HIBISCUS COCCINEUS. 



AMERICAN SCARLET ROSE-MALLOW. 



NATURAT. ORDER, MALVACEi'Tl. 



Hibiscus coccineus, Walter. — Smooth; stem glaucous; leaves long-petiolcci, five-parted to 

 the base, the lobes lanceolate, remotely toothed, with long-taperiug entire tips; corolla 

 expanding, bright scarlet ; petals long-clawed ; seeds pubescent. Stems four to eight feet 

 high. Leaves six to twelve inches long. Corolla six to eight inches wide. Column of 

 stamens naked below. (Chapman's Flora cftlte Smithern Utiited Stales. See also Wood's 

 Class-Boo!; cf Botany) 



HE natural order to which Hibiscus coccineus belongs is 

 of immense value to man. Cotton, which has been 

 called the king of all agricultural products, in a commercial sense, 

 is a member of this order; and man}' of its other representa- 

 tives are also employed in textile industry. The species which 

 are comprised in it have a close family resemblance; or, as it 

 would be technically styled, the order is a very natural one. 

 The union of the stamens into a tube, leaving only the upper 

 portion of the filaments with the anthers free, the whole sur- 

 rounding the pistils, is eminently characteristic of Malvacece ; 

 and although other orders, Gcraniacca for instance, have a 

 somewhat similar arrangement of stamens, there are yet certain 

 attendant circumstances which are always present, and which 

 will prevent the confusion of Malvacecc with any other family. 

 The nearest relationship in structure to Malvacccr is perhaps 

 shown by Tiliacecs, the order to which the linden belongs; but 

 the difference in the general appearance of the two is so great 

 that even the unbotanical observer will find no difficulty in 

 deciding between them. It is hardly necessary to say that Mal- 

 vacecc belongs to the polypetalous division of exogens ; but there 



