CHAP. XVI. 



.1/alva'ceje. /fiBi'scus. 



361 



Spec. Char.f^c. Stem shrubby, downy. Leaves downy, roundish, bluntly 

 angular, 5-lobed, crenated. Pedicels axillary, solitary. {Don's Mill., i. 

 p. 469.) A shrub, growing from 2 ft to 3 ft. high, on the rocky shores 

 of the south of France and Spain, producing its white flowers, the 

 petals of which have purple claws, from April to June. It was culti- 

 vated in England in 1596, and generally treated as a frame plant ; but, 

 like the following species, it only requires a wall, and a little protec- 

 tion, during winter. Plants attained the height of 5 ft., trained against 

 a wall with a south-east aspect, without anv protection, in the Botanic 

 Garden, Bury St. Edmunds, about the years 1825, 1826. 



« 2. L. tri'loba L. The three-\ohed-/eaved Lavater 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 972. ; Dec. Prod., 1. 439. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 46* 

 Engravings. Cav. Diss., 2. t. 31. f. 1. ; Bot. Mag., 2226. 



Spec. Cfiar., S;c. Stem shrubby, downy. Leaves downy, rather cordate, and somewhat 3-lobed, round, 

 crenated. Pedicels aggregate. Sepals acuminated. (Do/i'i- A//7/., i. p. 4G9.) A tomentose shrub, 

 growing to the height of 4 ft. in the south of Spain, and producing large pale.purple flowers in 

 June and July. It was introduced into England in 1759, and is generally treated as a frame plant ; 

 but it will grow, and flower beautifully, trained against a wall, and slightly protected during winter. 

 It is easily propagated by cuttings of the young wood ; and it also ripens seeds. 



• 3. L. subovaVa Dec. The subovate-^aw^ Lavatera. 



Identification. Dec. Prod., 1. p. 439. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 469. 



Spec. Char., ifc. Stem suffruticose. Leaves rather downy, ovate, notched, somewhat 3-Iobed, with 



the middle lobe longest. Pedicels 1 or 2, axillary, length of petioles ; lobes of calyx acuminated. 



{Don's MiJl.fi. p. 469.) A shrub, growing from 2 tt. to 4 ft. high, in fields about Mogadore, on the 



sea coast of Morocco, producing pale purple flowers in July. It has not yet been introduced into 



England, but would form a desirable addition to the half-hardy species. 



« 4. L. AFRiCA^NA Cav. The African Lavatera. 



Identification. Cav. Diss., 5. p. 282. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 348. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 468. 



Synonyme. L. hispida var. Willd. 



Engraving. Cav. Diss., 5. t. 139. f. 1. ; Bot. Mag. t. 2541., as L. hfspida 



Spec. Char., ^c. Stem shrubby, rather tomentose from flocky down. Leaves canescent, all bluntly 

 5-lobed. Pedicels twin," equal in length to the petioles. Involucel S-partcd, tomentose. {Don's 

 Mill., i. p. 468.) A shrub, found in the south of Spain and the north of Africa, where it grows from 

 4 ft. to 6 ft. high, producing its pale purple flowers in June and July. It was cultivated in England 

 in 1820, or earlier. In the Bury St. Edmunds Botanic Garden there were plants of it, one or more 

 of which attained the height of 8 ft. or 9 ft. in a warm sheltered border. 



App. I. Oi/ier Species of Lavatera likely to prove half-hardy. 



L. PseUdo-O'lbia Poir., with pale purple flowers, introduced in 1817 ; L. phwniccn Vent., with 

 scarlet flowers, introduced from the Canary Islands in 1816, and forming a tree 10 ft. high. ; L. O'lbia 

 L., with reddish purple flowers, a native of Provence, which has been in culture in England, as a 

 frame-plant, since 1570, and attains the height of 6 ft. in its native country ; with L. unguiculata and 

 L. hispida Desf. and, perhaps, some other varieties or species, all highly beautiful ; might be sub- 

 jected to the same treatment. Indeed, there.are few kinds of plants more ornamental, when trained 

 against a wall, than the different species of Lavatera and Hibiscus : everyone knows what a splendid 

 appearance i/ibiscus /Jbsa.sin^nsis makes in stoves, when so trained. 



Genus II. 



//IBI'SCUS L. The Hibiscus. Lin. Si/st. Monadelphia Polyandria, 



Identification. Lin. Gen., 846. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 446. ; Don's Mill 1. p. 476. 



Synonymes. Ketmie, Fr. ; Eibisch, Ger. 



Derivations. The word hibiskos is one of the names given by the Greeks to the mallow. The //ibiscus 

 of Phny appears to be an umbelliferous plant ; while that of Virgil is a plant with pliant branches 

 which was made into baskets. The word //ibiscus is supposed by some to be derived from ibis a 

 stork, which is said to feed on some of the species. Ketmie {Fr.) is derived from Ketmia, the name 

 given to the genus by Tournefort. The German, Eibisch, is the German aboriginal word for the 

 mallow. 



Gen. Char., Sfc. Calyx encompassed by a many-leaved, rarely by a few- 

 leaved, involucel, or one with its leaves connate Petals not auricled. 

 Stigmas b ; carpels joined into a 5-ceIled 5-valved capsule, with a disse- 

 piment in the middle of each valve on the inside. Cells many-seeded, 

 rarely 1-seeded. {Don's Mill., adapted.)— The only hardy ligneous species 

 is H. syriacus. 



