<;o THALAMIFLOR^E 



species this mucilage, extracted by boiling the plant, especially the 

 root, is employed medicinally in allaying irritation, both external 

 and internal. Some few are used as food. The bark of others 

 affords an excellent substitute for hemp. The cotton of commerce 

 is obtained from the appendage of the seeds of several species of 

 Gossypium, a family belonging to this Order. As ornamental gar- 

 den flowers, Malope, several species of Hibiscus, and the Hollyhock 

 are well known. The number of stove species in cultivation is very 

 great. 



i. Malva (Mallow). Styles numerous ; bracts of involucre en- 

 closing calyx 3 ; the true calyx 5-cleft. (Name from the Greek, 

 malache, soft, from the emollient properties of the mucilage which 

 it contains.) 



2. Lav ater a (Tree Mallow). Styles numerous ; bracts of involucre 

 3, joined at the base ; the true calyx 5-cleft. (Named in honour of 

 the two Lavaters, friends of Tournefort.) 



3. Althaea (Marsh Mallow). Styles numerous ; involucre with 

 6-9 bracts. (Name from the Greek, altho, to cure, from its healing 

 properties.) 



1. Malva (Mallow) 



1. M. rotundifolia (Dwarf Mallow). Stem prostrate ; leaves 

 roundish, heart-shaped, with 5 shallow lobes ; fruit-stalks bent 

 down ; fruit downy ; distinguished by its prostrate stems and 

 clusters of small, pale lilac axillary flowers. Waste places, not 

 uncommon. Fl. June to September. Annual. 



2. M. sylvestris (Common Mallow). Stem ascending or erect ; 

 root-leaves kidney-shaped with 7 acute lobes ; fruit-stalks erect ; 

 fruit not downy, wrinkled. A robust herbaceous plant 1-3 feet high, 

 with large downy, lobed, but not deeply divided leaves, branched 

 stems, and clusters of showy purple axillary flowers. When the 

 flowers first expand the plant is handsome, but as the season ad- 

 vances the leaves lose their deep green hue and the stems put on a 

 ragged appearance. Roadsides and waste ground, common. 

 Fl. June to August. Biennial. 



3. M. moschata (Musk Mallow). Stem erect, 12-18 inches high ; 

 root-leaves kidney-shaped, deeply 5 or 7-lobed, and cut ; stem-leaves 

 deeply 5-lobed, and variously cut into numerous narrow segments ; 

 bracts of the involucre very narrow ; fruit hairy. Whole plant 

 hairy, light green, with large handsome rose-coloured flowers, which 

 are crowded towards the summit of the stem ; the foliage emits a 

 faint musky odour, especially in hot weather ; a white variety is 

 not uncommon in gardens. Hedges and borders of fields, not very 

 common. Fl. July, August. Perennial. 



