158 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 



together. Honey is secreted in five pits in the recep- 

 tacle between the base of the petals, covered with 

 hairs which protect it from rain and short-lipped 

 insects. When an insect visits a younger flower 

 for honey, it rubs pollen off the anthers, and at a 

 visit to an older flower deposits it on the stigma. 

 The stamens are erect at first in the centre, and 

 remain more or less so, so that when the papillate 

 stigmas ripen they curl over and touch the latter, 

 curling in amongst the stamens, and self-pollination is 

 the natural result. Few insects visit the flowers, and 

 they suck the honey from outside when the flowers 

 are closed. 



The fruit is a schizocarp, the carpels one-seeded, 

 splitting apart when ripe and falling near the plant. 

 The fruits are called cheeses by children and used to 

 play a game. 



Cheese, Doll-cheeses, Dutch Cheese, Fairy 

 Cheeses, all show the frequent connection between 

 the above game and this plant in different parts. 

 Other names are Dwarf Mallow and Pellas. 



The name Mallow comes from the Anglo-Saxon 

 Malwe, and in Latin is Malva, the Greek Malache, 

 meaning soft, in allusion to the relaxing power of 

 the plant. 



Malva rotundifolia. — The whole character of the 

 plant is well illustrated in Fig. 30, the rounded, six- to 

 scven-lobed leaves, the small flowers with notched and 

 veined petals arising in the axils, with the characteristic 

 calyx, being well figured. 



