Alcea rosea L., Malvaceae. Hollyhock. First called holyoke by Turner (1548). Cultivar 'Nigra' refers to its dark red coloured flowers. Distribution: Southwest China, but now a world-wide gardenplant. Early medicinal uses are difficult to find as it was confused with mallow (Malva, Lavatera), Marsh Mallow (Althea), hibiscus (Hibiscus), and abutilon (Abutilon) but Parkinson (1640) says the leaves of Hollihocke were, at one time, eaten, raw or boiled, as a purgative. Bentley (1861) says that it is used, like Malva, to make marsh-mallows; that a blue dye is obtained from the leaves, and ropes can be made from the fibres of the outer part of the stem.