THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 103 



crie> antl i^roaiis when it i> 1)u11l'i1 up, inal<ini( all who hear 

 it in>aiK', there are still those who carry a horse-chestnut as 

 a charm against rheiunati>ni. or u>e the milk Irom the spurj^^e 

 to cure warts. 



PLANT NAMES AND THEIR MEANINGS -XX 



MALVACEAE 



By W'l LIZARD N. Clute 



' I 'HE technical botanist tlelii^dits in i)lant .groups in which 

 the species are so nearly alike that he must exercise all 

 his ])owers of ol)ser\"ation to distini^mish between them. i)ut 

 tliose who do not rejoice in ta.\onom\- for taxononn's sake 

 usualK- prefer '(enera or lar<^er i;roup> in which the species 

 have an iiKlivi(lualit\' of their own — species that ma\ be dis- 

 tinguished at a glance or e\en identified from descriiitions 

 previously read. Thus it hapi)ens that the grasses, sedges, 

 violets, brambles, and liawthorns intrigue the closet natural- 

 ist while the lilies, heaths, and other genera with conspicuous 

 flowers attract the attention of the less technical flower-lover. 

 The mallow family belongs distinctly to this latter class. 

 There are plants in it. to be sure, with insignificant or incon- 

 spicuous flowers but these are greatly outnumbered by species 

 with showv blossoms. Flowers six or eight inches across 

 are not uncommon and the colors range fr<im \-ellow and 

 white to the most brilliant scarlet. The structure of the 

 flowers in this group makes them easily recognizable for in 

 all our common species tiie stamens are built up into a stamen- 

 column surrounding the styles which once seeii i^ likely to 

 be remembered. Though there are .some fifty genera and 

 nearlv a thousand species of Malvaceae, they are for the 



