Alcea Alcea Alcea is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae, commonly known as the hollyhocks. They are native to Asia and Europe. The single species of hollyhock from the Western Hemisphere, the streambank wild hollyhock, belongs to a different genus. Hollyhocks are annual, biennial, or perennial plants usually taking an erect, unbranched form. The herbage usually has a coating of star-shaped hairs. The leaf blades are often lobed or toothed, and are borne on long petioles. The flowers may be solitary or arranged in fascicles or racemes. The notched petals are usually over
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary is a U.S. National Marine Sanctuary located 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) offshore of Galveston, Texas in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Underlying salt domes forced the seafloor upward in various areas of the Gulf of Mexico, resulting in the formation of rises and banks. Conditions of the Gulf of Mexico were conducive to reef-building, which started roughly ten to fifteen thousand years ago. Two reefs, East Flower Garden Bank (EFGB) and West Flower Garden Bank (WFGB), made up Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) when