( 2269 ) 

 Lavatera plebeia. Mallow-like Lav atera. 



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Class and Order. 



MONADELPHIA PoLYANDRIA. 



Generic Character. 



Cal. duplex : exterior trifidus. Caps, plurimae, mono- 

 sperm ae. 



Specific Character. 



Lavatera plebeia ; caule herbaceo scabro, foliis quinque- 

 lobatis subtus pubescentibus, pedunculis axillaribus 

 aggregatis, petalis cuneiformibus emarginatis acutis. 



Descr. Stem erect, five or six feet high, scabrous. Leaves 

 generally five-lobed, with the lower lobe sometimes divided, 

 the terminal one elongated, smooth above, green-tomentose 

 underneath, margin crenate : Petioles the length of the 

 lamina, with which they are united by a sort of joint. 

 Peduncles aggregate (in the specimen from which our 

 figure was taken solitary), of unequal lengths, swelled at 

 the upper extremity. Outer Calyx half three-cleft, obtuse ; 

 inner Calyx half five-cleft, acute. Flowers very like those 

 of the common mallow : Petals striate, wedge-shaped, 

 emarginate : Claws distant above, united at the base. Seeds 

 about twelve, surrounding a conical receptacle. 



Our drawing was taken from a small plant raised in a 

 pot, communicated by Mr. Knight, of the Exotic Nursery, 

 m July ; but our description from vigorous plants grow- 

 ing in the open ground at Messrs. Whitley, Milne, and 

 Brame's in September. In the latter the middle lobe of 

 the leaves was more elongated, and the flowers usually 

 aggregate, from two to five together. The stem had all the 

 appearance of being herbaceous, but in a specimen kept in 

 a pot at Mr. Kent's after the flowering was over, the stem 

 became ligneous and put forth fresh shoots the whole 



length ; 



