Bot. [L. althæa, a. Gr. ἀλθαία marsh mallow, f. ἄλθειν το heal.] A genus of plants (N.O. Malvaceæ) of which the Marsh Mallow and Hollyhock are species; by florists often extended to the genus Hibiscus.
1669. W[orlidge], Syst. Agric. (1681), 125. Grafting is principally used in … Gessamins, Althea-frutex, and such like.
1785. Cowper, Task, VI. 170. Althæa with the purple eye.
1866. Masters, in Treas. Bot., 46. Several species of Althæa are in cultivation, but the gay flowering shrub commonly called Althæa frutex is, properly speaking, a Hibiscus (H. syriacus).
1882. Contemp. Rev., Jan., 8. Night and day the rain pattered round us, on mimosas, bignonias, oleanders, althæas of many colours.
