lAIALVACE^E, ■ (59 



valuable timber, much prized, especially by cabinet-makers, 

 having", when worked up and polished, the appearance of dark 

 green variegated marble. The bark is the material employed 

 by the Negroes in making the better description of ropes. The 

 young shoots and leaves yield abundantly a fine mucilage, and 

 they have been employed with advantage, infused in boiling 

 water, as a substitute for the vanglo or zezegari/, in Dysentery. 



8. Hibiscus tiliaceus. Sea-side Mahoe. 



Leaves subrotundo-cordatc acuminate crcnated 

 hoary and pubescent beneath, iuvohicellum 10-toothed. 



Malva arborea maritima, folio subrotundo minore acuminato 



subtus candido, Sloa?ie, I. 213. t. 134. f. 4 H. tiliaceus, Cav. 



diss. 111. 151. t. 35. f. 1 Willd. Sp. III. 810.— Z>e Cand. 



Prod. J. 454. — H. abutiloides, De Cand. Prod. I. 434. 



HAB. Common by the sea-shore. 



FL. Throughout the year. 



A tree, 16-20 feet in height. Leaves with a linear pore on 

 the under surface of each of the three middle nerves. Stipules 

 lanceolate, striated, pubescent, marescent, deciduous. Pedun- 

 cles solitary, in the axils of the subterminal leaves. Flowers 

 yellow. Calyx with a linear pore on the back of each of its 

 segments. 



The leaves of this species are thicker, but not so large as 

 those of the preceding. The flowers also are smaller, of a yel- 

 low colour, with the petals membranaceous. The bark affords 

 a strong fibre equal to hemp or flax, and, when well twisted 

 and tarred, is not inferior to the best description of hempen 

 rope. Dampier mentions, that he had often occasion to make 

 use of ropes, made from the bark of this tree, in refitting the 

 rigging of his vessels. All parts of the tree, especially the 

 flow'ers, abound with a mucilaginous juice. — This species ap- 

 pears to be common to the shores of the East, as well as of the 

 West Indies. From its growing near the sea, its capsules are 

 conveyed by the waters to distant countries, and hence its 

 general diffusion. There appear to be no good grounds, for 

 separating our West India plant, from that which grows along 

 the shores of the East, as it agrees perfectly with the character 

 assigned by De CandoUe to tlie latter. I never met with the 

 leaves, as stated to be in the Prodromins, glabrous on both sides. 



9. Hisbiscus ciypeatus. Coago-Mahoe. 



Leaves cordate semi-trilobate dentate velvetv and 

 hoary especially beneath, branches velvety, peduncles 

 longer than the petiole, leaflets of the involucellum 

 9-11, calycine lobes ovate acuminate .5-nerved, cap- 

 sule hirsute. 



