HYPOPETALEX. : 833 — 
ORDER LXXXII. . 
MALVACER. 
Cuaracters.— Trees, herbs, or shrubs, with alternate 
leaves accompanied by stipules ; calyx of 5 sepals, or mono- 
sepalous and of 5 deep diyisions, and often closely surround- 
ed by bractew, forming a kind of external calyx; corolla ge- 
‘nerally of 5 petals, often united at the base with the filaments - 
of the stamens and with each other, twisted in estivation ; 
Stamens numerous, monadelphous, sometimes 5 or 10; an- 
thers 1-celled, dehiscing transversely ; ovary of several 1- or 
many-seeded carpels somewhat projecting, more or less unit- 
ed, and placed round a common axis, each carpel or lobe 1- 
celled, 1 or many-seeded, and with a simple style; pericarp 
small nuts or capsules, arranged in a circle or united into a 
sort of berry; seeds with little or no albumen. 
Exampies.—Common Mallow (Malva sylvestris) ; Gossy- 
pium herbaceum, the seeds of which,’and of several other spe- 
cies of Gossypium, have a hairy or downy covering, which is. 
the Cotton of commerce ; Hibiscus esculentus (Ochro or Gom- 
40), the young fruits of which form an article of diet in some © 
countries. 
Mepicrwat. Prorertiss.—The plants in this family are 
of a very mucilaginous nature, and are accordingly mild and 
demulcent. Marsh Mallow (Althea officinalis), A. rosea, 
Malva sylvestris and M. rotundifolia, are useful mucila- — 
ginous demulcents, and many exotic species are used for the x 
= properties, as Sida cordifolia, S. mauritiana, — ec: 
ina. 
