194 XXV. MALVACEAE (masters). {Kosteletzl'ya. 



1. K. adoensis, HocJist. ex Walp. Ann. ii. 143. A large herb or 

 underslirub, with erect, rod-like branches, traversed by a line of hairs along- 

 one side, and which shifts at every joint to the opposite side. Leaves on long 

 stalks, roundish, cordate, acuminate, 3-nerved, sometimes 3-cuspidate, coarsely 

 serrate, slightly hairy. Stipules linear, ciliolate. Peduncles very slender, 

 branched, scarcely so long as the petioles. Bractlets 7-10, linear-lanceolate, 

 hairy. Calyx longer than the epicalyx, 5-lobed, its lobes oval-lanceolate, 

 ciliate. Corolla yellow uith a purple centre, twice tbe size of the calyx. 

 Capsule hispid, depressed, pentagonal, deeply furrowed, dehiscing at the 

 salient angles^, 5-celled, 5-seeded. Seeds flat. — Hibiscus ternijlorus, Garcke 

 in Bot. Zeit. vii. 833. 



Nile Ijand. Sennar, Heughlin ; Abyssinia, Salt ! Pearce ! Sckirnper ! Dillon and 

 Petit ! 



Mozamb. Distr. Island of Zanzibar, Bouton ! 



Garcke, in Scbweinfurth's ' Beitrage,' mentions, under the var. hispid issitn a, a form of 

 this species covered with long spreading hairs, which I have not seen. 



10. SENRA, Cav. ; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. 207. 



Bractlets 3, large, cordate, ultimately membranous. Calyx short, 5- 

 toothed. Ovary 5-celled with 2 ovules in each cell. Styles 5, dilated above, 

 ol)liquely truj[icated at the top. Capsule loculicidal. Seeds solitary in each 

 cell by abortion, reniform, ascending, pubescent or villose. — An undershrub 

 covered with fine down. Flowers yellow or purple. — Serrcea (errore), Cav. 

 1. c. Dumreichtra, Steud. and Hochst. in PL Schimp. Abyss. 



1. S. incana, Cav. Diss. ii. 83. t. 35./. 3; DC. Prod. i. 457. A 

 much-branched undershrub, its herbaceous portions covered with soft down. 

 Leaves on long stalks, roundish, cordate, palmately 3-5-lobed, denticulate. 

 Stipules fugitive, setaceous, tomentose. Peduncles solitary, axillary, con- 

 tinuous, not jointed, sometimes crowded in lotig, terminal or axillary, erect, 

 leafy racemes. Epicalyx of 3 oval, cordate, membranous, palminerved leaf- 

 lets. Calyx bell-shaped, 5-fid, its segments equal, lanceolate-acute, submera- 

 branous. Petals wedge-shaped, obovate, oblique, violet below% yellow above, 

 or all violet, shorter than the involucre, but double the size of the calyx. 

 Style 5-fid. Ovary 5-furrowed, 5-celled, with 2 ovules attached to the inner 

 angle of each cell. Capsule ovoid, roundish, reticulate, membranous, locu- 

 licidally 5-valved, the valves opposite to the calyx-lobes, their margins 

 slightly winged. Seeds solitary by abortion, spotted with black dots and 

 pilose. — Decaisne in Ann. Sc. Nat. Ser. 2. t. iv. 70. t. 4. S. araOica, 

 Webb, Prag. Fl. vEthiop. 48. S. nubica, Webb, 1. c. 



Nile Land. Kordofan, Kotschy ! kh'^'s^rnxSi^Ehrenberg ; Sennar, Duke of Wiirtemberg. 

 This singular plant is also a native of Arabia and Scinde. The variations in the size of 

 the calyx and bractlets are too incoustant to be considered of specific in)portauce. 



11. HIBISCUS, Medik; Benth. et Hook. f. Gen. PI. i. 207. 



Epicalyx of 5 or more distinct or more or less connate bractlets. Calyx 

 5-lobed or toothed. Staminal column truncate or 5 -toothed at the summit. 

 Ovary 5-celled with 3 or more ovules in each cell. Style simple below, divid- 



