770 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL. HERBARIUM. 



and solitary, short-pedunculate ; petals yellow ; carpels hispid. " Escoba blan- 

 ca," " escobita dulce " (Porto Rico). 



4. Malvastrum bicuspidatum (S. Wats.) Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 



286. 1909. 

 Malvastrum tricuspidatum bicuspidatum S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 21: 417. 



1886. 

 Chihuahua to Morelos, Oaxaca, and Sinaloa ; type from Hacienda San Miguel, 

 Chihuahua. 



Plants usually f ruticose, about 1 meter high, the stems reddish brown ; leaves 

 ovate or broadly ovate, 2 to 7 cm. long, acute, crenate-dentate, green, thinly 

 or densely stellate-pubescent ; petals yellow ; carpels hispid. " Malva " ( Sina- 

 loa). 



5. Malvastrum spicatum (L.) A. Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. n. ser. 4: 22. 1849. 

 Malva spicata L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 1146. 1759. 



Jalisco to Nuevo LeOn, Veracruz, and Oaxaca. Widely distributed in tropical 

 regions. 



Plants sometimes 2 meters high ; leaves rounded-ovate, 2 to 7 cm. long, obtuse, 

 subcordate to obtuse at base, crenate-dentate, stellate-pubescent ; calyx hirsute ; 

 petals yellow. " Malvavisco " (Port Rico). 



6. Malvastrum lacteum (Ait.) Standi. 

 Malva lactea Ait. Hort. Kew. 2: 448. 1789. 

 Malva vitifoUa Cav. Icon. PI. 1: pi. SO. 1791. 



Malvastrum vitifoHum Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 1 : 100. 1879. 



MichoacS,n to Veracruz and Oaxaca. Guatemala. 



Shrub, 1.5 to 2.5 meters high, the stems sometimes 5 cm. thick ; leaves 5 

 to 12 cm. long, cordate at base, 3 or 5-lobate, the lobes acute or acutish, 

 crenate-dentate, green, sparsely stellate-pubescent; flowers slender-pedicellate, 

 in loose cymes ; petals white. 



7. Malvastrum ribifolium (Schlecht.) Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. 1: 100. 1879. 

 Malva ribifolia Schlecht. Linnaea 11: 351. 1837. 



Malva mexicana Schauer, Linnaea 20: 724. 1847. 



Malvastrum mexicanum Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 1: 99. 1879. 



Malvastrum schaffneri S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 25 : 143. 1890. 



Malvastrum greenmanianum Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat Herb. 5 : 180. 1899. 



Coahuila to Mexico and Oaxaca ; type from Mineral del Monte, Hidalgo. 

 Central America. 



Stems herbaceous or fruticose, sometimes 2.5 meters high ; leaves 4 to 13 

 cm. long, usually shallowly 3 or 5-lobate, crenate-dentate, stellate-pubescent, the 

 terminal lobe acute; flowers white, sessile or nearly so in dense axillary 

 clusters. 



14. MALACHE Vogel in Trew, PI. Select. 50. 1772. 



Shrubs or herbs; leaves often shallowly lobate; flowers axillary, paniculate, 

 or subcapitate at the ends of long peduncles ; bractlets 5 or more, usually 

 distinct; petals spreading or erect; carpels 5, 1-seeded, often armed with 

 spines, bivalvate or indehiscent. 



Carpels with 1 or 3 long, retrorsely barbed awns at apex; leaves not cordate 



at base. 



Carpels smooth on the back 1. M. rosea. 



Carpels transverse-rugose on the back. 



Bractlets more than twice as long as the calyx 2. M. arachnoidea. 



Bractlets about equaling the calyx 3. M. spinifex. 



