MALVACEAE. (MALLOW FAMILY.) 47 



gle, or the upper ones densely spiked ; involucel 3-leaved, as long as tlie very 

 liairy calyx; petals yellow, oblique ; carpels 12, even, awuless. South Florida. 

 Stems 2-4 hih. Flowers ' wide. 





4. SIDA, L. 



Invclucel none. Calyx angular. Styles 5 -15. Stigmas capitate. Ovaries 

 1 celled. Carpels erect, mostly 2-valved and 2-beaked at the apex, separating 

 at maturity from each other, and from the central axis. Seed resupiuate, sus- 

 pended, 3-augled. Embryo curved. Radicle superior. Brandling herbs or 

 shrubs, with chiefly undivided leaves, and small yellow, rarely red or white, 

 flowers in their axils. 



* Leaves, at least the lower ones, cordate. 

 -h- Flowers dioecious, white. 



1. S. Napaea, Cav. Nearly smooth, 4 -8 high; leaves thin, loug- 

 petioled, cordate-ovate, 5-lobed, acuminate, toothed or serrate ; peduncles 

 few-flowered; petals obovate; carpels 10, acuminate. Shady banks, East 

 Tennessee. June. 



4 -1 Flowers perfect, yellow or red. 



2. S. spinosa, L. Annual, minutely pubescent; branches erect ; leaves 

 oblong-ovate, acute, serrate, the slender petioles often with a tubercular spine 

 at the base, the lower ones cordate ; stipules setaceous, half as long as the 

 petioles; flowers single or clustered, oil short erect peduncles; carpels faintly 

 reticulated, each pointed with two erect subulate spines. Waste places. 

 July -Sept. Stems l-2 high. .Flowers %' wide, yellow. 



3. S. supina, L'ller. Perennial, tomentose ; stems divided at the base 

 into slender simple ascending or prostrate brandies, leaves all round-cordate, 

 crenate ; stipules minute ; flowers solitarv ; the peduncles reflexed in fruit ; 

 carpels downy, reticulated, almost beakless. South Florida. Oct. Stems 

 6' -12' long; leaves i'-l' long. Flowers yellow, not half as large as in the 

 preceding. 



4. S. diffusa, HBK. Perennial; stems prostrate, hairy, 2 long ; leaves 

 i' long, cordate-oblong, serrate; stipules setaceous; peduncles 1' long, soli- 

 tary; flowers yellow; carpels 5, pubescent, short-beaked. Keys of South 

 Florida. 



5. S. COrdifolia, L. Annual, villous ; stem tall, much branched ; leaves 

 ovate, cordate, entire or angularly 3-lobed, crenate-serrate ; flowers small, 

 yellow, mostly crowded in axillary and terminal racemes; carpels 10-12, 

 shorter than the slender retrorsely scabrous awns. Cedar Keys, Florida. 

 Introduced. Nov. Stem 3 - 5 high. Leaves 2' -3' long. 



* * Leaves not cordate. 



6. S. carpinifolia, L. Nearly glabrous, erect, branching ; leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, obtuse and 3-nerved at the base, serrate ; stipules linear; flowers 

 axillary, the earlier solitary, the later ones clustered ; petals yellow, unequally 

 obcordate; carpels 7-12, reticulate-rugose. 



Var. brevicuspidata, Griseb. Stem l-3 high, the branches and 



