COMMON OR MARSH MALLOW 177 



As with Marsh Mallow, the flowers are proterandrous, the anthers 

 ripening first, large and conspicuous, and visitors are numerous. There 

 are honey-glands at the base of the stamens or petals not fully pro- 

 tected. In the centre of the young flower a group of anthers surround 

 the still unripe stigmas folded together, arranged in a cone-like form. 

 The stigmas afterwards lengthen and project in the place of the 

 stamens, and branch outwards to avoid self-pollination. The anthers 

 after opening also droop. 

 The honey is protected 

 above from rain by hairs, 

 which cause insects to wipe 

 the pollen off on the anthers 

 in young flowers to apply it 

 to the stigma in older flowers. 



Before the stigmas are 

 ripe, the ends of the anther- 

 stalks curl outwards and 

 downwards, and this pre- 

 vents self-pollination. The 

 visitors are Hymenoptera, 

 Apidae, Ichneumonidse; Dip- 

 tera, Stratiomyidae, Syr- 

 phidse; Lepidoptera, Pieris 

 rapa ; Coleoptera, Haltica. 

 A bee, Che list oma nigricorne, 

 is a pollen-seeker. 



The fruits are dispersed 

 by the plant's own agency. 

 The capsule is a typical 



SchizOCarp, and Consists of COMMON OR MARSH MALLOW (Malva sytoestrfs, L.) 



numerous carpels which 



break up when ripe, and are dispersed around the plant, the single 



seeds remaining in the carpels. 



This is a sand-loving plant, and subsists on a sand soil, and grows 

 where it is barren and no other plants can compete with it. 



A fungus, Puccinia malvacearum, infests it, as it does the Holly- 

 hock. The beetles, Trachys pygmaa, Lixus paraplecticus, Apion 

 malvce, Podagrica fiircicornis ; a moth, Acontia Solaris, feed on it. 



The name sylvestris refers to its supposed woodland habitat. It is 

 called Bread -and -Cheese, Cheese-cake, Cheese Log, Cheese-flower, 

 Chock-cheese, Chucky-cheese, Custard Cheeses, Dock, Frog-cheese, 



VOL. IV. 58 



Plioto. J. H. Crabtr 



