新疆花葵 xin jiang hua kui

Althaea cachemiriana (Cambessèdes) Kuntze ["kashmiriana"]; Lavatera cachemiriana var. haroonii Abedin.

Herbs perennial, to 1 m tall, stellate pilose. Stipules filiform, ca. 8 mm, stellate tomentose; petiole 1-4 cm, stellate pilose; leaf blades dimorphic, basal leaf blades nearly orbicular, apical blades usually 3-5-lobed, 4-8 × 5-9 cm, lobes triangular, abaxially stellate tomentose, adaxially stellate pilose, base cordate, margin crenate, apex obtuse. Flowers in terminal subracemes or in axillary fascicles. Pedicel 4-8 cm, stellate pilose. Epicalyx lobes 3, broadly ovate, connate basally into cup ca. 1
cm, stellate tomentose, entire. Calyx campanulate, ca. 1.5 × 1.5 cm, 5-lobed, lobes ovate-lanceolate, stellate tomentose, apex acuminate. Corolla reddish purple, ca. 8 cm in diam.; petals obovate, ca. 4 × 2 cm, basally densely stellate hairy, base acuminate, apex 2-divided. Staminal column ca. 1.5 cm, sparsely hirsute. Mericarps 20-25, reniform, glabrous. Fl. Jun-Aug.

Sunny slopes, wet meadows; 500-2200 m. NW Xinjiang [India, Kashmir, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan].

This species is grown frequently as an ornamental and garden plant. Most material belongs to Lavatera cachemiriana var. cachemiriana. Lavatera cachemiriana var. haroonii Abedin differs in having simple or 2- or 3-rayed hairs on the adaxial leaf surface, and it is endemic to Pakistan. Lavatera cachemiriana is closely related to L. thuringiaca Linnaeus and may only represent a minor variant of that species at the eastern edge of its range.