

NAT. ORDER. 



Malvacece. 



MALVA SYLVESTRIS. COMMON MALLOW. 



Class XVI. MoNADELPHiA. Ovdcr VII. Polyandria. ' 



Gen. Char. Calyx double ; outer three-leaved. Capsules many, 

 united in a depressed whorl, one-celled, one-seeded. 



Spe. Char. Stem prostrate. Leaves cordate, orbiculate, five-lobed. 

 Peduncle declininar. 



Ol 



"The root, of the Malva Sylvestris 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, and divided into five or 

 seven lobes, unequally serrated or notched at the edges, and stand 

 upon long, round, hairy footstalks ; the two stipules are placed at the 

 base of each footstalk ; the Jloivcrs are large, consisting of five petals, 

 which are inversely heart-shaped, sinuated at the apex, and of a purple 

 color, painted with veins of a deeper hue, and stand upon slender pe- 

 duncles, which proceed from the bottom of the leaf-stalk ; the calyx 

 is double, the outer being composed of three, and the inner of five 

 oval, pointed, liairy segments ; the stamens are numerous, united at 

 the base in a cylindrical form, above separate, bending downwards, and 

 furnished with kidney-shaped anthers ; the germcn is roundish ; the 

 style is cylindrical, short, and furnished with many filiform stigmas ; 

 the seeds are numerous, of a kidney shape, and covered with a coat 

 or arillus, which opens inwardly." — Woodv. Med. Bot., 



This species of Mallow is a native of England, where it grows in 



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