

MALVACEAE 777 



united into a calyx-like cup with triangular teeth : calyx accrescent ; lobes lanceolate or 

 triangular-lanceolate, longer than the tube, acute or acuminate : petals yellow, 5-6 cm. 

 long, pubescent without: capsule oblong, 2.5-3 cm. long, abruptly apiculate. 

 In sandy soil, Florida Keys. Also in the West Indies. Spring to fall. 



14. KOSTELETZKYA Presl. 



Perennial herbs, or shrubby plants, with erect branching stems, and often pubescent 

 foliage. Leaves alternate : blades angularly lobed, or sometimes sagittate, petioled. 

 flowers perfect, axillary, or in terminal racemes or panicles. Involucels of 7-10 bractlets 

 or sometimes almost wanting. Sepals 5, more or less united. Petals 5, of various colors. 

 Ovary 5-celled : styles 5, slender, spreading : stigmas capitate. Ovule solitary in each 

 cavity. Capsule 5-angled, depressed, opening loculicidally. Seeds solitary in each cavity, 

 reniform. 



Folige glabrous or barely puberulent, not markedly pubescent. 1. K. smilacifolia. 

 Foliage copiously pubescent. 



Calyx canescent : leaf-blades scabro-pubescent. 2. K. Virginica. 



Calyx hirsute as well as canescent : leaf-blades velvety. 3. K. althaei/olia. 



1. Kosteletzkya smilacifolia A. Gray. Foliage nearly glabrous. Stems 0.5-1 m. 

 tall, somewhat puberulent and often slightly pubescent : leaf-blades 5-10 cm. long, those 

 above the base of the stem hastate, with a linear-lanceolate or linear entire or denticulate 

 middle lobe and linear or nearly linear reflexed entire toothed or basal lobes ; petioles 

 mostly 1-3 cm. long : calyx minutely canescent ; lobes lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, acute 

 or slightly acuminate, about as long as the bractlets : petals 2.5-3.5 cm. long : capsules his- 

 pid, about 1 cm. broad, much depressed, surpassed by the sepals : seeds glabrous or ob- 

 scurely woolly. 



In low grounds, southern peninsular Florida. Spring to fall. 



2. Kosteletzkya Virginica (L.) A. Gray. Foliage pubescent with stellate hairs 

 but not velvety, often scabrous. Stems 3-12 dm. tall, branching : leaf -blades 3-15 cm. 

 long, ovate to ovate-hastate, serrate-dentate, the lateral lobes triangular, acute : panicles 

 leafy : bractlets of the involucels linear : calyx canescent ; lobes lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute or acuminate, 6-8 mm. long : petals pink or purple, 2-4 cm. long, 

 rounded at the apex : capsules about 10 mm. broad, hirsute at maturity : seeds glabrous 

 or obscurely woolly. 



In marshes along the coast, New York to Florida and Louisiana. Spring to fall. 



3. Kosteletzkya althaeifolia (Chapm. ) A. Gray. Foliage mainly velvety pubes- 

 cent. Stems 1-2 dm. tall, hirsute, the branches ascending : leaf-blades ovate to ovate- 

 lanceolate or nearly lanceolate above, 5-15 cm. long, acuminate, irregularly dentate, the 

 lower ones angularly 3-lobed, cordate, the upper ones truncate or subcordate at the base : 

 bractlets of the involucel linear-subulate, 8-11 mm. long : calyx hirsute as well as canes- 

 cent ; lobes lanceolate, acuminate, surpassing the involucel : petals pink, about 4 cm. 

 long : capsules 12-15 mm. broad, hirsute-hispid : seeds glabrous, striate-lineolate. 



In marshes near the coast, North Carolina to Florida and Texas. Spring to fall. 

 K 



15. THESFESIA Soland. 



Shrubs or trees, resembling species of Hibiscus. Leaves alternate : blades entire or 

 merely angularly lobed, commonly ample, usually cordate, petioled. Flowers perfect, 

 showy. Involucels of 3-5 narrow deciduous bractlets. Sepals 5, more or less united, 

 commonly wholly so. Petals 5, of various colors. Ovary sessile, 5-celled : stylj^ 5, united 

 or rarely distinct : stigmas decurrent on the styles. Ovules few in each cavity. Capsule 

 firm, woody-leathery, 5-celled, loculicidally 5-valved or indehiscent. Seeds several in each 

 cavity, glabrous or pubescent. ^ 



1. Thespesia populnea (L. ) Soland. An evergreen shrub or a low tree. Leaf- 

 blades leathery, ovate, 5-12 cm. long, acute or acuminate, undulate, cordate ; petioles 

 shorter than the blades : peduncles stout, shorter than the subtending petioles : bract- 

 lets of the involucels linear, early deciduous : calyx cup-shaped, entire : petals 5-7 cm. 

 long : capsule 3-4.5 cm. wide : seeds veiny, appressed-pubescent. 



In sand, Florida Keys and throughout the tropics. 



16. CIENFUEGOSIA Cav. 



Shrubs or shrubby herbs, resembling species of Hibiscus. Leaves alternate : blades 

 entire or lobed, petioled. Involucels of 3-many narrow bractlets. Flowers perfect, soli- 



