68 
MALVACEJE. ( MALLOW FAMILY.) 
cohering by their short claws with the tube of filaments. 
Anthers kidney-shaped, opening across the top. Pistils sev¬ 
eral, with the ovaries united in a ring or forming a several- 
celled pod. Seeds with little albumen: embryo curved, 
the leafy cotyledons variously doubled up. — Mucilagi¬ 
nous plants, with tough bark, and palmately-veined leaves. 
Flower-stalks with a joint. 
Synopsis. 
* Calyx naked (no involucel): carpels separable in the fruit. 
1. Abutilon. Pods each 3-6-seeded, not falling away when ripe. 
2. Sida. Pods 1-seeded, separating. Flowers perfect. 
3. Nap^a. Pods 1-seeded, separating. Flowers dioecious. 
* * Calyx involucellate at the base. 
Carpels numerous, separating whole when ripe, 1-seeded. 
4. Malva. Involucel of 3 bractlets. 
5. Althaea. Involucel of 6 to 9 bractlets. 
Carpels permanently united into 3-5-ceIled loculicidal pod. 
6. Hibiscus. Involucel of many bractlets. Pod few-many-seeded. 
1. ABl TILON, Tourn. Indian Mallow. 
Calyx naked at the base. Styles 5 - 15. Pods 5 - 15, remain¬ 
ing coherent so as to form a sort of compound capsule, spreading 
at the summit, where each splits open along the inner edge. 
Seeds about 3 in each carpel. — Flowers in the axils of the heart- 
shaped leaves. (Name of unknown origin.) 
1. A. Avicenna*, Gsertn. (Velvet-Leaf.) Leaves round¬ 
ish-heart-shaped, taper-pointed, velvety; peduncles shorter than the 
leaf-stalks; corolla yellow; pods 12-15, hairy, beaked, the beaks 
splitting in two. CD - Escaped from gardens, naturalized. Aug.- 
Plant about 4° high. S 
2. SIDA, L. Sida. 
Calyx naked at the base. Styles 5 or more : the ripe fruit 
separating into as many 1-seeded pods, each splitting open at the 
top. Radicle pointing upwards. Stigmas terminal, minutely cap¬ 
itate. — Flowers perfect. (A name used by Theophrastus.) 
1. S. Spifiosa, L. Annual, low, branched from the base; 
leaves ovate-oblong, abrupt at the base, serrate ; stipules bristle-form ; 
flower-stalks axillary, shorter than the petioles; fruit separating into 
