624 



MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



cultivation, as are some species of the genus Abutilon and the poppy mallow 

 (Callirboe involucrata and C. triangulata) . 



Chorisia of eastern South America furnishes a soft fiber. The seeds of 

 Pachira macrocarpa indigenous to Brazil contain a valuable oil resembling that 

 found in cacao ; kapok oil is obtained from the seeds of Eriodendron anfractu- 

 osum. Musk seed is obtained from Hibiscus abelmoschus of the East Indies 

 and is used in perfumery. The Malva moschata of Europe produces a similar 

 odorous product. The cheeses or dwarf mallow (M. rotundifolia) is a trouble- 

 some weed in gardens, waste places and barnyards. Saponin is found in the 

 roots of Sida jamaicensis and Hibiscus Sabdariffa. The Sida paniculata is used 

 as an anthelmintic. The ripe capsules of Queensland hemp (Sida rhombifolia) 

 causes the death of fowls that feed on it. 



Fig. 352. Dwarf Mallow 

 (Malva rotundi folia). (After 

 Fitch.) 



Key for Malvaceae 

 Flowers involucrate. 



Flowers small ; seed solitary and not covered with cotton 2 Malvastrum. 



Flowers large ; seed covered with cotton 1 Gossypium. 



Flowers not involucrate 3 Abutilon. 



Gossypium L. Cotton 



Herbs, shrubs, or rarely trees from 2-10 feet high ; leaves alternate, palmately 

 veined, and lobed, stipulate; involucre of 3 heart-shaped leaf-like bracts; flowers 

 large, regular, white or whitish ; sepals 5 ; petals 5 ; stamens numerous ; anthers 

 borne along the outside of the tube of the filaments; ovaries 3-S-celled, as many 

 as the cells of the pod; seeds numerous bearing cotton. The description of one 

 species only is given below, the Sea Island cotton (G.barbadense), cultivated 

 in Florida and along the Gulf Coast. Tree Cotton G. arboreum is cultivated in 

 the tropics. The fiber is long, silky and an inch or more in length. But little is 

 produced, its use being restricted, it is said, to making thread for turbans for the 

 priestly class. 



