These are plants rarely seen out of botanic gardens now-a-days, and yet. from their vigour and showy flowers, they may afford unique effects in the wild garden. The common Hollyhock is an Althaea, and in its single form is typical of the vigorous habit and the numerous showy flowers of other rampant species, such as A. ficifolia. A group of these plants would be very effective seen from a wood walk, no kind of garden arrangement being large enough for their extraordinary vigour. It is not a nnmer-ous genus, but there are at least a dozen species, principally found on the shores and islands of the Mediterranean, and also in Western Asia.