MALVACE^. (mallow FA>nLT.) 97 



Tribe I. MAL.VE^. Columns of stamens anther-bearing at the top. Ovaries and 

 caipels 6 -20 or more, closely imited in a ring around a central axis, from which tliey 

 separate after ripening. 



* Stigmas occupying the inner face of the styles ; carpels 1-seeded, falling away separately. 



1. Althsea. Involucel of 6 to 9 bractlets. 



2. 3Ialva. Involucel of 3 bractiets. Petals obcord ate. Carpels rounded, beakless. 



3. Callirrlioe. Involucel of 1- 3 bractiets or none. Petals truncate. Carpels beaked. 



I. Napsea. Involucel none Flowers dioecious. Stamens few (15 •- 20). Carpels beakless, 



* * Stigmas terminal, capitate; carpels 1 - few-seeded, usually dehiscent. 



5. Mai vastruuo . Involucel of 3 bractiets or none. Seed solitary, filling the ceU, ascending. 



6. Sida. Involucel none. Seed solitary in the cells, pendulous. 



7. Spliseralcea. Bractiets 3. Seeds 2 or 3 in each cell. 

 S. Abntilon. Involucel none. Seeds 3 - 9 in each cell. 



0. 3Iotliola. Bractiets 3. Seeds 2 in each ceU, with a transverse partition between them. 

 Tribe II. HIBISCE^. Column of stamens anther-bearing for a considerable part of 



its length, naked and 5-toothed at the very apex. Pod mostly 5-celled, loculicidal, 



leaving scarcely any axis in the centre after opening. 

 10. Kosteletzkya. Involucel of several bractiets. Pod 5-celled, 5-seeded. 



II. Hibiscus. Involucel of many bractiets. Pod 5-celled, many-seeded. 



1. ALTHiEA, L. Marsh-Mallow. 



Calyx surrounded by a 6 - 9-cleft involucel. ( )therwise as in Malva. (Old 

 Greek and Latin name, from a.\6.v, to cure, in allusion to its healing properties.) 



A. officixXlis, L. (Marsh-Mallow.) Stem erect, 2-4° high; leaves 

 Dilate or slightly heart-shaped, toothed, sometimes 3-lobed, velvety-downy ; 

 pvsduncles axillary, many-flowered ; flowers pale rose-color. — Salt marslies, 

 coast of N. Eng. and N. Y. Aug., Sept. — Perennial root thick, abounding 

 in mucilage, the basis of the Pates de Guimauve. (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. MALVA, L. Mallow. 



Calyx with a 3-leaved involucel at the base, like an outer calyx. Petals ob- 

 cordate. Styles numerous, stigmatic down the inner side. Fruit depressed, 

 separating at maturity into as many 1-seeded and indehiscent round kidney- 

 shaped blunt carpels as there are styles. Hadicle pointing downward. (An 

 old Latin name, from the Tjreek name, /u.a\dxv, having allusion to the emol- 

 lient leaves.) 



* Flowers fascicled in the axils. 



M. rotundif6lia, L. (CojrMON Mallow.) Stems procumbent from a 

 deep biennial root; leaves round-heart-shaped, on very long petioles, crenate, 

 ohscurehj-lobed ; petals twice the length of the calyx, whitish ; carpels pubes- 

 cent, even. — Waysides and cultivated grounds; common. (Nat. from Eu.) 



M. SYLVESTRis, L. (HiGH j^L) Biennial; stem erect, branched (2-3° 

 high) ; leaves sharjAj/ .5 - 7-lobed : petals thrice the length of the calyx, large, 

 purple and rose-color ; carpels wrinkled-veiny. — Waysides. (Adv. from Eu.) 



M. CRisPA, L. (Curled ^L) A tall, erect annual, with round and angled 

 toothed and crisped leaves, and small sessile floicers crowded in the axils. — 

 Sparingly escaped from old gardens. (Adv. from Eu.) 



* * Floicers only in the upper axils, somewhat racemose or paniculate. 



M. mosciiXta, L. (Musk M.) A low perennial, with the stem-leaves 

 5'parted, and the divisions once or twice parted or cleft into linear lobes, faintly 

 musky-scented, the /7o«6-ers rose-color or white (l^'in diameter) on short pe- 

 duncles crowded on the stem and branches, tlie fruit downy. — Escaped from 

 gardens to waysides. (Adv. from Eu.) 



