Minnesota Plant Life. 325 



color, verging towards red. The prairie mallow resembles 

 closely in general appearance the poppy-mallows, but may be 

 distinguished by the silvery foliage and the red flowers. The 

 glade-mallow displays rather small white flowers in terminal 

 clusters. The leaves are shaped very much like those of the 

 soft maple, only smaller. The whole plant is an erect, slender 

 herb from four to eight feet in height. It has been found in 

 damp woods in Goodhue county, and occurs in such localities 

 as far west as Mankato. The native rose-mallow is an herb, 

 three to five feet in height, with leaves heart-shaped or three- 

 lobed on the upper side, velvety to the touch. The flowers are 

 large and of a pretty pink tint, growing darker toward the 

 centre. In fruit, the calyx is inflated into a bladdery sheath 

 not unlike that of the ground-cherries. The ketmia is a low 

 herb with deeply-cleft leaves. The flowers are large and yellow, 

 with purplish centre, and remain open but a few hours; hence 

 the plant is also known as the flower-of-an-hour. Like that of 

 the halberd-leafed rose-mallow, the calyx in this variety inflates 

 itself into a little balloon-shaped bag around the fruit. Another 

 name for this plant is black-eyed Susan. It is rather abundant 

 in waste fields and vacant lots in the vicinity of St. Paul and 

 Minneapolis. 



Velvetleafs. The velvetleaf, which is sometimes encountered 

 in the southern part of the state, is a large herb, often six feet 

 in height, with leaves in size and shape like those of the linden. 

 They are, however, of a soft velvety texture ; hence the common 

 name applied to the plant. The flowers are yellow and are 

 borne in the axils of small leaves toward the ends of branches. 

 The twelve or more carpels which make up the fruit are sep- 

 arated from each other by deep longitudinal grooves, and the 

 appearance of the whole fruit-body is something like that of a 

 circle of milk-pitchers set close together with their lips point- 

 ing outward. 



None of the mallows is of any particular economic impor- 

 tance. The hollyhock and the ketmia are cultivated for orna- 

 ment, and it is in this family that the marshmallow — a plant with 

 mucilaginous root, used in the manufacture of a popular con- 

 fection — is grouped. 



The twenty third order includes twenty six families of plants 

 without any Minnesota representatives and but three families 



