MALLOW FAMILY (MALVACEAE) 



AA, 



Key to the 3 species illustrated (Nos. 150-152) 



Leaves with mostly 11 or 9 main veins from base ; petioles and lower leaf surfaces densely covered with whitish- 

 gray star-shaped hairs ; flowers with yellow petals, turning orange and reddish with age — 150. Hibiscus 

 tiliaceus.* 

 Leaves with mostly 7 main veins from base, petioles and blades with scattered minute scales. 



B. Leaves abruptly long- or short -pointed at apex ; flowers with red petals — 1.51. Montezuma speciosissima. 

 BB. Leaves long-pointed at apex; flowers with pale yellow petals, turning to purple — 152. Thespesia populnea.* 



150. Emajagua, sea hibiscus 



Hibiscus tiliaceus L* 



This small tree or shrub is characterized by: 

 (1) long-pet ioled, heart-shaped and ne^arly round 

 leaves 4-7 inches lonjj; and liroad, with mostly 11 

 or 9 main veins from base, shiny yellow green and 

 hairless on upper surface; (2) the yomig twigs, 

 petioles, lower leaf surfaces, calyx, and seed cap- 

 sules densely covered with whitish-gray star- 

 shaped hairs; (3) widely spi-eading or prostrate 

 crooked branches; (4) the large funnel-shaped 

 yellow flowers 3-3^/^ inches long and broad, turn- 

 ing orange and reddish with age; and (5) the ellip- 

 tic, gray-green, hairy seed capsules 1-1^4 inches 

 long, which split into 5 parts. 



An evergreen tree attaining 10-20 feet in height, 

 with a short crooked trunk to 6 inches in diameter 

 and a broad crown. The bark is gray and smooth, 

 the thin inner bark fibrous. The twigs have rings 

 at nodes and become brown and hairless in age. 



Leaves are alternate and have petioles 2-5 inches 

 in length. Leaf blades are abruptly short- or long- 

 pointed at apex and heart-shaped at base, with 

 edges not toothed, and slightly thickened. There 

 are 2 large short-pointed whitish haii-y scales 

 (stipules) I-IV2 inches long at base of leaf, soon 

 shedding and leaving a ring scar. 



A few flowers are borne in terminal branching 

 clusters (panicles) or lateral near ends of twigs, 

 each on a whitish hairy stalk %-2 inches long. At 

 the base of a flower there is a gray-green hairy 

 cup (involucre) 3,4 inch long with usually 9 or 10 

 narrow pointed lobes. The calyx, also gray-green 

 hairy, is I-I14 inches long, tubular with 5 narrow 

 long-pointed lobes. Petals 5 (greenish tinged in 

 dried specimens), 21/2-31/^ inches long, rounded 

 but broader on 1 side, with star-shaped hairs on 

 outside. Numerous stamens are on a column about 

 2 inches long united with petals at base. The 

 pistil consists of a densely hairy conical .5-celled 

 ovary with long slender style and 5 broad stigmas. 



The long-pointed seed capsules split and break 

 open the calyx and involucre which remain at- 

 tached. There are many brownish-black seeds 

 Vs-^/ie inch long. Flowering and fruiting through 

 the year. 



The sapwood is whitish, and heartwood is dark 

 greenish brown. The wood is moderately soft, 

 porous, and moderately heavy (specific gravity 

 0.6). Used chiefly for fuel, sometimes elsewhere 

 for floats or as a cork substitute. 



An important use of the fibrous bark, which 

 can be peeled off in long strips, is for cordage. Be- 



sides ropes, fish nets, mats, and coarse cloth for- 

 merly were made from the bark, which even could 

 be eaten in times of famine along with the roots 

 and yoimg leaves. Also, the fiber has served for 

 tying tobacco. The trees sprout from stumps and 

 when cut back produce long vigorous shoots from 

 which quantities of ropes can be made. Different 

 parts of the tree have served in home medicines. 

 Also a honey plant. 



Grown as an ornamental for the showy flowers. 

 The plants are easily propagated by cuttings and 

 are started in fence rows as living fenceposts. In 

 coastal swamps near mangroves, leaning trunks 

 and branches form roots in the mud and aid build- 

 ing the land. 



Roadsides, thickets, and swampy areas in the 

 lower mountain regions of Puerto Rico. Also in 

 Mona, Vieques, St. Thomas, and St. John. (Re- 

 corded long ago from St. Croix.) 



Public forests. — Carite, Guilarte, Luquillo, 

 Rio Abajo, Toro Negro. 



R.\NGE. — Seashores throughout the tropics, 

 probably of Old World origin and naturalized in 

 America. Southern Florida including Florida 

 Keys, Bennuda, and through West Indies from 

 Bahamas and Cuba to Trinidad and Tobago. Also 

 from Mexico to Peru and Brazil. 



Other COMMON names. — majagua (Puerto Rico, 

 Spanish) ; damajagua (Dominican Republic) ; 

 majagua hembra (Cuba) ; majao (Honduras) ; 

 algodoncillo, mahoe (Panama) ; sea hibiscus, lin- 

 den hibiscus, tree hibiscus, mahoe (L^nited States) ; 

 mahoe (English) ; seaside majoe (Jamaica, Trini- 

 dad and Tobago) ; mahot (St. Vincent) ; blue 

 moho, wild cotton (British Honduras) ; maho, 

 kayuwa (British Guiana) ; cot on marron, mahaut 

 franc (Haiti) ; bois flot, bois de liege, grand mahot, 

 mahot gombo (Guadeloupe) ; bois flot (Marti- 

 nique) ; pariti (French Guiana); maho 

 (Surinam). 



BoT.\NicAL SYNONYM. — Paritium tiliaceum (L.) 

 St.-Hil., Juss., & Camb. 



The Spanish common name majagua, of which 

 the English name mahoe is a corruption, is an 

 American Indian word applied in tropical Amer- 

 ica to several unrelated trees with useful fibrous 

 bark. 



Mahoe {HihiJicus elatus Sw.*) is a related large 

 upland tree native in Cuba and Jamaica and intro- 

 duced into Puerto Rico in experimental forest 

 plantations. It has a tall straight trunk and 



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