Alcea "Alcea" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including "Bucculatrix quadrigemina" and "Vanessa cardui", the painted lady. The mallow flea beetle ("Podagrica fuscicornis") is a pest that makes tiny holes in the leaves. Cutworms, aphids, and capsid bugs use the plant as a food source in hotter and drier conditions. A number of weevils use "A. rosea" as their host plant, including "Rhopalapion longirostre", "Alocentron curvirostre", and "Aspidapion validum". The plants are also susceptible to the pathogenic fungus "Puccinia malvacearum", the hollyhock rust. A hollyhock flower, known in Japan as , was incorporated into
Zephyranthes rosea into three lobes. The seeds are shiny black and flattened. "Zephyranthes rosea" belongs to the genus "Zephyranthes" (rain lilies) of the subtribe Zephyranthinea of the tribe Hippeastreae. It is classified under the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae). In broader classifications, they are sometimes included within the lily family (Liliaceae). "Zephyranthes rosea" (like other rain lilies) are so named because they produce short-lived flowers only after seasonal heavy rains or storms. In "Z. rosea", this usually occurs during the late summer. The generic name "Zephyranthes" literally means "flowers of the west wind", from Greek ζέφυρος ("zéphuros", an Anemoi) and