\ 



Vrena.] xxiii. malvace.^j. 257 



var. iomentosa, U. iomcnlosa, BI. Bijdr. 65. 



A tall strict plant 8 ft. tall, very grey-tomentose. Leaves 

 elliptic densely woolly with stellate hairs, thicker in texture, margins 

 denticulate, apex rounded, base narrowed i to 2 in. long, -5 to 

 •75 in. wide ; nerves and reticulations strongly elevate beneath, 

 inarching. Flowers numerous on the ends of the branches, sub- 

 sessile. Hah. Setul heaths. Distrib. Java, Sumatra. 



(2) U. rigida Wall. Cat. 1929 {partly) ; Masters, I.e. i. 330. 

 Decaschistia pulchella Ricil. Journ. Roy. As. Soc. S. Br. 59, p. 76. 



A shrub i to 2 ft. tall, branched, sprinkled with stellate hairs. 

 Leaves ovate or orbicular blunt, base broad, serrate; nerves 8, 

 I in. long and as wide ; petioles slender, i in. long. Flowers 

 numerous, nearly sessile in axils of reduced leaves at end of stem. 

 Epicalyx campanulate, with 5 linear lobes. Sepals linear acuminate, 

 hairy. Corolla 2 in. across, crimson ; petals spathulate, apex 

 rounded. Capsule 'i in. long, hairy. Hab. Rare; heaths, Setul. 

 Malacca (Griffith). There are specimens of this beautiful plant 

 in Herb. Kew, labelled " Malacca, white, Griffith," probably 

 wrongly locahzed. Distrib. Tenasserim, Siam, Cambodia, Borneo. 



5. HIBISCUS, L. 



Herbs, shrubs or trees. Leaves entire or palmately lobed. 

 Inflorescence axillary. Epicalyx of 5 or more lobes, free or connate 

 at the base. Calyx 5-toothed or 5-lobed, valvate. Petals 5, 

 adnate at base to the staminal-tube. Staminal-tube truncate 

 or 5-toothed; filaments numerous; anthers reniform i-ceUed. 

 Ovary 5-celled, cells 3- or more-ovuled. Styles 5, connate below. 

 Stigmas capitate or spathulate. Capsule locuhcidally 5-valved, 

 sometimes with false partitions. Seeds glabrous, hairy or woolly. 

 Species about 150, tropics of the whole world. 



Cultivated species of Hibiscus are also H. esculentus Linn. 

 Kachang Bendi or Kachang Lindir, also known as Lady's Fingers. 

 A tall herb with pale creamy yellow flowers and glabrous pods 

 used as a vegetable. 



H. rosa-sinensis Lmn. The garden Hibiscus, Bunga Raya. 

 Cultivated as a garden shrub, together with H. schizopetalns. Hook f., 

 of Zanzibar, with contort petals and a long stamen tube. Many 

 varieties and hybrids of these two are in cultivation. The leaves 

 are used for blackening shoes, hence the popular name " Shoe- 

 flower," the flowers for colouring sweetmeats and preserves, and 

 as a demulcent in venereal disease. The bark contains a good 

 fibre. 



H. mittabilis Lmn., with white flowers turning pink, is also a 

 common cultivated shrub from China and H. syriacus Linn, with 

 violet flowers. Both species usually with double flowers. 



Fl.M.P., I. s 



