778 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL. HERBARIUM. 



Bractlets narrowly linear or setaceous, less than 2 mm. wide. 



Petals 6 to 8 cm. long; leaves glabrous or nearly so 12. H. rosa-sinensis. 



Petals 5 cm. long or less; leaves usually copiously pubescent. 



Bractlets less than half as long as the calyx 13. H. denudatus. 



Bractlets nearly or quite as long as the calyx, often much longer. 

 Stems hispid with long, mostly simple hairs, and with 2 lines of fine 



pubescence 14. H. biseptus. 



Stems glabrous or vnth short pubescence of stellate hairs, these 

 evenly distributed. 



Petals purple or purplish 15. H. brasiliensis. 



Petals white, yellow, or yellowish. 



Petals about 1 cm, long; leaves not lobate 16. H. purpusii. 



Petals 3 to 5 cm. long ; leaves usually lobate. 



Capsule strigose 17. H. ribifolius. 



Capsule glabrous. 



Leaves all or partly 3-parted 18. H. coulteri. 



Leaves merely dentate, or shallowly lobate. 



Leaves 1 to 3 cm. long, obtuse or rounded at apex, the 

 pubescence of the lower surface chiefly of 4 or 5- 



rayed loose hairs 19. H. elegans. 



Leaves mostly 3 to 5 cm. long, acute or acuminate, the 

 pubescence of the lower surface of 3-rayed appressed 

 hairs 20. H. acicularis. 



1. Hibiscus bifurcatus Cav. Monad. Diss. 146. pi. 51, f. 1. 1787. 

 Hibiscus uncinelhis DC. Prodr. 1: 449. 1824. 



Tepic to Chiapas and Veracruz. West Indies, Central America, and South 

 America; type from Brazil. 



Shrub or herb, 1 to 4.5 meters high, the stems hispid and aculeolate ; leaves 

 6 to 18 cm. long, hirsute and stellate-pubescent, aculeolate beneath along the 

 veins, usually deeply trilobate, the lobes acuminate, serrate; calyx 1.5 to 2 cm. 

 long; petals 7 to 9 cm. long, purplish; capsule strigose. " Flor de paisto " 

 (MichoacSn, Guerro, Langlass6). 



The leaves are slightly acid, and in Brazil they are cooked and eaten. 



2. Hibiscus costatus A. Rich. Ess. Fl. Cuba 138. 1845. 



Hibiscus austraUg Rose; Donn. Smith, Enum. PI. Guat. 6: 4. 1903, nomen 

 nudum. 



Veracruz and Oaxaca. Cuba and Guatemala ; type from Cuba. 



Shrub or herb, 1 to 1.5 meters high, the branches stellate-hispidulous or 

 glabrate; leaves ovate-cordate to reniform-cordate, 3.5 to 10 cm. long, acumi- 

 nate, dentate, often angulate or shallowly lobate; calyx 1.8 to 2 cm. long; 

 petals 6.5 to 7.5 cm. long, lavender or deep pink ; capsule strigose. 



3. Hibiscus furcellatus Desr. ; Lam. Encycl. 3: 358. 1789. 



Veracruz. Florida, West Indies, Central America, and South America. 



Shrub, 1 to 2 meters high, the stems stellate-tomentose ; leaves ovate-cordate 

 or orbicular-cordate, 5 to 12 cm. long, acute or obtuse, dentate, often angulate 

 or shallowly lobate; calyx 1.5 to 2 cm. long; petals 6 to 8 cm. long, purple- 

 pink ; capsule strigose. 



4. Hibiscus nelsoni Rose & Standi., sp. nov. 



Type collected between Nopala and Mixistepec, Oaxaca (Nelson 2430; U. S. 

 Nat. Herb. No. 1,073,355). 



Leaves deltoid-lanceolate, 2.5 to 5.5 cm. long, long-acuminate, rounded or 

 truncate at base, serrate-dentate, stellate-hispidulous with fulvous hairs ; 



