“Botanizing with Mallows Aforethought”

by Steven R. Hill
Center for Biodiversit
Illinois Natural History Survey
607 E. Peabody Drive
Champaign, IL 61820

(Article first appeared in “American Butterflies,” Fall 2002 and reprinted by special permission; photos furnished by the author)

Mallows aforethoutht

n. 1) the conscious intent to find or discover members of the Mallow Family (Malvaceae) on a particular journey or at a particular location. 2) a general depraved state of mind in which a person is unconcerned for the plants in an area that are not mallows. See also: first degree botanizing.

MALLOWS AND PEOPLE

Mallows are ‘comfortable’ plants. The very name ‘mallow’ (‘malva’) may be connected to the Latin word ‘mollis’, or ‘soft’. In nature, though they are sun-worshipers, they seem to enjoy being part of the background, and mallows shun controversy and notoriety. While not necessarily small or hidden plants, they tend to be rather humble. They try not to overwhelm or elbow out other kinds of plants, and their individual flowers are not overly gaudy nor do they last very long. When one looks at the history of flower gardens, mallow popularity was at its peak most likely in the mid- and late-1800's, in the Victorian gardens of England and the Impressionistic gardens of France. Why? Because many mallows are happy to occupy that back row and supply the pale greens and pale pastels needed to contrast with the kaleidoscope of bright colors and textures of the shorter and more dramatic plants (which crave more attention) spread out in front of them. Picture a Victorian or rural American garden with a border of tall hollyhocks in pastel shades of pink set behind the more dramatic or brilliant roses, snapdragons, irises, or even pools of waterlilies, and you will understand what I mean.

Continuing the anthropomorphism a bit farther, the tropical cousins of our pale northern mallows are often more colorful and experimental. While northern mallows are often pink, pale purple, or white in color, some tropical mallows are bright red or yellow. They seem to crave attention. In both temperate and tropical deserts as well, mallows often shed their humble image and have flowers of bright coppery orange or even deep blue. Mallow flower colors are sometimes hard to describe, and we often use such terms as ‘salmon-pink’, ‘sulphur yellow’, ‘mauve’ (the French word for mallow), ‘magenta’, ‘burgundy’, ‘deep wine red’ and so on. The tropical mallows include the very well known Chinese hibiscus, a very popular cold-sensitive shrub that is grown outside in warm areas and from which many wonderful cultivars have been bred. The image of a large red hibiscus flower is hard to separate from its association with Polynesian clothing, Polynesian women, and paradise. The flower makes a very good tea, also, adding just the right amount of color and texture with little taste.

WHAT IS A MALLOW?

How does one recognize that a plant is a mallow? One of the nice things about these plants is that they share several features that make them rather easy to identify anywhere in the world that they grow. While plants enjoy making fools out of botanists with occasional ornery exceptions, almost every mallow flower opens ‘up’ to the sky and has 5 petals that are not joined to one another except at their very base, and only loosely there. The petals are wide near the top and very narrow at the base, and often they are pinwheel-like with the tip of each petal bent towards the adjacent petal. The male part of the flower is made up of a tube or sheath that is also attached to the petals at its base, and this tube encloses the pistil. The many stamens are attached to this tube at varying heights like hat pins. Each stamen normally has a single pollen sac, and the pollen can be so large that individual grains can be seen without a microscope. The grains are very spiny when magnified. The female part of the flower has a typical pistil structure of stigmas, styles and ovaries. The styles tend to be long because they must be longer than the stamen tube in order to receive pollen. Each of these flowers often exists for only a single day, and the fragile petals are normally thin and watery, making them very poor subjects for bouquets or corsages. Along with these distinctive flowers, mallows have rather characteristic leaves. The leaves are normally stalked, and the blade is often palmately lobed, in the manner of fingers on a hand, and palmately veined, the main veins arising like spokes of a wheel at the base of the leaf blade. The leaves alternate on the stem, that is, there is no other leaf attached to the stem directly opposite a leaf, and, more often than not, one can see two small leaf-like structures attached at the base of the leaf stalk (on either side of it) on the stem. These tiny leaves are called stipules.

Well, what else makes a mallow a mallow? Mallows normally have strong fibers in their bark or stem making the stems and branches very difficult to break - they normally need to be cut. Also, the more actively growing parts are gummy or sticky inside, because the plants produce an aptly named group of substances called mucopolysaccharides, or ‘slimy starchy-sugars’, best known in mallows like okra (“gumbo”). Some people are surprised to learn that the marshmallow is a real plant whose slimy juice was once used to whip sugar up into a frenzy of confectionery delights. Less exotic gums and sugars are used to mass produce these tasty little white pillows today.

WHERE ARE THE MALLOWS ?

There are about 100 genera and 2,000 species of mallows on the planet. In California, there are 16 genera (17 if you want to include cotton, Gossypium) and at least 62 species. After adding in all of the eleven western states east to the Rockies there are 21 genera. In all of mainland North America north of Mexico there are 31 genera of mallows, all but four of which are considered native. Some areas, in contrast to California, are mallow-poor, such as the state of Maine that has only 8 mallows in its flora, none of which are native.

In very general terms, the mallows of mainland North America fall into three categories: 1) introduced rather widespread weedy species, mostly from temperate Europe; 2) native species in western North America with relatives in drier parts of Central America and, especially, in temperate South America; and 3) native and introduced tropical species in southern and southeastern North America with affinities to moist, hot lowland areas to the south and west. There are several examples of mallows in North America that do not fit into any of these patterns, and

these are the mysteries that botanists love.

Okay, so what about western mallows? Well, the western states, including the deserts and east to the front range of the Rockies, have more species of native mallows than can be found in the eastern half of the country, and some are quite ornamental. In fact, the large genus often known as ‘checker-mallow’ (Sidalcea) that often has colorful wine-pink flowers is essentially limited to this area. However, mallows are not everywhere. They are usually in rather small or local colonies where enough seeds have been produced to result in a dependable seed bank for continued existence. Most mallow seeds don’t get around much. Few seeds are carried by animals, water, or the wind, so they tend to be in isolated colonies. To locate them, it is best to ask members of your local wild flower or native plant society. They can be in some unexpected places, from sea cliffs, to roadsides, to mountain meadows, to desert washes. The introduced species are sometimes quite common at the edges of parking lots, vacant lots, or croplands.

BUTTERFLIES “R” US

Okay, so what does this have to do with butterflies? Butterflies are attracted to the flowers of the more colorful mallows, but they receive rather little nutrition from them. Mallow flower nectaries are poorly developed, and their small amount of nectar is produced by concentrations of glandular secretory hairs found only on the calyx at the base of the petals, about where the petals join at their bases. Little, if any, fragrance is produced by mallow flowers. The primary food for pollinators in mallow flowers is the abundance of pollen, especially in species with large flowers. Therefore, most mallow flower visitors are gathering pollen, including numerous beetles, and fewer numbers of bees, flies, and wasps. Still, they will attract butterflies, especially the smaller fast flying species, and so they have their place in the butterfly garden as an added attractant.

In contrast to the scarcity of food in the flowers, most mallows are known for their edibility, and some are hosts to caterpillars. With a very few exceptions, the flowers and young growing parts of most mallows can be eaten by people and animals. A few foods and beverages have been produced from mallows, including the marshmallows, okra, and hibiscus teas already mentioned, and some have pleasantly sour leaves used in salads and are used to make tingly beverages such as drinks made with roselle, a hibiscus (especially popular in Jamaica).

Some mallows have small but very strong, sharp, almost glass-like hairs at various places on the plant that can cause skin rashes. The harsh hairs of the mallows are very interesting to some botanists because of their variety and beauty under magnification. Most mallows have low, spreading stellate hairs with many arms radiating like spokes in a wheel. Others form very dense bristly tufts. Still others have only rigid simple bristle-like hairs. It is likely that these hairs are the primary defenses of these plants against being eaten by insects, acting like a coat-of-mail or barbed-wire fence keeping their appealing edibleness from constant attack. Combined with the plants’ gummy sap, the hairs discourage the smaller vegetarian grazers, such as caterpillars.

Some of the less highly furry mallows are eaten by caterpillars, as well as by many other things. Ah, yes, finally butterflies enter the story. According to our guru Jeff Glassberg, some western butterfly caterpillars feed upon mallows, and some of the mallows that they use include:

Mallows, in general, are best propagated by seed. The common garden mallows are generally easy to obtain. Seeds of okra (Abelmoschus), hollyhocks (Alcea), the marshmallow (Althaea), hibiscus (Hibiscus), and true mallows (Malva) are commonly seen for sale in seed packet displays or in most seed catalogs. Living plants of these and, increasingly, of checker-mallows (Sidalcea) can be found at most nurseries that sell perennial wildflower plants. They can be grown under a variety of moisture and pH conditions. While the soaking of seeds overnight is helpful before planting, it is not required for germination. Most mallow seeds, particularly those of wild species, have a very thick seed coat that can allow them to survive for many years in the soil before they germinate. By its very nature, this thick seed coat can also prevent germination when we want it, so that notching the seed coat with a small file, or steeping the seeds in very hot water in a coffee cup may be needed to increase the chances of rapid germination. Seeds must be planted immediately after using these techniques. Some gardeners prefer to start the plants in pots or seed flats and others prefer to plant them right into the ground. The seedlings are susceptible to damping-off fungus, and most are favored by slugs, snails, and small furry mammals, so they need some protection against these threats. Remember that many mallows are annuals, biennials or weak perennials, so one may wish to start some replacements or save seeds for propagation as the original plants age.

Most, but not all, wild and cultivated mallows like alkaline or neutral pH soils. This can include areas of limestone and dolomite as well as mineral-rich springs and marshes. Hibiscus and seaside mallow (Kosteletskya) can thrive in estuary marshes along the coast, but it is unlikely that one would find mallows in an acid bog. In general, nearly any rich, well-drained soil in a sunny area with some crushed dolomite or powdered lime and peat added is fine for mallows.

Some of the most interesting and colorful mallows are found in the southwestern deserts in the spring or after monsoon rains. These include the bright orange or salmon flowered globe mallows (Sphaeralcea) that normally require desert conditions or very well-drained sandy soils. These mallows are normally very difficult to grow in cool, wet climates. The very attractive wine cup or poppy mallows (Callirhoe) normally like full sun and well-drained soils, but little competition. They tend to be longer-lived than some other genera because of their ability to store food and water in their large tuberous rootstocks. Hibiscus plants normally require organically rich moist to wet soils, and they can become very large plants with many stems. The flowers are very showy, and several hybrids with huge colorful flowers are available. It is a large genus, however, and there are even some species that are able to grow in desert areas, though their flowers and overall sizes are smaller.

It should be noted that some Malva, Malvella (alkali-mallow), and Sida species are considered to be agricultural weeds, and their seeds are not commercially available. Most are readily found along roadsides and agricultural field margins if one wishes to procure seeds for the rearing of butterflies.

So, when planning your butterfly garden, or when out on a butterfly hunt, please do not overlook these often attractive (and always interesting) humble members of our flora.

BIO
Steve Hill joined the Center for Biodiversity of the Illinois Natural History Survey in Champaign in 1994 as a botanist, and his duties at the Survey include field studies of threatened and endangered plants and natural plant communities. A native of Wethersfield, Connecticut, Steve has traveled widely and has also lived in Maine,New York City, Florida, Texas, Maryland,South Carolina. He received his B.S. at Bates College, Lewiston, Maine, his Master's at the New York Botanical Garden - City University of New York joint program, and his Ph.D. in Botany at Texas A&M University. His research interests include systematic studies on several Western Hemisphere genera in the Malvaceae (mallow family), and, along with technical publications on tropical mallows, he has written treatments for the mallows of California for the Jepson Manual (1993) and the new Jepson Desert Manual (2002). He enjoys gardening and creating a midwestern oasis for butterflies and other flying pollinators in his back yard.

Board of Directors

Once in a Blue Moon
A Hybridizer’s Journey Following
the Path Others Have Blazed

By Gloria White

There are many hybridizers of hibiscus in Florida and Texas. Once you meet one and talk for awhile, you hear other names mentioned along the way. Once you start to ask other hybridizers what their favorite bloom is or what they like to use in their program, you begin a journey into the many possibilities of hibiscus culture.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, the tropical hibiscus, is an unusual plant in that it does not follow Mendelian genetics. You can take two pink flowers, hybridize them, and then get so many colors from a cross or sometimes get nothing special at all. This flower is like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates.

I finally got a chance to talk with Dale B. Dubin from Fort Meyer’s, Florida. He does not consider himself a big or great hybridizer, but if you look at his flowers you will see many great blooms. Many from Florida would not recognize the name, but if you research cvs like Dragon’s Breath, winner of the 1999 Hibiscus of the Year, you will see his name listed as the hybridizer.

Dubin has been hybridizing hibiscus for 12 years and gave the hobby up because it took most of his time and energy. For him, he describes hybridizing like “an alcoholic working in a bar.” There was a point where he had 1,500 seedlings in a shade house next to his pool enclosure, and he was planting every seed from every cross. These days, he satisfies his hibiscus needs with 12 cvs and only two seedlings.

In 1990, Dubin went to Wally Broughton’s Nursery where he saw many garden varieties in evidence. Wandering around the place he came upon a private area that drew his eyes. Inside were some of the biggest and prettiest hibiscus he had ever seen. He tracked down Broughton through his employees and asked if he would sell him a plant. Broughton refused by saying “they ain’t for sale!” Dubin persisted and Broughton kept insisting that the flowers were not for sale. Dubin thought that maybe if he offered a great price, say $50 that Broughton would reconsider. Broughton again refused but told Dubin that if he joined the American Hibiscus Society and learned to graft, he would give him the wood. So knowing what he liked, Dubin joined the society that year and was taught to graft by his hero, Wally Broughton. He describes Broughton as a “world of knowledge.”

Broughton taught him how to grow rootstock, and he worked with Pride of Hankins. Dubin told me a sad tale on how the county came and broke the heart of his mentor years later. The county wanted to build a road through the nursery and using the law of Eminent Domain, bought the nursery at a fraction of what it was worth, and Wally was then out of hibiscus. Dubin tried to entice him back into his vocation by offering him wood of a cv he had named after his own grandson, Joe Broughton, but he declined. Dubin felt that if he offered his hero his “favorite of favorites” that he might want to own hibiscus again. He even offered to give him the plant, and Broughton said, “No thanks!” Dubin said it made him sad to see the man depressed over his great loss.

Once Dubin started hybridizing, he would attend a show just to get time to talk to the great hybridizers. He suggests that by talking to these people you can learn a lot of the secrets, and, instead of re-inventing the wheel, use these already proven techniques in your program. Dubin adopted this philosophy and used these ideas in his program. Another tip he learned from hybridizers is that once a cross is made, you have to keep the branch that holds the future seed pod moist and keep it from drying out. Dubin suggests using a plastic bag over the branch and keeping the plant in shade. Anywhere from 50% to 100% shade is recommended if the temperatures are hot.

Dubin said that Carl Powell used a great technique. He would check the flowers that were going to open that day and cut the petals down with scissors to expose the staminal column and pads. He would keep these sprayed down with a mister if there was no humidity to increase the take on the cross.

Dubin spent a day following Harry Goulding around. A strange technique that Goulding used was putting human hair in the potting soil to keep it from clumping. Goulding had an arrangement with all the barber shops and beauty shops and went around with plastic containers collecting the hair cuttings. These he would use in his potting mix. He had a notion that this was good for his plants. Dubin reports of seeing buckets full of human hair around the place which might give you the creeps.

Dubin never held an office in the American Hibiscus Society but is a member of the James E. Hendry Chapter in Fort Meyers. He prefers to stay in the background and enjoy his flowers. Dubin belongs to the bromeliad and aroid society and once was a member of the orchid and fern society. His favorite all time bloom is Orange Magic. This 8-10 inch monochromatic beauty is from the stables of Joe Ludick.

Dubin says he loved hybridizing too much and wholeheartedly. When you do that, it consumes you. He told me about making crosses of Blue Moon to anything he could. Blue Moon in itself is a challenge because the pollen sacs dehisc and quickly dry out. He has managed to save the misted down pollen in a plastic film canister for 2 weeks and reported success. Of the two seedlings he has right now, one is a Blue Moon x Blue Moon. He loves the color of Blue Moon and would love to have that color transfer to one of its seedlings.

The one thing Dubin said that keeps a hybridizer from becoming great is that they do not cull seedlings that are not the best that they can accomplish. In his opinion, keeping the mediocre and naming it could hurt future generations of flowers.

At one point, he had a shade house full of seedlings when he was approached by A.B. Morrison for some seedlings to grow. Dubin asked him how many he wanted and A.B. said a few. Dubin rented a truck and took over several hundred seedlings for the retired engineer to grow. A.B. was so thrilled that he set up a fantastic greenhouse with water and timers to make sure the plants received the optimum care. At the time, neither man knew what this gesture was to mean. A.B. was dying and did not know it. This generous gift made A.B. happy until he succumbed from lung cancer. Dubin said that his friend did right by him even giving Dubin credit for many crosses including Polka Hauntus, Jennifer Marie, and Megan Elizabeth.

Some of Dubin’s cvs are well known. Samuel Dubin (placed 3^rd in HOTY 1997), Amanda Dubin, Samantha Dubin, and Kathleen Dubin were named after his father, daughters and his wife. The following are some of his better known cvs: Tamibon, Pastel Aura, Spring Song, Antique Gold, Pink Palomino, A.B. Baby, Byron Metts (placed 3^rd in HOTY 1996), Rosey Cherub, Cyn’s Riddle, November, Special FX, Ruth Watson, Grand Hyatt and Grand Star. Byron Metts is one of the great all time winners at AHS shows. He talked in length of Cyn’s Riddle, which under good conditions could reach 12 inches across.

Dubin left me with this. Hibiscus are not easy to grow. They are not nematode or fungus resistant. Every bad bug in your garden wants a piece of the action. They are fickle about the weather and climatic changes. Yet, like the hibiscus addict in all of us, you can share empathy with Dubin in his great love of this wonderful flower.

Articles for use in this publication should be submitted by e-mail to the editor at bookman@intersurf.com

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