Mallows 119 
a long tube formed by the union of filaments of the 
numerous stamens. In all the plants to which we 
have referred in previous chapters the anthers were 
two-celled; but in the Mallows they possess but 
one cell. The base of the staminal tube surrounds 
the many-celled ovary, each cell with a single seed- 
ego, and the thread-like styles pass up the tube and 
stand above the anthers, their inner surfaces being 
the stigmas. Everybody knows the singular form of 
the Mallow fruits, which in their juvenile days they 
used to know as “cheeses,’ from the resemblance to 
the flattened, round form of certain makes. When 
ripe, these “ cheeses” split into about a dozen segments, 
each corresponding to a cell of the ovary, and con- 
taining a curved seed. 
The species best known by name is the Marsh 
Mallow (Althea officinalis), but it is by no means so 
familiar to sight as the Common Mallow or the Dwarf 
Mallow, both of which are popularly known as Marsh 
Mallows. The Marsh Mallow is covered with soft 
down, has thick, roundish leaves, and rosy flowers as 
much as a couple of inches across. But it only occurs 
locally in marshy places not far from the sea. The 
Hairy Marsh Mallow (A. hirsuta) is a smaller species 
of much rarer occurrence, covered with stiff hairs, the 
leaves more kidney-shaped, and the smaller flowers 
purplish in hue. 
The Common Mallow (Malva sylvestris), standing 
in the shelter of a meadow-hedge just about the time 
the hay is cut, is a very beautiful plant; growing to 
a height of three or four feet, well covered with the 
large purplish flowers which have given the French 
name of the plant (mauve) to that particular tint. 
