A hollyhock is a tall, thin garden plant. It grows up like a pole, sometimes taller than a person, and many flowers open along the stem, one above another — pink, red, yellow, white, or even very dark. People plant them against a wall or a fence. The name looks as if it contains holly, the Christmas tree with the sharp leaves. Though actually, that is a trick. The first piece is old holy (“holy”), and the second is old hock, a name for mallow plants, from Old English hoc (marsh mallow). People probably used the name because they thought the plant had come from the Holy Land. The garden hollyhock we know was probably not in England until the 1400s, so earlier uses of the name almost certainly meant some other mallow.

蜀葵（長得很高、花一朵朵沿著莖開的園藝花）