Althaea
L.
Annual or perennial herbs, erect or decumbent, pubescent or villous. Leaves
suborbicular, deeply lobed or partite or rarely entire. Flowers axillary, solitary or in
fascicles or in long terminal racemes towards the end of branches. Epicalyx cupular,
segments 6 -
9, connate at base, deltoid, densely lanate and bristly. Calyx campanulate,5-lobed, densely hairy. Corolla infundibular; petals obovate-cuneate. Staminal column
antheriferous almost up to base, hairy. Carpels numerous, many-Ioculed, one ovule in
each locule; style-branches as many as carpels, filiform; stigmas adaxial. Schizocarp with
mericarps arranged in a circle around axis, indehiscent, ultimately separating at maturity.
SubtropIcal and temperate regions of Europe and Asia, ca 20 species; 2 in India.
SubtropIcal and temperate regions of Europe and Asia, ca 20 species; 2 in India.
KEY TO THE SPECIES
| 1a. Prostrate or ascending herbs; leaves 5 - 7-lobed; Petals white; schizocarps with 8 - 9 mericarpl, glabrous | 1. Althaea ludwigii |
| b. Erect herbs or undershrubs; leaves entire or slightly 3-lobed; Petals pinkish; schizocarps with 10 - 15 mericarps, stellate-pillose | 2. Althaea officinalis |
