XXV. MALVACEJE (MASTERS). 177 



1. MALVA, Linn. ; Bentb. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. 201. 



Epicalyx of 3 distinct bracts. Calyx 5-cieft. Petals obcordate. Sta- 

 minal column divided at the summit into oo filaments. Ovary many-celled, 

 each cell with a single ovule. Styles as numerous as the cells of the ovary • 

 stigmas linear, running down the inner side of the style. Ripe carpels ob- 

 tuse, indehiscent, arranged in an umbiiicate whorl around a central axis from 

 which they ultimately separate. Ovule curved. Eadicle inferior. — Herbs 

 with soft lobed leaves. Flowers purplish, in axillary fascicles. 

 A genus consisting, so far as tropical Africa is concerned, of two species. 



Stem erect. Flowers in dense clusters 1. M. verticillala. 



Stem trailing ; clusters few-flowered 2. M. parviflora. 



1. M. verticillata, Linn. ; DC. Prod. i. 433. Annual or perennial, 

 f^ith an erect, furrowed, branched stem, 2-4 ft. high. Leaves on long stalks, 

 cordate, roundish, 5-6-lobed ; lobes acute or blunt, crenate-serrate, more or 

 'ess densely covered with stelliform hairs on both surfaces. Flowers in dense 

 axillary or terminal clusters, sessile or shortly stalked. Epicalyx of three 

 linear, ciliolate bracts. Calyx twice the length of the bracts, bell-shaped, 

 5 - cleft ; lobes triangular, acute. Petals oblong, 2-fid; lobes rounded, 

 slightly exceeding the sepals. Carpels 10-12 in a whorl, enclosed within 

 &e accrescent calyx, each one reniform, 3-sided; back marked with a 

 -entral prominent nerve, sides with thickened radiating veins. 



Nile Land. Abyssinia, Schimper, Petit ! 



This plant has a wide range, being found in India, the mountains of Dahuria, in Amoor- 

 and and Egypt, and it has been introduced into Britain with foreign seeds, etc. 



.2. M. parviflora, Linn. ; DC. Prod. i. 431. An annual plant witir 



lightly hairy or nearly glabrous trailing stems. Leafstalks 3-4 in. long, 



with a few simple hairs near the top. Leaves cordate, orbicular, palmately 



^rved, slightly 3-5-lobed, crenate-dentate. Flowerstalks axillary, spread- 



n g, much shorter than the leaves. Bracts linear. Sepals ovate or roundish, 



nucronate, spreading, accrescent, Carpels hairy or smooth, transversely 



letted, rugose. 



Nile Land. Nubia, Ekrenberg! . , , . 



This species is found in the Levant, Persia, Afghanistan, and also in Central Arabia. 



2. MALVASTRUM, A. Gray; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. Pi. i. 201. 

 Epicalvx of 1-3 distinct bractlets or wanting. Calyx f-lobed. Staminal 



; °Uimn divided at the apex into numerous filaments. Cells of the ovary 5 

 *more, each with a single ovule. Styles equal in number to the cells ot 

 tt he ovarv, filiform or club-shaped, with small, terminal, capitate stigmas. 

 V carpels separating from a short columella, indehiscent or somewhat I- 

 f a >ved, pointless or provided with two erect beaks. Seed ascending rem- 

 °rm.-Herbs or undershrubs. Leaves entire or divided. Flowers red or 

 ;ell <>w, stalked or nearly sessile, axillary or arranged in terminal spikes. 



A large genus, the majority of whose species are American, the 2 African species being 

 o^d also widely distributed throughout the tropics of both hemispheres. 

 [Wot,* „ • , i 1. M.spicatum. 



omentum stellate. Flowers in terminal spikes . . . . • • tnc^pidatnm. 



la, re app r es Se d parallel. Flowers mostly axillary. Calyx broad . *■ e 



v OL. i. N 



