I 



Malvadrum .] xx i. Malvaceae , 187 



w 



Old UorlJ. The genus, formeily coiifouuded with Maha and Slda, is readily distinguished 

 froiii the former by the styles, from the Litter by the ascending ovules and seeds. 



Tomeiituni stellate. Flowers mostly in a short terminal spike . . 1. M. splcaium. 

 Hairs appressed, parallel. Flowers mostly axillary. Calyx broad . 2. M, tyicaspidaium^ 



l.^M. spicatum, A. Graf/, PL FemlL 22, and Bot, Amer. Expl Exped 

 1. 147, An erect branching- lierb of 1 to 2 ft-, becoming almost woody at 

 the base, scabrous or softly tonientose witli stellate hairs. Leaves petiolate, 

 ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, 1 to 2 in. long, irregularly serrate 

 or crenate, very rarely obscurely 3-Iobe(L Flowers rather small, yello^v, ses- 

 sile in a dense terminal spike, rarely exceediug 1 to 1^ in. in length, and 

 often leafy at tlic base. Bracts narrow, sliorter tlirai the calyx, usually 2- 

 lobed. Bracteoles 3, filiform, closely appressed to the calyx. Calyx softly 

 pubescent, the lobes acuminate, and often bordered by loi'g hairs. Petals 

 fibout 4 to 5 lines long. Carpels 8 to 13, not close-pressed, angular on tlie 

 edges, pubescent on the top, Avithout points. — Malva spicata^ Linn. ; Cav. 

 Diss.t. 20, f. 4; DC, Prod. i. 430; AL ovata, Cav. Diss. 81, t. 20, f. 2 ; 

 M, timorleuHis, DO. Prod. i. 430 ; if. hracliydachja, F. Muell. in Liuna^a, 



XXV. 378. 



N. Australia. Vietoria river and Gulf of Carpentaria, T. Maeller. 



Queensland. Inroad Sound and Keppcl Bar, R.Brown; Bri;>bane river, Trascr ; 

 sul)troj.i(.-al interior, Miichdl ; ^Moreton Bay and Gilburt river, F. Mueller. 



N, S. "Wales. Clarenee river, Beckfer ; New England, C. Stuart ; Barling river and 

 other parts of the W. iufurior, VlctorJcvi Expedlllou, Lallachf/.cic. 



S. Australia. Flinders range, F. Mtitdler. 



The speeies is cornnitni in tropical America, and lias been found also in the Cape de Verd 

 Islands and iu Timor. 



^ 2. M. tricuspidatum. A, Gray^ PL JFnglit , and Bot. Amer, ExpL 

 i^xped, i. U8. An erect branching herb, 2 to 3 ft. high, hard and almost 

 ^voody at the base, although sometimes annual, the branches sprinkled or 

 covered with closely appressed hairs. Leaves on rather long petioles, from 

 broadly ovate to lanceolate, l.to 2 in. long, irreguhiily toothed, hairy. 

 Flowers yellow, abnost sessile in the axils of the leaves, or clustered towards 

 tlie ends of the branches. Calvx broadly o-lobed, with 3 small, naiTow% ex- 

 ternal bracts. Carpels S to 12* or even inore, closely packed in a depressed 

 nug, each one reniform, with 3 minute unequal points on the upper edge, 1 

 at the inner angle, 2 dorsal.— J/r//ra tricuspidata. Ait.; DC. Prod. i. 430; 

 Sida carpinoides, DC. Prod. i. 4f)0. 



. N. S. "Wales, Clarence river, Heckler, This species, probably of American ori.un'n, 

 ^8 nuudi more widely scattered over the warmer regions of the Old World than the M, sjji- 



3. PLAGIANTHUS, Porst. 



— — / 



(A8tero(ndiona/<<;BIephai-an(lieiuum,jr/otoc7<; La.wvmchJIook.; \ldo[hm\\ms, F. Muell.) 



Bracteoles none or distant from the calyx. Calyx 5-toothrd or o-lobed. 

 Staniinal coUmm divided at the top into several filaments. Ovary-cells 2 to 

 5, rarely 1 or indefinite, 1-ovulate. Style-branches as many as cells, filiform 

 or club-shaped, stigmatic along the inner side, either the whole length or 



near the top. Fruit-carpels 1, 2, or more, seceiling from the axis, indehiscent 



