Althaea armeniaca

Tenore

Index Seminum (Naples) 1839: 11. 1839.

Common names: Armenian marshmallow guimauve arménienne
Introduced
Synonyms: Althaea micrantha Wiesbaur ex Borbás A. officinalis var. pseudoarmeniaca Polgár
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 6. Treatment on page 232. Mentioned on page 231.

Herbs perennial, 0.4–2 m. Stems erect, branched distally, softly stellate-tomentose. Leaves: stipule somewhat persistent, linear, simple, 2–5 mm, white pilose-hairy; petiole 0.5–5 cm, stellate-hairy; blade orbiculate, palmately divided, 5-lobed, 5–7 × 6–8 cm, lobes lanceolate, 0.5–5 × 0.3–3.5 cm, base truncate, margins irregularly serrate, apex obtuse, upper leaves reduced, orbiculate-triangular, 3–5-lobed, 1–6 × 0.6–5 cm, middle lobe longer than others, surfaces stellate-hairy. Inflorescences 1–4-flowered fascicles in leaf axils or peduncles many-flowered; peduncles 0.5–3 cm. Pedicels 0.1–5 cm, densely stellate-hairy; involucellar bractlets 6–10, linear-lanceolate, free portions 2–6 × 0.5–2 mm, 1/2+ as long as calyx, margins entire, apex acuminate, densely stellate-hairy. Flowers: calyx 8–10 mm, not or only slightly accrescent, lobes lanceolate, margins entire, apex acuminate, stellate-hairy; petals lilac-purple, 9–15 × 4–6 mm, 1.1–1.5(–3) times as long as calyx, margins entire, apex obtuse or slightly notched; staminal column 1–3 mm, glabrous or rarely sparsely papillose-hairy; anthers in upper 1/2, purple; style 10–20-branched. Fruits partially concealed by incurved calyx lobes, 7 mm diam.; mericarps 10–20, erect, brown, unwinged, orbiculate, rugose, stellate pilose-hairy, sides glabrous. Seeds brown, reniform-round, 1–2 × 2–2.5 mm, glabrous. 2n = 84.


Phenology: Flowering summer–fall.
Habitat: Wet or moist ditches, disturbed areas, stream drainages
Elevation: 300–400 m

Distribution

V6 413-distribution-map.jpg

Introduced; S.Dak., w Asia (n Iran, s Russia, Turkey, Turkistan).

Discussion

Althaea armeniaca is very similar to A. officinalis and is known to hybridize with it. Althaea armeniaca differs primarily by the more deeply five-lobed leaves rather than the three in A. officinalis and can be distinguished from A. cannabina by its pubescent fruits. Only a single population is known from the flora area, found in Hutchinson County, near Lonetree Creek west of Olivet. The species dominated a fence row at the edge of a field and was locally common in scattered clumps over an area of about three miles.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.
... more about "Althaea armeniaca"
Steven R. Hill +
Tenore +
Armenian marshmallow +  and guimauve arménienne +
S.Dak. +, w Asia (n Iran +, s Russia +, Turkey +  and Turkistan). +
300–400 m +
Wet or moist ditches, disturbed areas, stream drainages +
Flowering summer–fall. +
Index Seminum (Naples) +
Introduced +
Althaea micrantha +  and A. officinalis var. pseudoarmeniaca +
Althaea armeniaca +
species +