18S XXI. MALVACE.E, [FlayiautJuis. 



or iiTcgularly breaking up. Seed pendulous, with a dorsal raplie. — Shrubs 

 or rarely lierbs. Leaves entire or rarely lobed. Plowers usually small and 

 \vhile, more or less completely dioecious, axillary or terminal, usually clus- 

 Aered, rarely solitary or in short panicles. 



The genus is confined lo Australia and New Zealand, the several species heiug in eacli case 

 endemic. It was formerly referred to HtercuHacea^ from a mistaken view of the anthers. 

 It is however nearly allied to ^Ida, with which F. Mueller proposes to unite the greater 

 number of species, but the habit is different, the flowers, although generally provided both 

 AVith stamens and pistils, are nevertheless almost constantly dioecious by abortion, which has 

 not been observed in true Sidas^ and the character derived from the style is cue of the most 

 constant in Mahaccce, 



■ Sect. 1. Plagianthus. — Calyx caw panul ate ^ the cmgles 7wt pr amine at. Shrubs often 

 iaIL Leaves herbaceous, rugose, serrate or crenate, glabrous or stellate -hairy. 



Carpels 2 or 3 (1 only usually ripening) 1. P. sidoides. 



Carpels usually 5 - . • 2. P. puhhellas. 



Sect, 2. I«awrencia {JFrenciala, A. Gi\), — Calyx with 5 ^?row2w^;?^ angles. Herbs 

 or tortuous shrubs. Leaves thick or small , entire or toothed at the top, nearly glabrous or 



scurf g, 



Flowers in dense terminal spikes. Erect herb, glabrous or slightly 



stellate-pubescent 3. P. spicatus, 



riowers axillary, solitary or clustered, not spicate. Herbs either gla- 

 brous or slightly stellatc-pubesccut. 

 Leaves cuueate-oblong. Flowers all sessile ,.,,.., 4. P. glo^neratus. 

 Leaves small, orbicular or obovate, on long petioles. Male flowers 



pedicellate , 5. P. dijfusus. 



Tortuous shrubs, the herbaceous parts covered with scurfy scales. 



Stem-ieaves pctiolatc, often above 1 in. long 6. P. stinari^c^tus. 



Stem-leaves sessile or nearly so, rarely exceeding \ in. and mostly 



not iin ,,...,,''.,.... 7, P. microiih glhis, 



1. P. sidoides^ LLool\ Bob. Mag, t. 3393. A slirnb of several feet or 

 sometimes a small tree, the young branches, under side of the leavqs, and iu- 

 florepeence more or less covered with a whitish or brown stellate tonieutmn, 

 sometimes verv dense and floccose. Leaves from ovate-lanceolate to lancco- 

 late, obtusely sen-ate, 2 to 3 or rarely 4 in. long', rounded at the base, on pe- 

 tioles of 3 to 6 lines, glabrous on the upper side when full growji, with im- 

 pressed veins. Flowers small, in short axillary racemes, tlie males with a 

 broad campanulate calyx about 2 lines long ; stamens about 15, the tnbe ob- 

 scnrcly divided at the' top into 5 clusters; pistil small and barren, altliougb 

 the ovaiy is 2-celled, with \ pentbdous ovule in each. In the females the 

 calyx is abuost tubular, the petals scarcely longer and persistent, tlie anthers 

 small and barren, the pistd fully developed, the ovary 2-celled, the style- 

 branches hairy at the base, much dilated from the middle upwards. Ti'uit- 

 carpels usually 1 only, apparently indchiscent, enclosed in the membranous 

 calyx; when both ripen they appear to separate.— Hook. f. Fl. Tasm. i. 'iO ; 

 Sicia discolor. Hook. Jonnu Bot. i. 250; Aderolrlchon sidoijes, Klotzsch in 

 Link, Kl et Otto. Ic. PL liar. 19, t. 8; Phwianthus Lampenii, LindL Bot. 



Heg. 1838, Misc. 22. 



Tasmania. Common iu ravines, etc., in the southern part of the island, R. Broicn 

 J. D. Hooker, and others. 



The bark, full of strong fibre, is usetl iu Tasmania as cordacrc. 



9 



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