Hibiscus.] XXT. malvace.e. 215 



r 



a brown centre, tlie pedicels in the upper axils longer than the petioles. 

 Bracteoles linear, rigid, fully as long as the calyx. Calyx |- to 1 in. long, 

 deeply divided into broadly lanceolate acuminate lobes, glabrous or slightly 

 ciliate, 1- or 3-nerved. Petals 1 to 1| in. long. Capsule globular, scarcely 

 acuminate, hirsute. Seeds glabrous. 



N> Australia. Victoria river and Arnhem's Land, F, Mueller; gathered also in Letch- 

 kardt's and M'Douall Stuart's Bxjpeditions, 



H 



A low branchinn: annual of 1 to 



2 feet, densely hispid with long rigid stellate hairs or bristles. Leaves 

 deeply divided into 3 or 5 oblong-linear or cnneate segments, mostly about 1 

 in. long, lobed or coarsely toothed, the lobes or teeth obtuse, hispid on both 

 sides. Flowers small for the genus, on hispid pedicels often as long as the 

 leaves. Bracteoles 8 to 10, linear-subulate, hispid. Calyx 4 to 5 lines long, 

 hirsute, deeply divided into lanceolate-acuminate, 3 -nerved lobes. Petals 

 about f to 1 in. long, dark at the base. Filaments short, along the upper 

 part of the column. Stigmas capitate. Capsule small, globular, glabrous. 

 Seeds glabrous. 



N. Australia. Islands of the Gulf of Carpeutaria, iJ. Brown; Vansiltart's Bay, N.W- 

 coast, A. Cunningham, 



20. H, vitifolius, Linn.; DC. Frod. i. 450. A coarse, erect, divari- 

 cately -branched herb of several feet, in India usually shortly tomcntose, more 

 Hspid in Africa, and in tlie Australian specimens still more beset Avith rigid 

 hairs. Leaves broadly cordate, 3 to 3 in. long and broad, usually broadly 3- or 

 5dobed and toothed, very densely and softly vlllous-tonientose. Flowers 

 father large, pale yellow with a purple centre, on short pedicels, the upper 

 ones forming a short dense leafy raceme. Bracteoles 7 to 10, linear-subulate, 

 shorter than the calyx. Calyx deeply divided into broadly lanceolate lobes, 

 often enlarging after flowering. Capsule depressed globular, beaked in tlie 

 centre, 5 to 8 lines diameter, hirsute with scattered hairs, the 5 acute angles 

 raised into wings and transversely veined. Seeds glabrous. — F. Muell. 

 T'i'agm. ii. 114. 



Queensland, Keppel Bay, R. Brown; Percy Island, A. Cunningham ; Dawson river 

 -?. Mueller ; Palm Islands, Ilenne ; outskirts of the nortliern brush, Leklihardt. A very 

 common species in E. India, extending into the warmer regions of Africa, and introduced 

 . into the W. Indies, readily known hy its winged capsules. 



21. H. panduriformis, Bnrm. Tl. Ltd. 151,/. 47,/ 3. A tall, coarse 



Wb or shrub, densely covered with a tomentum, usually thick and velvety on 

 the upper side of the leaves, closer and whiter on the under si(h- and on the 

 petioles and branches, where it is often intermixed with lonjj spreading bristly 

 stellate hairs. Leaves broad-cordate, 3 or 4 in. long and broad, or rarely nar- 

 row, usually 5-angled or broadly lobcd and irregularly crenate. Flowers 

 yellow, on very short pedicels in the axils of the upper reduced leaves, the 

 side-branches often- assuming the appearance of several-flowered peduncles. 

 Bracteoles G to 8, linear or Hnear-spathulate, often as long as the calyx, more 

 herbaceous than in most species antl always dilated above tlie middle. Calyx 

 J to 9 lines long, densely tomentose-hirsute, the lobes lanceolate, 1-nerved. 

 Petals 1 to 2 in. long, densely hirsute where exposed in the bud. Capsule 



