CHAP. XIX. lERUSTROMI A' CEjE. MALACHODE NDRON. 377 



Malachode'ndron Cnv. Calyx attended by a single bractea. Petals 

 5 — 6, with the limb finely notched. Ovary marked with 5 furrows. Styles 

 5, free, separate to the base. Stigmas capitate. Carpels capsular, 5, 

 connected, 1-seeded. (^Don^s Mill.,\. p. SG^.) 



Stua'rt/^. Sepals 3, connected almost to the middle, bibracteate. 

 Petals 5. Style crowned by a 5-lobed stigma. Capsule woody, 3-celled, 

 5-valved. Cells 1 — 2-seeded. Seeds wingless. (^Boil's Mill., i. p. 364.) 



GoRDO^N/yl. Sepals 3, coriaceous. Petals 3, adhering to the tube of the 

 stamens, and connected together at the base. Style crowned by 3 stigmas. 

 Capsule 3-celled, 3-valved ; cells 2 — 5-seeded. Seeds ending in a leafy wing. 

 {Don's Mill., i. p. 5Qi.) 



Genus I. 



[ MALACHODE'NDRON Cav. The Malachodendron. Lin. Syst. 

 Monadelphia Polyandria. 



Identification. Cav. Diss., S. p. 502. ; Juss. Gen., 275. ; Mitch. Gen., 16. p. 38. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 528. ; 



and Don's Mill., 1. p. 572. 

 Synonymes. Stuart/a L'Herit. ; Stewirt/a L. 

 Derivation. From malakos, soft, and dcndron, a tree ; in allusion, perhaps, to the quality of the 



timber : or, possibly, from the flowers resembling those of the mallow, the Greek name for which 



ia malache. 



Gen. Char., Sfc. Calyx 3-cleft, furnished with two bracteas at the base. 

 Petals 3, with a crenulate limb. Ovary 3-furrowed. Styles 3, unconnected. 

 Stigmas capitate. Cai'pels 5, capsular, connected, 1-seeded. Seeds un- 

 known. {I)o}i's Mill., i. p. 372.) A deciduous low tree, with large white 

 flowers. 



3f 1, Malachode'ndron ova'tum Cav. The ovate-leaved Malachodendron. 



Identification. Cav., 1. c. ; Lindl. Bot. Reg. ; Don's Mill., 1- p. 272. 



Synony>nes. Stuartia penta.ij^nia VHerit.; StewartiVj Malachodendron Mill.; Stcwartia k cinq 



Styles, Fr. 

 Engravings. Smith's Exot. Bot., t. 101. ; Michx. t. 58. ; Bot. Reg., 1. 1104. ; and ouryig^. 91. 



Sj)ec. Char., Sfc. Leaves ovate, acuminated. Flowers axil- 

 lary, solitary, almost sessile. Petals waved, cut, of a pale 

 cream-colour. (Don's Mill., i. p. 372.) A deciduous tree, 

 attaining, in its native country, the height of 20 ft.; but, 

 in England, generally seen as a bush, and seldom above 

 10 ft. or 12 ft. high. It is a native of Virginia, Carolina, 

 and Georgia, on mountains ; and it was introduced into y^ 

 England in 1793, producing its large white flowers in 

 August and September. It has been, since the period of 

 its introduction, in frequent cultivation among other American or peat- 

 earth plants. The largest specimens which we have seen in England are 

 at Dropmore and White Knights: the former are between 10ft. and 12ft. 

 high, and form wide-spreading bushes, flowering freely every year. Their 

 flowers are very large (2^ in. or more across), and slightly fragrant.* There 

 are a great many trees nearly equally large at White Knights, which flower 

 magnificently every year, and make a fine appearance during the months of 

 August and September, when they are in full bloom. The plant would 

 have a much better effect if trained up with a single stem, so as to form a 

 small tree. For this purpose, after a plant has been two or three years 

 established, it may be advisable to cut it down to the ground; and, from the 

 shoots that it will throw up, to select one, and train it as the stem of the 

 future tree. The soil in which it is generally grown is a mixture of loam 

 and peat, in which the latter prevails ; but, in the Mile End Nursery, it 

 shoots vigorously, and flowers freely, in deep sandy loam. The situation 



