780 CONTKIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



Nicaragua, Cuba, Costa Rica, Porto Rico, Santo Domingo, Peru, Panama) ; 

 "emajagua" (Porto Rico, Peru); " huamaga " (Ecuador); " damajagua "■ 

 (Peru); " algodoncillo " (Venezuela); " demajagua," " majagua azul," " ma- 

 jagua macho" (Cuba); " majagiiito de playa " (Colombia); "majagua de 

 playa" (Panama); " nau " (Hawaii); " fau " (Samoa); "pago" (Guam). 



The word " majagua " has been corrupted in English into " mahoe," the 

 name used in Jamaica and elsewhere. The wood is white, soft, and porous, 

 and is said to weigh 35 to 38 pounds per cubic foot. It is sometimes utilized as 

 a substitute for cork. The plant was an important source of fiber in the Western 

 Hemisphere before the arrival of the Europeans, and is still used extensively 

 for cordage. It was employed in many parts of the Tropics for the manufacture 

 of mats and coarse cloth. In quality the fiber is similar to jute, and it has the 

 property of becoming stronger after being soaked in water. To the flowers,, 

 roots, and bark are ascribed aperitive, emollient, sudorific, and laxative proper- 

 ties. In the Pacific islands the bark was sometimes eaten when other food was 

 lacking. The aborigines of Queensland value the roots as food, likewise the 

 leaves, which have a slightly acid flavor. In Samoa the bark is used for strain- 

 ing the narcotic drink ava. In Guam ropes of it, after having been oiled, are 

 employed as cables. For an illustration of the plant see Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 

 8: pi. 50. 



9. Hibiscus clypeatus L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 1149. 1759. 

 Hibiscus bcrlandierianus Moric. PI. Amer. Rar. 8. pi. 6. 1830. 

 Veracruz, Campeche, and Yucatiln. Greater Antilles. 



Shrub or small tree, 3 to 6 meters high, branches stellate-tomentose ; leaves 

 rounded-cordate, 8 to 24 cm. long, acute, obscurely dentate or nearly entire, 

 usually angulate, densely stellate-pubescent ; calyx about 4 cm. long, nearly- 

 equaling the petals ; capsule densely hispid, about 4 cm. long. " Huevo de 

 gato " (Porto Rico). 



10. Hibiscus lavateroides Moric. PI. Amer. Rar. 9. pi. 7. 1830. 

 Tamaulipas and Veracruz ; type from Tampico, Tamaulipas. 



Leaves broadly ovate or ovate-cordate, 2 to 7 cm. long, obtuse or acute, dentate, 

 stellate-hispidulous ; petals pink or purplish, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long ; capsule stel- 

 late-pubescent, 12 to 15 mm. long. 



11. Hibiscus cardiophyllus A. Gray, PI. Wright. 1: 22. 1852. 



Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, San Luis PotosI, and Puebla. Western 

 Texas ; type from Turkey Creek. 



Shrub or herb, 30 to 60 cm. high, the stems stellate-hispidulous ; leaves 

 rounded-cordate, 3 to 7 cm. long, obtuse, sinuate-dentate, sometimes angulate, 

 pale beneath and densely stellate-tomentose; petals crimson, about 3 cm. long; 

 capsule glabrous or nearly so. 



12. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. Sp. PI. 694. 1753. 



Common in cultivation and often growing without cultivation. Probably 

 native of China, but now widely dispersed in tropical countries. 



Shrub or small tree, nearly or quite glabrous throughout ; leaves ovate or 

 broadly ovate, 5 to 15 cm. long, acute or acuminate, coarsely crenate-dentate ; 

 stamen tube exserted. " TulipSn " (Yucatan); " tulipSn rojo " (Oaxaca) ; 

 " rosa china," " gallardete " (Oaxaca) ; "obelisco " (Mexico, Jalisco, Durango) ; 

 " stichil " (Ramirez); " clavel " (Guatemala); " resucitado," " escandalosa 

 roja " (Colombia) ; "Mar Paclfico " (Cuba, Honduras) ; " pavona," " amapola," 

 " mapola," " candelada " (Porto Rico); " clavel6n " (El Salvador); " bonche " 

 (Colombia). 



