STANDLEY TBEES AND SHRUBS OF' MEXICO. 781 



The Chinese hibiscus is one of the most common ornamental shrubs in tropi- 

 -cal America, and is cultivated also in hothouses in temperate regions. The 

 flowers are often double, and they occur in many shades of red and yellow, 

 some forms having variegated petals. In India the shrub is known as " China- 

 rose," " shoeblack-plant," or " shoe-flower plant." The latter names are derived 

 from the fact that the petals, which turn black when crushed, are used for 

 blacking shoes. They are employed by the women of China to dye the hair 

 and eyebrows. The flowers are sometimes pickled and eaten in China, and they 

 are used to color spirituous liquors. The petals impart to paper a bluish 

 purple tint which reacts like litmus. The bark is employed in China as an 

 •emmenagogue. 



A related species (known in Porto Rico as "lira " and in Colombia and the 

 Philippines as "arafia ") is H. schizopetalus (Mast.) Hook., which likewise 

 is cultivated in Mexico. It is distinguished by having recurved petals which 

 are cut into narrow lobes. Still another species cultivated in Mexico is the 

 Rose-of- Sharon or althea. Hibiscus syriacus L. ("altea," " flor de una hora"), 

 an Asiatic plant. It is similar to H. rosa-sinensis, but has mostly smaller flow- 

 ers, single or double, pink, purple, or white, with a very short stamen column. 



13. Hibiscus denudatus Benth. Bot. Voy. Sulph. 7. pi. 3. 1844. 

 Hibiscus denudatus involuceUatus A. Gray, PI. Wright. 1: 22. 1852. 



Baja California to Durango, Coahuila, and Chihuahua ; type from Magda- 

 lena Bay, Baja California. Western Texas to Arizona. 



Plants herbaceous or suffrutescent, 30 to 60 cm. high ; leaves rounded-ovate 

 or oblong-ovate, 1 to 3.5 cm. long, rounded or obtuse at apex, rounded or sub- 

 cordate at base, sinuate-dentate, finely stellate-pubescent ; calyx 8 to 14 mm. 

 long; petals 2 to 2.5 cm. long, lavender-purple; capsule glabrous or nearly so. 



14. Hibiscus biseptus S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 21: 418. 1886. 



Baja California to Chihuahua, Jalisco, and Sinaloa ; type from Hacienda 

 San Miguel, Chihuahua. 



Stems herbaceous or suffrutescent, 1 meter high or less, in age sometimes 

 glabrous ; leaves 1.5 to 7 cm. long, the upper ones deeply lobed, the lower ones 

 often merely crenate-dentate, thinly stellate-hispidulous or nearly glabrous ; 

 calyx 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long; petals 3 to 4.5 cm. long, white or pale yellow, with 

 purple spot at base ; capsule glabrous. 



15. Hibiscus brasiliensis L. Sp. PI. ed. 2. 977. 1763. 

 Hibiscus phocniceus Jacq. Hort. Bot. Vind. 3: 11. pi. I4. 1776. 

 Hibiscus oxyphyllus DC. Prodr. 1: 455. 1824. 



Hibiscus violaceus T. S. Brandeg. Zoe 5: 211, 1905. 



Hibiscus iochromus T. S. Brandeg. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 3 : 385. 1909. 



Chihuahua to Sinaloa, Oaxaca, and Veracruz. West Indies, Central America, 

 and South America. 



Slender shrub, 1 to 2 meters high, the branches soon glabrate; leaves del- 

 toid-lanceolate or deltoid-ovate, 3 to 8 cm. long, long-acuminate, coarsely crenate- 

 dentate, often deeply lobate, thinly stellate-hispidulous or glabrate; bractlets 

 shorter or often much longer than the calyx; petals 1 to 2 cm. long; capsule 

 strigose. " Mirarae-linda " (Nicaragua); "peregrina " (Cuba); " cadillo " 

 (Santo Domingo). 



16. Hibiscus purpusii T. S. Brandeg. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 6 : 368. 1917. 

 Known only from the type locality, Zacuapan, Veracruz. 



Tree; leaves oblong-lanceolate, 5 to 10 cm. long, cuspidate-acuminate, obtuse 

 or rounded at base, serrate, nearly glabrous ; flowers nearly sessile ; petals 

 greenish yellow; capsule stellate-hirsute. 



