Alcea, commonly known as hollyhock, is a flowering plant in the Malvaceae family.
Hollyhock bears funnel- or cup-shaped flowers on a tall spike. Like many other Malvaceae flowers, hollyhock flowers have five petals and a long, distinctive pistil. The pistil ends in a bulb, which distinguishes hollyhocks from flowers like the rose of Sharon, whose pistil forms a cone. Hollyhock flowers come in a wide variety of colors, including black. The most common colors are pink, red, yellow, purple and white.
