This is the plant from which marshmallows, the treats much beloved of pyromaniac Girl Scouts, were originally made. It is a European import uncommon in our area, but abundantly weedy near the railroad tracks in Carnegie.
For a description of the species, see the Althaea officinalis reference page.
A beautiful bush that seeds itself liberally and can take over hedges, or build itself into a hedge along a fence. It comes in a number of colors, often with a deep red eye. The column of united stamens, typical of the mallow family, is prodigal with its pollen, and bees delight in these flowers.
Photographed June 25 and June 29 with a Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z6 and a Canon PowerShot A530.
For a description of the species, see the Hibiscus syriacus reference page.
A little mallow that grows in lawns and vacant lots everywhere. It usually passes unnoticed as just another weed in the grass, but a close look at its flowers shows us that they are just like Hibiscus or Rose-of-Sharon flowers, but on a smaller scale.
For a description of the species, see the Malva neglecta reference page.
A common garden shrub that has become something of a pest, invading hedges especially, from which it is very difficult to extricate. Perhaps the best solution is to let the Roses of Sharon take over the hedge: they make a good, dense hedge themselves, and they have beautiful flowers in a number of different color combinations. In Pittsburgh they happily bloom well into October if the weather cooperates. The typical Mallow-family column of stamens sheds huge amounts of pollen, and these flowers are favorites with bees; below is a bumblebee drunk on pollen.
Gray describes the genus and the species:
HIBISCUS. Calyx involucellate at the base by a row of numerous bractlets, 5-cleft. Column of stamens long, bearing anthers for much of its length. Styles united, stigmas 5, capitate. Fruit a 5-celled loculicidal pod. Seeds several or many in each cell. —Herbs or shrubs, usually with large and showy flowers. (An old Greek and Latin name of unknown meaning.)
Calyx herbaceous, not inflated about the capsule; perennials.
Shrub with rhombic-ovate glabrous leaves.
H. syrìacus L. (SHRUBBY ALTHAEA of gardens.) Tall shrub, smooth; leaves rhombic- or wedge-ovate, pointed, cut-toothed or lobed; corolla usually rose-color. Established in thickets and by roadsides, N. J., Pa., and southw. July-Sept. (Introd. from Asia.)
Also known as Cheeses, because the seedpods look like tiny wheels of cheese. This little mallow grows in yards and vacant lots all over the city. Its flowers are small, but up close are obviously similar to Rose of Sharon, Hollyhock, and other members of the Mallow family. The blooming season is very long, and can last into the winter if the weather is warmer than average. These plants grew in Beechview, where they were blooming in early July.
Gray lists this species as M. rotundifolia:
MALVA [Tourn.] L. MALLOW. Calyx with a 3-leaved involucel at the base, like an outer calyx. Petals obcordate. Styles numerous, stigmatic down the inner side. Fruit depressed, separating at maturity into as many 1-seeded and indehiscent round kidney-shaped blunt carpels as there are styles. Radicle pointing downward. (An old Latin name, from the Greek name, malache, having allusion to the emollient leaves.)
Flowers fascicled in the axils.
M. rotundifòlia L. (COMMON M., CHEESES.) Stems procumbent from a deep biennial root; leaves round-heart-shaped, on very long petioles, crenate, obscurely lobed; petals twice the length of the calyx, whitish; carpels pubescent, even. —Waysides and cultivated grounds, common. (Nat. from Eu.)
