THALAMIFLOR^ 157 



as Watson termed them. This plant is also found in 

 waste places, and is a frequenter of stackyards and 

 similar places associated with the activities of man 

 and the cultivation of crops. 



Dwarf in stature, the habit of this species is pros- 

 trate, the stems ascending at the end. 



The stems are hard and woody below, downy to the 

 touch, numerous. The leaves are kidney-shaped, 

 round, with five to seven, shallow, short, broad lobes, 

 scalloped, or coarsely toothed, on long stalks, 

 heart-shaped at the base. The stipules are ovate, 

 acute. 



The flowers are small, pale lilac, white or purple, in 

 clusters, in the leaf-axils, borne on short stalks bent 

 back in the fruiting-stage. The outer sepals are 

 linear to lance-shaped, not so long as the inner ones. 

 The latter are ovate, acuminate, stellately hairy. 

 The petals are two to three times as long as the calyx. 

 The carpels are smooth, not netted, and indefinite, or 

 about fifteen in number, round on the back, together 

 forming a disc-like fruit, furrowed at the junction of 

 two contiguous carpels. 



The Dwarf Mallow flowers from June right up till 

 September. It is a herbaceous perennial. It is 

 usually more or less prostrate, rising not more than 

 6 in. above the ground. But it grows to a height of 

 18 in. when, as is rarely the case, it is erect. 



The flowers are not so large as in the Common 

 Mallow, but the mode of pollination is largely the 

 same in both cases. The anthers and stigma ripen 



