a ee ee ER 
aes ; “4 eee < _ s 
MALVA SYLvesTRIS. ORD. XXXI. Columnifera. 555 
Sp. Ch. M. caule erecto herbaceo, fol. cuapesraecae acutis, pe= 
dunculis petiolisque a 
THE root is perennial, thick, long, whitish, and furnished with 
many strong fibres: the stem is erect, round, strong, hairy, 
branched, and rises from one to three feet in height: the leaves 
are numerous, roundish, divided into five or seven lobes, unequally 
serrated or notched at the edges, and stand upon long round hairy 
footstalks: the two stipulz are placed at the base of each footstalk : 
the flowers are large, consisting of five petals, which are inversely 
heart-shaped, sinuated at the apex, and of a purple colour, painted 
with veins of a deeper hue, and stand upon slender peduncles, 
which proceed from the bottom of the leaf-stalks: the calyx is 
double, the outer is composed of three, and the inner of five oval 
pointed hairy segments: the stamina are numerous, united at the 
base ina cylindrical shape, above separate, bending downwards, and: 
furnished with kidney-shaped anther: the germen is roundish: 
the style cylindrical, short, and furnished with many filiform stig- 
mata: the seeds are numerous, of a kidney-shape, and covered 
with a coat, or arillus, which opens inwardly. It is common under. 
hedges and in waste grounds, and flowers from June till September. 
This plant * has a strong affinity to the Althza both in a botanical 
and ina medicinal respect ; but the roots of the malva are useless,. 
while those of althza are of more efficacy than any other part of 
the plant. Accordingly we find that only the leaves and. the 
flowers of the former are directed by the college for pharmaceu- 
tical purposes. Formerly when horticulture was little understood, 
and of course the choice of esculent vegetables extremely limited, 
the malva was admitted amongst the more common articles of 
2 ¢¢ Malva quasi molva quod alvum molliat, ut inquit Festus, secundum. tritum 
illum Schole Salern. versiculam, dixerant malyam yeteres quia molliat alvum. 
Gr. padrayn, amo padrassev, ob candem rationem, Utrumque etymon improbat 
C. Hoffman nec tamen meliora substituit.” Tournf. 
