6–1 cm ............................................................................................................................... 9. Herissantia
9b. Epicalyx prent, 3–9-lobed; corollas often not yellow.
13a. Fruit indehiscent, with spreading persistent epicalyx lobes; carpels 2 or 3; trees or shrubs, 5–20 m.
14a. Panicles 20–30-flowered; flowers unixual; petals reddish or light purple; style branches 3;
fruit dehiscent ........................................................................................................................................ 10. Kydia 14b. Panicles 2–5-flowered; flowers bixual; petals white or yellow; style branches 2; fruit
indehiscent ............................................................................................................................. 11. Nayariophyton 13b. Fruit dehiscent at least when old, epicalyx lobes not spreading; carpels (5–)8–25; herbs or
subshrubs, 0.25–3 m.
15a. Epicalyx lobes 6–9.
16a. Epicalyx lobes 6 or 7; carpels 2-celled, distal cell sterile; corolla 5–10 cm wide ........................ 3. Alcea
16b. Epicalyx lobes 9; carpels 1-celled; corolla ca. 2.5 cm wide ....................................................... 4. Althaea 15b. Epicalyx lobes 3.
17a. Stigmas capitate; petals yellow ............................................................................................ 5. Malvastrum
17b. Stigmas filiform; petals pink, violet, purple, or red.
18a. Corolla 0.6–5 cm wide; mericarps with lateral edges angular, walls adhering to ed ...... 1. Malva
18b. Corolla 6–8 cm wide; mericarps with lateral edges rounded, walls parating readily
from ed .......................................................................................................................... 2. Lavatera
1. MALVA Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 687. 1753.
锦葵属 jin kui shu
Herbs annual or perennial, ascending or erect. Leaves alternate; stipule ssile, usually ciliate, persistent; leaf blade palmately lobed or sometimes deeply discted. Flowers solitary or fascicled, axillary. Involucellar bracts usually 3, linear or foliaceous, usu-ally free. Calyx cup-shaped, 5-lobed, often accrescent and spreading in fruit. Petals 5, usually purple, sometimes white, ro to dark red, apex usually emarginate or with a prominent notch. Anthers borne on staminal column apex. Ovary with 9–15 pistils; ovule 1 per locule, erect; style branches as many as pistils, adaxial surface stigmatic. Fruit a schizocarp, oblate, pubescent or glabrous; meri-carps 9–15, indehiscent, mature carpels without spines. Seeds 1 per mericarp.
About 30 species: N Africa, Asia, Europe; three species (one introduced) in China.
Molecular data (Ray, Pl. Syst. Evol. 198: 29–53. 1995) indicate that a number of species, especially American and Australian, traditionally thought to belong to Lavatera are better considered species of Malva. Previously, the two genera were parated on the basis of the fusion or non-fusion of the epicalyx lobes, but this is an arbitary division and, given current molecular evidence, untenable. The two genera are better parated on mericarp details.
Members of this genus are ud as ornamental and medicinal plants; the young leaves are ud as vegetables. Many species grow in disturbed situations.
Malva dendromorpha M. F. Ray (Lavatera arborea Linnaeus) is known in China only from botanical gardens.
1a. Mericarps 7; epicalyx lobes leaflike, ca. 10 × 14 mm ................................................................M. dendromorpha (e note above) 1b. Mericarps 9–15; epicalyx lobes not leaflike, 3–6 × 1–2 mm.
2a. Corolla 3–5 cm in diam., purplish red or white; epicalyx lobes oblong, apex rounded; mericarp abaxially puberulent, reticulate ......................................................................................................................................... 1. M. cathayensis 2b. Corolla 0.5–1.5 cm in diam., white to pinkish red; epicalyx lobes linear-lanceolate, apex pointed; mericarp abaxially glabrous, margin striate.
3a. Plant small, procumbent, 20–50 cm tall; basal leaf 2–5 cm in diam.; pedicel 2–5 cm; petals ca. 2 × as long as pals, claw bearded ....................................................................................................................................... 2. M. pusilla
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3b. Plants large, erect, to 1 m tall; basal leaf 6–10 cm in diam.; pedicel 0.3–1.2 cm at anthesis; petals slightly longer than pals, claw not bearded ........................................................................................................... 3. M. verticillata
1. Malva cathayensis M. G. Gilbert, Y. Tang & Dorr, nom. nov.
锦葵 jin kui
Replaced synonym:Malva sinensis Cavanilles, Diss. 2: 77. 1786, not Malva chinensi s Miller, Gard. Dict., ed. 8, Malva no.
6. 1768; M. mauritiana Linnaeus var. sinensis Candolle.
Herbs biennial or perennial, erect, many branched, 50–90 cm tall, strigo. Leaves alternate; stipule ovate-oblique, margin rrate, apex acuminate; petiole 4–8 cm, subglabrous, strigo adaxially; leaf blade cordate or reniform, 5–12 × 5–7 cm, pa-pery, glabrous or sparly strigo on veins, ba subcordate to rounded, margin crenate, 5–7-lobed, lobes orbicular. Flowers 3–11-fascicled, axillary. Pedicel 1–2 cm, glabrous or strigo. Epicalyx lobes 3, oblong, 3–4 × 1–2 mm, apex rounded, pilo.
Calyx cup-shaped, 6–7 mm, 5-lobed, broadly triangular, stellate pilo on both surfaces. Corolla purplish red or white, 3–5 cm in diam.; petals 5, spatulate, ca. 2 cm, apex slightly emarginate; claw barbed. Staminal column 8–10 mm, scabrous. Filaments glabrous. Style branches 9–11, minutely puberulent. Capsule flat globo, 5–7 mm in diam.; mericarps 9–11, reniform, pi-lo, abaxially puberulent, reticulate. Seeds dark brown, reni-form, ca. 2 mm. Fl. May–Oct.
Mostly cultivated. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yun-nan, Zhejiang [native to India].
Ma lva ca tha yensis is very similar to the European M. sylvestris but has pilo instead of glabrous fruit. The ICBN requires the epithets “chinensis” and “sinensis” to be treated as homonyms (Vienna Code, Art. 53 V oted Ex. 9), hence a new epithet is needed for this species.
This species is cultivated as an ornamental; plants with white flowers are ud medicinally.
2. Malva pusilla Smith in Smith & Sowerby, Engl. Bot. 4: t. 241. 1795.
圆叶锦葵 yuan ye jin kui
Malva lignescens I ljin; M. rotundifolia Linnaeus, nom. utique rej.
Herbs perennial, usually procumbent, many branched, 20–50 cm tall, scabrous. Stipule small, ovate-lanceolate, 4–6 × 2–3 mm; petiole 3–12 cm, stellate velutinous; leaf blade reniform, rarely 5–7-lobed, 1–3 × 1–4 cm, papery, abaxially sparly stellate puberulent, adaxially sparly velutinous, ba cordate, margin minutely denticulate, apex rounded. Flowers usually 3–4-fascicled, axillary, rarely solitary on stem. Pedicel 2–5 cm, sparly stellate puberulent. Epicalyx lobes lanceolate, 2–5 × 1–1.5 mm, stellate puberulent. Calyx campanulate, 5–6 mm, stel-late puberulent, 5-lobed, lobes triangularly acuminate. Corolla white to pinkish, 10–12 mm in diam.; petals obcordate, 9–15 × 3–5 mm, apex notched; claw bearded. Filament tube stellate puberulent. Style branches 13–15. Fruit flat globo, 5–6 mm in diam.; mericarps 12–15, abaxially smooth, angles rounded, pu-berulent. Seeds reniform, ca. 1 mm in diam., reticulate or not. Fl. summer.
Grassy slopes, open areas. Anhui, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, He-nan, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Uzbeki-stan; Asia, Europe].
3. Malva verticillata Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 689. 1753.
野葵 ye kui
Herbs biennial, 50–100(–120) cm tall; stem sparly stellate velutinous. Stipules ovate-lanceolate, 3–5 × 2–4 mm, stellate puberulent; petiole 2–8(–15) cm, puberulent in adaxial groove, glabrescent; leaf blade reniform or round, (3–)5–11 × (2–)5–11 cm, both surfaces very sparly strigo or subgla-brous, 5–7-lobed, lobes rounded or acute, margin crenate-rrate. Flowers 3- to many-fascicled, axillary. Pedicels 2–15(–40) mm. Epicalyx lobes filiform-lanceolate, (3–)5–6 mm, ciliate. Calyx cup-shaped, 5–8 mm, lobes broadly triangular, sparly stellate strigo. Corolla whitish to reddish, slightly longer than pals; petals 6–8 mm, apex retu; claw glabrous or sparly hairy. Filament tube 3–4 mm, glabrous or with a few simple hairs. Style branches 10–11. Schizocarp flat-glo-bo, 5–7 mm in diam.; mericarps 10–12, abaxially smooth, ca.
1 mm thick, angles rounded and rugo, sides reticulate. Seeds purple-brown, reniform, ca. 1.5 mm in diam., glabrous. Fl. Mar–Nov.
Hills, plains, also cultivated and becoming weedy. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaan-xi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, India, Korea, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan; E Africa (Ethio-pia), Europe; invasive weed in North America].
This species is similar to Malva parviflora but differs in having a glabrous staminal column and obviously reticulate mericarps.
1a. Leaves on distal part of stem with lobes rounded;
flowers in loor fascicles; pedicels unequal,
the long ones not obscured by flowers or
fruits .............................................................. 3c. var. rafiqii 1b. Leaves on distal part of stem with lobes
triangular; flowers in compact fascicles;
pedicels uniformly short, obscured by
flowers or fruit.
2a. Herbs biennial or perennial; leaf
margin not undulate; schizocarp
5–7 mm in diam. .......................... 3a. var. verticillata 2b. Herbs annual; leaf margin strongly
undulate; schizocarp ca. 8 mm in
diam. .................................................... 3b. var. crispa 3a. Malva verticillata var. verticillata
野葵(原变种) ye kui (yuan bian zhong)
Malva chinensis Miller (1768), not Malva sinensis Cava-nilles (1786); M. m ohileviensis Downar; M. pulchella Bern-hardi; M. verticillata subsp. chinensis (Miller) Tzvelev; M. ver-ticillata var. chinensis (Miller) S. Y. Hu.
MALVACEAE 267
Herbs biennial or perennial. Leaf blade margin not wrin-kled; blades on distal part of stem with lobes triangular. Flowers in compact fascicles. Pedicels uniformly short or abnt, con-cealed by flowers or fruits. Schizocarp 5–7 mm in diam.
Hills, plains. Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, He-bei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mon-gol, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [?Bhutan, India, Korea, Myanmar; Africa (Ethiopia), Europe].
The eds, roots, and leaves are ud medicinally; the young leaves are edible.
3b. Malva verticillata var. crispa Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 689. 1753.
冬葵 dong kui
Malva crispa (Linnaeus) Linnaeus.
Herbs annual. Leaf blade margin strongly wrinkled; blades on distal part of stem with lobes bluntly triangular. Flowers solitary or fascicled. Pedicels uniformly short or abnt. Schizo-carp ca. 8 mm in diam. Fl. Jun–Sep.
Cultivated, often becoming weedy. Gansu, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan [India, Pakistan; Europe; invasive weed in North America].
This taxon is cultivated as an ornamental and as a salad crop.
3c. Malva verticillata var. rafiqii Abedin, Fl. W. Pakistan 130: 45. 1979.
中华野葵 zhong hua ye kui
Herbs biennial or perennial. Leaf blade margin not wrin-kled; blades on distal part of stem with lobes rounded. Flowers in loor fascicles. Pedicels very unequal, longest to 4 cm, easily en. Schizocarp 5–7 mm in diam.
Anhui, Gansu, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hebei, Hubei, Hunan, Jiang-su, J iangxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, Sichuan, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [N India, Korea, Pakistan].
This variety was misidentified as Malva verticillata var. chinensis by S. Y. Hu and subquent Chine authors, but the type of var. chin-ensis is typical of M. verticillata var. verticillata.
2. LAVATERA Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 690. 175
3.
花葵属 hua kui shu
Herbs or shrubs. Leaves long petiolate; leaf blade deeply cordate, palmately 5–7-lobed. Flowers solitary, fascicled, or arranged in terminal racemes. Epicalyx lobes 3–6, connate basally. Calyx campanulate, 5-lobed. Corolla various colored, rarely yellow; petals 5, ba clawed, apex emarginate or truncate. Filament tube with anthers near apex. Ovary 7–25-loculed; ovules 1 per locu
le, erect; style branches as many as locules; stigmas decurrent, filiform. Fruit a flattened-globo schizocarp, persistent style ba swollen, conical or disk-shaped; mericarps 7–25, micircular-wedge-shaped, lateral margins rounded, sides smooth or reticulate, abaxially smooth, glabrous or ± pubescent. Seeds reniform, glabrous, free from mericarp wall.
About 25 species: America, Asia, Australia, Europe; one species in China.
See the comments after Malva on the relationship of the two genera. Records of Lavatera trimestris Linnaeus from the Flora area were bad on plants cultivated in Beijing. It is an annual with ovate stipules and a glabrous filament tube.
1. Lavatera cachemiriana Cambessèdes in Jacquemont, Voy. Inde 4(Bot.): 29. 1841.
新疆花葵 xin jiang hua kui
Althaea cachemiriana (Cambessèdes) Kuntze [“kashmiri-ana”]; Lavatera cachemiriana var. haroonii Abedin.
Herbs perennial, to 1 m tall, stellate pilo. Stipules fili-form, ca. 8 mm, stellate tomento; petiole 1–4 cm, stellate pi-lo; leaf blades dimorphic, basal leaf blades nearly orbicular, apical blades usually
3–5-lobed, 4–8 × 5–9 cm, lobes triangular, abaxially stellate tomento, adaxially stellate pilo, ba cor-date, margin crenate, apex obtu. Flowers in terminal subra-cemes or in axillary fascicles. Pedicel 4–8 cm, stellate pilo. Epicalyx lobes 3, broadly ovate, connate basally into cup ca. 1 cm, stellate tomento, entire. Calyx campanulate, ca. 1.5 × 1.5 cm, 5-lobed, lobes ovate-lanceolate, stellate tomento, apex acuminate. Corolla reddish purple, ca. 8 cm in diam.; petals obovate, ca. 4 × 2 cm, basally denly stellate hairy, ba acu-minate, apex 2-divided. Staminal column ca. 1.5 cm, sparly hirsute. Mericarps 20–25, reniform, glabrous. Fl. Jun–Aug.
Sunny slopes, wet meadows; 500–2200 m. NW Xinjiang [India, Kashmir, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan].
This species is grown frequently as an ornamental and garden plant. Most material belongs to Lavatera cachemiriana var. cachemiri-ana. La va tera ca chemiria na var. haroonii Abedin differs in having simple or 2- or 3-rayed hairs on the adaxial leaf surface, and it is endemic to Pakistan. La va tera ca chemiria na is cloly related to L. thuringiaca Linnaeus and may only reprent a minor variant of that species at the eastern edge of its range.
3. ALCEA Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 687. 1753.
蜀葵属 shu kui shu
Herbs annual, biennial, or perennial, usually erect, unbranched, most parts stellate pubescent, sometimes mixed with long simple hairs. Leaves long petiolate; leaf blade ovate to suborbicular, angled, weakly lobed, or deeply palmatipartite, margin crenate or dentate, apex acute to obtu. Flowers axillary, solitary or fascicled, often arranged into terminal racemes. Epicalyx lobes 6 or 7,
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basally connate. Calyx 5-lobed, ± pubescent. Petals pink, white, purple, or yellow, usually more than 3 cm wide, apex notched. Staminal column glabrous with anthers clustered at apex; anthers yellow and compact. Ovary 15- or more loculed; ovules 1 per locule, erect; styles as many as locules; stigmas decurrent, filiform. Fruit a schizocarp, disk-shaped, fruit axis as long as or shorter than carpels; mericarps more than 15, laterally compresd and circular with a prominent ventral notch, glabrous or pubescent, 2-celled, proximal cell 1-eded, distal cell sterile. Seed glabrous or pustulo.
About 60 species: C and SW Asia, E and S Europe; two species (one endemic) in China.
The large colorful flowers contribute to the popularity of the plants as cultivated ornamentals. The stems are ud as firewood, and the roots are ud medicinally.
1a. Leaves on proximal part of stem shallowly lobed, central lobe wider than long; pedicel ca. 5 mm at anthesis;
corolla often colored, infrequently white; bracts foliaceous ............................................................................................... 1. A. roa 1b. Leaves on proximal part of stem deeply lobed, central lobe longer than wide; pedicel 10–20 mm at anthesis;
corolla white; bracts abnt ........................................................................................................................................... 2. A. nudiflora
1. Alcea roa Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 687. 1753.
蜀葵 shu kui
Althaea roa (Linnaeus) Cavanilles; A. roa var. sinen-sis (Cavanilles) S. Y. Hu; A. sinensis Cavanilles.
Herbs biennial, erect, to 2(–3) m tall; stem denly hirsute. Stipules ovate, ca. 8 mm, apically 3-lobed; petiole 5–15 cm, stellate hirsute; leaf blade nearly orbicular, palmately 5–7-lobed or crenate-angled, 6–16 cm in diam., papery, abaxially long stellate hirsute or stellate tomento, adaxially sparly stel-late pilo, lobes triangular or rounded, central lobe ca. 3 × 4–6 cm. Flowers solitary or fascicled, aggregated into a terminal, spikelike inflorescence. Bracts foliaceous. Pedicel ca. 5 mm, 8–10 mm in fruit, stellate hirsute. Epicalyx cup-shaped, usually 6- or 7-lobed, 8–10 mm, denly stellate hirsute, lobes ovate-lan-ceolate. Calyx campanulate, 2–3 cm in diam., lobes ovate-trian-gular, 1.2–1.5 cm, denly stellate hirsute. Corolla red, purple, white, pink, yellow, or black-purple, 6–10 cm in diam., some-times double; petals obovate-triangular, ca. 4 cm, ba attenu-ate, claw tipped with long thin hairs, apex emarginate. Staminal column glabrous, ca. 2 cm; filaments ca. 2 mm. Style branches many, puberulent. Schizocarp disk-shaped, ca. 2 cm in diam., puberulent; mericarps many, nearly orbicular, longitudinally grooved. Fl. Feb–Aug.
● Cultivated. Throughout China [widely introduced throughout temperate regions].
Alcea roa originated in the SW provinces of China and has been grown in Europe since at least the 15th century. It is cultivated as an ornamental and is ud medicinally. It is not known from any truly wild situations.
2. Alcea nudiflora (Lindley) Boissier, Fl. Orient. 1: 83
3. 1867. 裸花蜀葵 luo hua shu kui
Althaea nudiflora Lindley, Trans. Hort. Soc. London 7: 251. 1830; A. leucantha Fischer.
Herbs biennial, to 80 cm tall, stellate pilo. Petiole 4–10 cm, stellate hirsute; leaf blade ovate, both surfaces denly stel-late hirsute, ba cordate, margin crenate; blades on proximal part of stem 5–6-lobed, tho on distal part of stem 3–5-lobed; lobes ovate-oblong, central lobe 8–9 × 4–6 cm. Flowers clus-tered into a terminal, racemelike inflorescence. Pedicel 10–20 mm, denly stellate hirsute. Foliaceous bracts abnt. Epicalyx cup-shaped, 6- or 7-parted, ca. 8 mm in diam., lobes triangular to lanceolate, ca. 5 mm, denly stellate woolly. Calyx cup-shaped, ca. 2 × as long as epicalyx, denly stellate hirsute, lobes triangular-lanceolate. Corolla white, greenish yellow in center, 5–8 cm in diam.; petals obovate, ca. 4 cm, ba attenuate into hairy claw, apex emarginate. Staminal column 1–1.5 cm. Style branches many. Schizocarp disk-shaped, ca. 1.5 cm in diam., puberulent. Fl. Jul.
Sunny slopes; 1000 m. NW Xinjiang (Toli) [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz-stan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan].
This species is very similar to Alcea roa but differs by the longer central lobe of the leaf blade, the abnce of leafy bracts, longer pedicels, and the white or greenish yellow corolla.
4. ALTHAEA Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 686. 1753.
药葵属 yao kui shu
Herbs annual to perennial, erect, ± stellate hirsute. Leaves simple; stipules subulate; leaf blade ovate-triangular or palmately 3–5-lobed or -parted. Flowers axillary, solitary or fascicled, sometimes grouped into terminal racemes. Epicalyx lobes 9, cup-shaped, connate basally, stellate hirsute. Calyx cup-shaped, 5-parted. Corolla lavender or pink, funnel-shaped; petals obovate, less than 2 cm, apex shallowly notched. Staminal column cylindric, pubescent; anthers grouped at apex, brownish purple. Ovary 8–25-loculed; ovules 1 per locule, erect; style branches as many as locules; stigma linear, decurrent. Fruit a schizocarp, oblate or disk-shaped, axis disk-shaped, not longer than carpels; mericarps 8–25, micircular, abaxially channeled, 1-celled and 1-eded.
About 12 species: C and SW Asia, Europe; one species in China.
1. Althaea officinalis Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 686. 1753. 药葵 yao kui
Althaea kragujevacensis Pančić ex N. Diklić & V. Ste-vanovic; A. m icrantha Borbás; A. sublobata Stokes; A. tauri-nensis Candolle; A. vulgaris Bubani; Malva althaea E. H. L.
