186 XXI. MALVACEAE. [Lavalera. 



6 in. diameter, the upper ones 1 to 2 in. ; the lobes short/'broad, very ob- 

 tuse and crenate, the central one of the upper leaves often longer than the 

 others. Stipules narrow-lanceolate or triangular. Pedicels axillary, usually 

 clustered, rarely solitary, sometimes very short and rarely exceeding 1 in. 

 Involucre deeply 3-lobed, tlie lobes ovate, obtuse, shorter than the 5-lobed 



calyx. Petals \m\e rose-colour or whitish, 1 to 1^ in. long. Carpels of the 

 fruit 6 to 15, in a close ring, with flat backs and sharp angles, the receptacle 

 protruding from tlic central depression as a small conical point. — DC Pnjd. 

 i. 439 ; Hook. f. Fl. Tasra. i. 47 ; F. Muell. PL Vict. i. 166 ; Malva Be/ir- 

 iana, Schlecht. Linnsea, xx. 633 ; Lmatera Behriana, Schlecht. 1. c. xxlv. 699, 

 and xxvii. 537 ; Malca Freisslana, Miq. in PI. Pi'eiss. i. 238. 



N. S. V/ales. In the interior, AV. of Peers range, A, Cunnhf/harn ; Darlin.s^and 

 I.achlau rivers, Victorian ExjJedUion ; commou towards the Barrier Range, IF. Wills; 

 Paramatta, Herb. Mueller. 



Victoria. Along watercourses and in occasionally inun elated depressions, scattered over 

 many parts of the colony, more frequent in the N.W. portion, F. Mueller. 



Tasmania. Near the sea at Wooluorth, and in the islands of Bass's Straits, Gunn, 

 eT. D, lloolcer. , - 



S. Australia. St. Vincent's Gulf, Spencer's Gulf, Lake Torrens, and the country on 

 the eastern side of the great Australian Biijht, F. Mueller. 



W, Australia, Brnwmond, ». 102 ;' King George's Sound, Ji. Brown, J. Cuming- 

 ha ;;; . 



The species is allied to tlie European L. arhorea, Linn., which is however at once known 

 by its large spreadinir involucres. 



L. Mspida, Desf.,'DC. Prod. i. 438. a hirsute species with nearly sessile flowers forming 

 a long terminal raceme or interrupted spike, and with broad hirsute involucres, a native 

 of the Mediterranean region, appears to be naturalized in some islands of Bass's Straits 

 {F. Mueller). 



The pciius Malvay now restricted to the species from the temperate regions of Enrope and 

 Asia, 13 only distinguished from Lavateta by the 3 bractcoles being qnite free, and the re- 

 ceptacle never expanded above the carpels. Four common European species have beconie 

 naturalized as weeds in some of the colonies, viz. 1, M. rotnridtfoUa, Linn., DC. Prod. i. 43:., 

 with decumbent or prostrate stems, small flowers, petals not twice the length of the calyx, 

 and carpels usnally about 15, rounded ou (he back so as to form a disk-shaped fruit ^^bghtiy 

 furrowed on the margin between the carpels ; 2, M. jiarvijlora, Linn., DC. 1. c. 433, like "• 

 roljivdifolia in habit and sniall flowers, but the carpels flat ou the back with angular edges, 

 so that the fruit has rather projecting ribs than furrows between the carpels; 3, M- vcrtt- 

 cillata, Linn., DC. I.e. 433, with erect stems, small flowers in close clusters, and the car- 

 pels of M. parvlfora; and 4, M. sylveafris, Linn., DC. 1. c. 432, with ascending or erect 

 btcuis, large flowers, the petals 3 or 4 times as long as the calyx, the carpels angnlar as m 

 M. parv'fjlora. 



2. MALVASTRUM, A. Gray. 



l^ractoolcs eitlier none or 1 to 3, small and distinct. Calyx 5-l^>bcd. Sta- 

 mirial column divided to the top into several fdaments. Ovary-cells 5 or 

 more, 1-ovulate. Stylc-braiicbcs of the same number as the cells, liliforin or 

 clu])-sbaped, with terminal small or cjipitate stigmas. Fruit-carpels seceding 

 from the short axis, indehiscent or slightly 2-valvcd, occasionally produced at 

 the top into erect connivent beaks. Seed asccndiiij?, reiiiform. — llerl)3 or 

 undershrubs. Leaves entire or divided. Flowers red or yellow, shoitly pe- 

 duncnhitc or sessile, axillary or in terminal spikes. 



A considerable genus, chiefly American, with a few South African species. The two Ans- 

 tndian spccies'are both American, but now scattered over some of the warmer regions of the 



