1375 



PALAVIJ* rhSmbifolia. 

 Rhomb-leaved Palavi«. 



MONADELPHIA POLYANDRIA. 



Nat. ord. Malvaceae Juss. {Introduction to the natural system of 

 botany, p. 33.) 



PALAVIA Cav. — Calyx nudus, 5-fidus. Carpella capsularia, mono- 



sperma, in capitulum absque ordine aggregata. DifFert jlSida, ut Malope 



a Malva ; et a Malope ut Sida a Malva. — Dec. prodr. 1. 458. 



rhombifolia ; foliis rhomboideis lobato-crenatis ad venas sparsim stellato- 

 pilosis pedunculo brevioribus, stipulis subulatis ciliatis viridibus, petalis 

 obovato-cuneatis obliqu^ emarginatis, caule prostrate ramoso parc^ stel- 

 lato-piloso. — Graham in Edin. neiu philosophical journal, Oct. 1830, 

 p. 369. 



A native of Lima, in Peru, where seeds were collected 

 by Mr. Crukshanks, who presented them to the Horticul- 

 tural Society, in whose Garden the species blossomed in 

 the open border in August, but subsequently perished 

 without yielding seed. 



Dr. Graham, who obtained it at Edinburgh from the 

 same liberal correspondent, rightly distinguishes it from 

 Palavia moschata, and describes it as follows : — 



" Annual ? (Certainly.) Stem prostrate, branched, 

 sprinkled very loosely with rather rigid hairs, which are 

 single or stellate. Leaves If inch long, 1^ broad, alter- 

 nate, petioled, soft, bright green above, paler below, rhom- 



* Named by Cavanilles in honour of " Don Antonio Palau and Verdera, 

 Professor of Botany at Madrid, who has translated the Philosophia Botanica 

 of Linnaeus into Spanish, with notes, and is now occupied with a similar 

 labour upon the Genera et Species; of which the first volume has already 

 appeared, containing the more recent genera and species, along with an 

 accurate description of the plants, and their economical or officinal uses." — 

 Cavanilles in 1785. 



