裸花蜀葵 luo hua shu kui

Althaea nudiflora Lindley, Trans. Hort. Soc. London 7: 251. 1830; A. leucantha Fischer.

Herbs biennial, to 80 cm tall, stellate pilose. Petiole 4-10 cm, stellate hirsute; leaf blade ovate, both surfaces densely stellate hirsute, base cordate, margin crenate; blades on proximal part of stem 5-6-lobed, those on distal part of stem 3-5-lobed; lobes ovate-oblong, central lobe 8-9 × 4-6 cm. Flowers clustered into a terminal, racemelike inflorescence. Pedicel 10-20 mm, densely stellate hirsute. Foliaceous bracts absent. Epicalyx cup-shaped, 6- or 7-parted, ca. 8 mm in diam., lobes triangular to lanceolate, ca. 5 mm, densely stellate woolly. Calyx cup-shaped, ca. 2 × as long as epicalyx, densely stellate hirsute, lobes triangular-lanceolate. Corolla white, greenish yellow in center, 5-8 cm in diam.; petals obovate, ca. 4 cm, base attenuate into hairy claw, apex emarginate. Staminal column 1-1.5 cm. Style branches many. Schizocarp disk-shaped, ca. 1.5 cm in diam., puberulent. Fl. Jul.

Sunny slopes; 1000 m. NW Xinjiang (Toli) [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan].

This species is very similar to Alcea rosea but differs by the longer central lobe of the leaf blade, the absence of leafy bracts, longer pedicels, and the white or greenish yellow corolla.