PLANTS WORTH GROWING 79 
Wherever a bold, striking group of plants is required 
to stand out in conspicuous relief against some dark 
background a mass of one of the species of Althaea 
may be planted with confidence, and should the 
troublesome fungoid disease that attacks the florist's 
Hollyhock make their cultivation difficult, the 
stronger species may well be utilized in their stead, 
for they seem to be practically immune from 
disease. Althaea cannabina is a tall-growing plant 
producing an abundance of single rose-pink flowers. 
A. ficifolia has handsome seven-lobed leaves which 
gave it the name of the fig-leaved Hollyhock. Its 
flowers are clear sulphur yellow, and an established 
plant throws up many stems well clothed with 
bloom. Another yellow-flowered species is A. 
sulphurea, with almost round leaves. This is not 
so tall, generally attaining a height of four feet or 
thereabouts. A. taurinensis is an Italian species 
with rosy-red flowers. It makes a fine specimen 
plant. The specific name of the florist's Hollyhock 
is A. rosea. Of this species many choice garden 
varieties exist, named varieties being carefully 
kept true by florists who propagate from cuttings. 
It is probable that this method of propagation, 
together with rich feeding to produce fine blooms for 
exhibition, had a good deal to do with the weakening 
of the plant's constitution, and subsequent suscepti- 
bility to the disease which at one time threatened 
wholesale destruction of choice Hollyhocks. 
Probably the finest collection of Hollyhocks in 
