[ 209 ] 



Bote on Xavatera Hrborea 



(Ube Uvcc /IDallow), 



By R. Lawton Roberts, M.D. 



I HAVE received from a friend in the Channel Islands a section 

 of a stem of the Tree Mallow {Lavatera Arborea), and it is 

 of such prodigious dimensions that the plant from which it 

 was cut must have been quite exceptional in point of size. 



Turning to the third edition of Sowerby's " Botany " (edited 

 by Syme), I find that the " stem " of Lavatera Arborea is stated to 

 be " woody, 2 to 8 feet high, ajid in large examples often i inch in 

 diameter.'"' (The italics are my own.) 



Now, I have kept my bit of stem for some months, so some 

 shrinkage has taken place, yet I find it measures over 5 inches in 

 diameter in one direction and 4 inches in another, and a good 

 15 inches in circumference. I am informed that the girth of the 

 fresh stem was uniformly 16 inches or just over, up to a point 

 3 feet from the ground, where it branched. 



The history of this giant amongst mallows is soon told. A 

 Mr. Dancaster erected for himself a dwelling near the shore of 

 St. Owen's Bay, Jersey ; and in September, 1891, this gentleman 

 cleared a small portion of the adjacent ground. Soon afterwards 

 he noticed a number of seedlings of Lavatera Arborea shooting up, 

 and, as the ground was not required for some months, the young 

 plants were left unmolested. On October loth, 1892, when my 

 friend visited the spot, a little forest of monster tree mallows had 

 sprung up ; but of these luxuriantly growing plants, which num- 

 bered over a score, only one had attained the enormous dimen- 

 sions already described. 



"The height of the main stem," writes my friend, "was 3 feet 

 and the girth wiiformly 16 inches or just over to the point whence 

 it branched. It was a fine plant for one of the Malvacece^ the 

 topmost leaves being quite 8 feet high." 



The rapidity of growth of this specimen seems remarkable, 

 since the unusual girth of the stem was attained in thirteen 

 months from the time the plant first showed as a seedling. 



The Tree Mallow — though usually considered rare — grows 



International Journal of Microscopy and Natural Science. 



New Series. Vol. III. p 



