HIBIS'CUS SYRIA'CUS. 



A I. I H F. A FRUTEX. 

 Ckui. Order. 



MO5ADBLPHIA. POLYA5DBIA. 



Natural Order. 



MALVACB*. 



No. 77. 



Hibiscus is a name which has been handed down 

 to us from the old Greek writers, but from what root 

 the word originally sprung, is now unknown. As 

 it was supposed to have been formerly applied to 

 some of the mallow tribe, Linneus made choice of it 

 to distinguish a splendid genus of the malvaceous 

 order, of which our present specimen furnishes a 

 good example. Syriacus, from Syria, its native 

 country. 



Our drawing of this species was taken from a 

 beautiful variety, known by the appellation of the 

 Painted Lady. There are, however, others, as the 

 purple-flowered, stripe-flowered, white-flowered, 

 double-flowered, variegated-leaved, &c. 



Though varieties of the Althaea frutex have been 

 cultivated in England during a space of 200 years, 

 still we find this species by no means common. We 

 have indeed been surprised to observe the scarcity 

 of this beautiful shrub in plantations of no ordinary 

 merit or extent; and we can attribute it only to 

 partial failures in cultivation. 



It has been propagated from seeds, cuttings, and 

 layers ; but so superior have seedling plants always 



