Hollyhock. 299 



k cleft ; arils, many, one seeded. Specific characters : — 

 leaves, sennatc, angular. This is a deciduous, herbaceous 

 plant, ornamental in its appearance, and biennial in its dura- 

 tion. The flowers, which appear from July to September, are 

 re d. The stem is upright and hairy ; the leaves are cordate ; 

 five seven-angled, crenate, rugose. The flowers are axillary 



sessile. 



Phillips remarks, that the cultivation of this magnificent 

 Eastern plant is of great antiquity. Its noble size, majestic 

 height, and splendid flowers, could not fail to attract the atten- 

 tion of the earliest collectors of exotic plants. The derivation 

 of the English name of this flower may be traced to the Saxon 

 language, the old name of Holyoak being the same as Holihee. 

 Mortimer retains the old name of Holyocks for these plants, in 

 his work on Husbandry, as late as the year 1707, wherein he 



sa y S : Holyocks far exceed Poppies for their durableness, and 



are very ornamental. The French, who consider this plant as 

 a native of Syria, call it by several different names, Rose 

 tremiere, Rose de mer, Rose de Damas. In floral lan- 

 guage, it is figured as the symbol of fecundity, and its ex- 

 treme fruitfulness seems to justify the device. These plants 

 grow naturally in various eastern parts of the globe. It is 

 common in China, from whence the seeds of the tall, as well 

 as the dwarf Hollyhock, have been frequently received. 

 Pliny speaks of this flower in the fourth chapter of his twenty- 

 first book, where he describes it as a Rose growing on stalks 

 like the mallow ; and Miller says he received the seeds from 

 Istria, where it was gathered in the fields ; but these seeds 

 produced single red flowers only, whereas from the seeds pro- 

 cured from Madras, he raised plants with double flowers, of 

 many different colors. A late traveller in Africa says, that the 

 Hollyhock is also a native of Marootzee country, where he 

 found it growing wild among the rocks around Kurreechone ; 

 but these appear to have been only of a yellow color. Lin- 

 naeus ascribes it to Siberia, and we have, continues Phillips, 

 at different times received seeds from all the various places 

 where it grows naturally ; we have not only procured all the 

 varieties which these countries produce, but by bringing them 

 to one spot together, so that the several kinds have been im- 



