626 



BOTANY 



He a ,,/inata and C. vera, natives of tropical Africa, yield the Kola nuts which are 

 used in medicine. 



OFFICIAL. Theobroma Cacao, from which OLEUM THEOBROMATIS is obtained. 



Family 3. Malvaceae. Herbs or shrubs, frequently with pal- 

 mately-lobed, stipulate leaves which in the young condition often have 

 a velvety covering of stellate hairs. Flowers with an epicalyx, a 

 gamosepalous calyx, and a corolla which is usually of considerable 

 size and attractively coloured, and is contorted in the bud. Pro- 

 tandrous. Stamens united into a tube around the ovary ; the free 

 ends of the stamens, each of which bears a single reniform theca, 

 project from the margin of the staminal tube. Pollen-grains with 



Fio. 679. Flower of Althaea officinalis, cut 

 through longitudinally. a, .Outer ; fi, 

 inner calyx ; c, petals ; d, androecium'; /, 

 pistil ; t, ovule (magnified). (After HERO 

 and SCHMIDT.) 



Fio. 680. Malfn tttvtttrit. a, Flower; b, flower- 

 bud ; c, fruit (nat. size.) 



spiny exine (cf. Fig. 474). Carpels usually numerous. Fruit, a 

 schizocarp or a capsule (Figs. 678-681). 



IMPORTANT SUB-FAMILIES AND GENERA. 1. Malveac. Schizocarps composed 

 of numerous carpels arranged in a circle. Malva, with ;>. number of British sprrirs 

 (Fig. 680). Perennial herbs, with long-stalked, palmately-veined leaves. Flowers 

 solitary or in small cymose inflorescences in the axils of leaves. Three, free 

 segments of the epicalyx. Petals usually rose-coloured, deeply notched. In 

 Althaea the whole plant is clothed with stellate hairs giving it a soft velvety 

 appearance. Epicalyx of 6-9 segments united at the, base. 



2. Hibisceae. Fruit, a capsule usually formed of five carpels with a correspond- 

 ing number of loculi. Hibiscus is frequently cultivated as an ornamental phmt. 

 Gossypium, shrubs with three- to five-lobed leaves with long stalks. Flowers with 

 a large epicalyx of three segments, which completely covers the calyx. Fruit of 

 three to five carpels, loculicidal. Seed covered with long hairs which aid in its 

 dispersion by the wind. When stripped from the seeds and cleaned these hairs 



