Iliamna is a small genus of perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae), order Malvales, endemic to North America. The genus comprises eight accepted species, commonly known as wild hollyhocks and sometimes as globe mallows or streambank wild hollyhocks.
The plants are herbaceous with a racemose inflorescence of showy, slightly fragrant flowers ranging in color from nearly white to lavender. Leaves are alternate and shallowly palmately lobed; stems and leaves are coarsely pubescent. The genus is closely related to the California bush mallows (Malacothamnus) and to Phymosia of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, all belonging to the typical mallow tribe Malveae within the subfamily Malvoideae.
The genus name was proposed by the botanist Edward Lee Greene and appears to be a reference to Iliamna Lake in Alaska, even though no species of Iliamna is found in Alaska. Notable members include Iliamna rivularis (streambank wild hollyhock), Iliamna latibracteata (California wild hollyhock), and Iliamna remota (Kankakee mallow), the last of which is a rare plant first documented in 1872 on Langham Island in the Kankakee River of northern Illinois and later designated endangered by the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board in 1980.
Etymology
The genus name Iliamna was proposed by the botanist Edward Lee Greene and appears to be a reference to Iliamna Lake in Alaska. Notably, no species of the genus actually occurs in Alaska, making the origin of the name somewhat puzzling.
Distribution
Iliamna is endemic to North America. Species occur across western North America, with Iliamna rivularis found along streambanks and Iliamna latibracteata native to California. Iliamna remota is historically documented from a single population on Langham Island in the Kankakee River of northern Illinois.
Ecology
Species of Iliamna are associated with streambank and riparian habitats, as well as gravelly or rocky open ground. Iliamna remota was recorded growing on gravelly islands and dry banks along the Kankakee River; Langham Island, its sole known site, has remained undisturbed since farming ceased there in 1945 and was dedicated as an Illinois Nature Preserve in 1966.
Conservation
Iliamna remota (Kankakee mallow) was designated endangered by the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board in 1980. It is restricted to a single population on Langham Island in the Kankakee River, northern Illinois, which has been protected as an Illinois Nature Preserve since 1966.
