NAT. ORDER. — MALVACEAE. 155 



Lavatcra Crcfica. Cretan Lavatera. This has also an annual 

 root, white with spreading beards ; the stem is round, two feet high, 

 branched, and the lower branches almost horizontal ; the leaves are 

 crenate-toothcd, smooth, on long petioles, gradually narrowed towards 

 the top ; the stipulas are ovate-lanceolate, ciliate, bowed at the bottom, 

 and then straight ; the flowers are solitary, axillary, on peduncles 

 shorter than the petiole ; outer calyx semi-trifid, with keeled segments ; 

 inner one larger, with lanceolate segments, curbed at the edge ; tlie 

 corolla is large, spreading, bell-shaped, pale flesh color, with whiti'sh 

 lines ; petals broader above, crenate, frequently rolled up, the edges 

 of die claws of a deep puiple ; the germ very smooth ; the style multi- 

 fied ; the stigmas pale flesh-colored, longer than the tube, thirteen to 

 eighteen in number ; the fruit hemispherical, convex beneath, covered 

 at the top with a circular, concave, smooth lid or peltate umbrella ; 

 there are about twenty capsules in a whorl ; these arc brown, closed 

 all round and not opening, with a longitudinal raised line along the 

 back, elegantly marked along the sides with flexuose streaks drawn^ 

 from the circumference to the centre ; the seeds are ferruginous. This 

 is a native of the middle states of North America, and flowers from 

 July till September. 



There are twenty-eight species of the Lavafcra described as be- 

 ing useful either medicinally, ornamentally, or for domestic puiposes. 



Propagation and Culture. The green-house and frame species 

 will thrive well in a mixture of loam and peat, or any light soil, and 

 cuttings from ripe wood planted in the same kind of soil under a hand- 

 glass will root readily, or they may be raised from seeds, which gene- 

 rally ripen in abundance ; they may be planted out against a south 

 wall during summer, where many of them will survive the winter, if 

 not severe, by being sheltered by a mat in frosty weather. The pe- 

 rennial herbaceous species will grow in any kind of soil, and may 

 either be increased by dividing the plants at the roots or by seeds.— 

 All the species are hardy, and well adapted for shrubberies. 



