ACAULESCENT SPECIES OF MALVASTRUM. 229 
margine parce ciliate ; lamina ambitu plus minusve ovata, acuta, basi sub- 
cuneata, 2:5-3 em. longa, 1:5-2 cm. lata, glabra, nervis pinnatis, profunde 
vel plus minusve leviter 5-7-pinnatilobata, lobis inæqualiter crenato-dentatis. 
Flores singuli, pedunculis 1-2 ст. longis.glabris; involucrum sepius 
abortum vel eadueum, prophyllis plus minusve 5 mm. longis subulatis mar- 
gine ciliatis (Pearce, Herb. Kew.). (Сауе 9-10 mm. longus, sub medio 
9-lobus, glaber, segmentis 6 mm. longis anguste ovato-lanceolatis acutis 
intus velutino-tomentosis. Corolla alba, 1:7 em. longa ; petala late obovata, 
obtusa, 1°5 em. longa, 1 em. lata, basi in tubum 2 mm. longum coalita. 
Stamina numerosa, in eaput cylindricum instructa, Curpella matura. non 
visa, apice hirsuta. 
Malva oriastrum, Wedd. Chl. And. ii. p, 277. 
BoriviA : Prov. Cinti, bare spots on ‘punas, 3500 m., Weddell, 3962 
(Herb. Mus. Paris.)! Andes of Ayacucho, 13000-14000 ft. (May 1867), 
R. Pearce (Herb. Kew. et Mus. Brit.) !? > Without precise locality, Lobb! ? 
(Herb. Kew.). 
M. oriastrum and М. nubigena were placed apart by Weddell from 
the other acaulescent species on account of the supposed absence of an 
involuere. М. nubigena, however, has been found to have an involucre 
which is often very early caducous. In Weddell’s specimens of M. ortastrum 
the involucre appears to have aborted or may never have developed, but in 
specimens at Kew collected by Pearce, which appear to belong to this species, 
an involucre is present in some cases. М. oriastrum is so nearly related to 
the other acaulescent species of the genus, that the abortion of the involucre 
cannot be considered in any way to exclude this species. 
17. MALVASTRUM ACAULE, A. Gray т Bot. U.S. Expl. Exp. p. 150 in 
adnot. ; deser. emend. et ampl.—#ruticulus depressus ; caudex subterraneus, 
napiformis, crassus, edulis (Dombey). Folia rosulata, solo adpressa ; petiolus 
3—6 em. longus, plus minusve strigoso-hirsutus; stipule membranacee, 
lanceolatæ, acutæ, margine ciliate ; lamina ambitu subrotundata vel late 
ovata, basi truncata vel subeuneata, 2:5-3:2 ст. longa et lata, supra glabra, 
subtus ad nervos plus minusve hirsuta, minute reticulata, nervis palmatis, 
5-7-lobata, lobis inæqualiter et acute dentieulata, dentibus apice ciliatis. 
Flores pedunculis 2-4-floris rarius unifloris numerosis, pedicellis 5-10 mm. 
longis, peduneulis 2-4 ст. longis parce strigoso-hirsutis ; involuerum рег- 
sistens, prophyllis 2-3 anguste oblongis vel linearibus 6-9 mm. longis 
acutis margine ciliatis. Calyz 7-8 mm. longus, sub medio 5-lobus, segmentis 
circa 5 mm. longis ovato-lanceolatis acutis extra basi parce setosis intus 
stellato-tomentosis. Corolla flavescens, in sicco viridis, 2-2:5 сш. longa; 
petala late obovata, subrotundata, plus minusve 1 em. lata, basi in tubum 
cirea 1 mm. longum coalita, basi stellato-tomentosa. Stamina numerosa, in 
