Alcea digitata

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Cleanup rewrite|date=January 2024|reason=See copy-editing thread on talk page.}}

{{Speciesbox

|image = Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 32.jpg

|image_caption = Small plant flowering in Antalya

|genus = Alcea

|species = digitata

|authority = (Boiss.) Alef.{{BioRef|POWO|id=558657-1|genus=Alcea|species=digitata}}

|synonyms ={{Collapsible list|title=Synonym list

|{{Species list

|Althaea digitata |Boiss.

|Alcea leiocarpa |(Sam.)

|Althaea leiocarpa |Sam.

}}

}}

}}

Alcea digitata, the fingered hollyhock,{{cite web |url= https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/546087 |work=iNaturalist |title=Alcea digitata}} is a tall hollyhock with large flowers native to the Middle East.

Description

A medium to tall (up to 3 m), hairy hollyhock with large, pinkish, or pale flowers (petals to 50 mm). The leaves (particularly upper ones) are distinctively divided into spreading finger-like lobes whose edges are irregular and at times sublobed, the lobes at the base of the leaf tending to point rather backward. Whilst the leaf-end lobe is larger than the others but not hugely so. The low leaves can be well-divided into fingers or just shallowly lobed.

The stem is narrow (to 12 mm) and branched only at the base.The hairs are star-like (sparse or dense). When tall, its height mostly comprises a long flower stalk with little leafage. It is found at roadsides, fields, rocky slopes, steppe, and maquis.

The epicalyx is large (>=50% calyx). The fruit segments with wingless edges, conspicuously wrinkled, pilose hairy (the sides sparsely).{{cite journal |title=The taxonomic revision of Alcea and Althaea (Malvaceae) in Turkey |last1=Uzunhisarciklı |first1=Mehmet Erkan |last2=Vural |first2=Mecit |journal=Turkish Journal of Botany |volume=36 |issue=6 |date=1 January 2012 |url= https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1716&context=botany}}{{cite thesis |title=The Revision of Alcea L. and Althaea L. (Malvaceae) Genus in Turkey |url= https://avesis.gazi.edu.tr/yonetilen-tez/b371cbe2-ce39-4a20-9a9c-d2ff085635c6/turkiyenin-alcea-l-ve-althaea-l-malvaceae-cinslerinin-revizyonu |last=Uzunhisarciklı |first=Mehmet Erkan |date=2009 |degree=PhD |publisher=Gazi University}}

Distribution

The plant's range includes Iran, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Turkey. In Turkey, it has been found growing at an elevation range of 20–2400 metres.

Botanical photographs

Photographs from Antalya unless indicated.

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 29.jpg|Typical look in flower

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 33.jpg|Typical look in flower

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 18.jpg|Topmost flowers

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 03.jpg|Growing plant

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 06.jpg|Growing plant

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 01.jpg|Leaf shape with end lobe only a little longer and base-lobes backward-pointing

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 21.jpg|Flower side, showing stellate large epicalyx (>=50% calyx)

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 25.jpg|Flower underside

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 26.jpg|Floral organs in flower centre

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 23.jpg|Petal base showing hairs

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 10.jpg|Buds, with smaller stellate hairs and large epicalyx

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 11.jpg|Buds, with smaller stellate hairs and large epicalyx

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 34.jpg|Calyx with stellate hairs

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 35.jpg|Flower stalk

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 08.jpg|Leaf with narrower lobes

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 27.jpg|Leaf with broader lobes (lowest leaves may be very shallow-lobed)

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 02.jpg|Leaf underside with coarse and fine stellate hairs (upper leaves less coarsely)

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 05.jpg|Leaf upperside

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 14.jpg|Leaf stalk with coarser hairs

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 15.jpg|Stem with coarser hairs

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 30.jpg|Stem with sparse hairs

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 39.jpg|Stem with coarse and many less coarse hairs

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 20.jpg|Inflorescence stem with less coarse hairs

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 28.jpg|Exceptionally tall plant, in flower

File:Alcea digitata in Antalya by David Merrick 13.jpg|Exceptionally tall plant (reaching just beyond top of photo)

References

{{More footnotes needed|date=January 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

  • {{cite book |last=Davis |first=P. H. |title=Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands |volume=2}}{{page needed|date=January 2024}}
  • {{cite book |last=Post |first=George E. |title=Flora of Syria, Palestine, and Sinai |edition=2nd |volume=1}}{{page needed|date=January 2024}}

{{Refend}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q15355452}}

digitata

Category:Flora of Iran

Category:Flora of Lebanon

Category:Flora of Palestine (region)

Category:Flora of Syria

Category:Flora of Turkey