Tkcspesia.] xxvi. MALVACEAE. (Maxwell T. Masters.) 345 



13. THESFESZA, Corr. 



Tall trees or shrubs. Leaves entire or lobed. Inflorescence axillary. 

 Bracteoles 5-8, arising from the thickened end of the peduncle, deciduous. 

 Calyx truncate, minutely 5-toothed or 5-parted. Corolla convolute. Staminal- 

 tube 5-toothed at the apex. Ovary 4-5-celled ; style club-shaped, 5-lurrowed, 

 entire or 5-toothed ; ovules few in each cell. Capsule loculicidal or scarcely 

 dehiscent. Seeds glabrous - or tomentose ; cotyledons conduplicate, black- 

 dotted. A genus of few species, natives of tropical Asia, Madagascar, and 

 the islands of the Pacific. 



1. T. Xiampas, Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 19; subarboreous,- herbaceous 

 portions downy, leaves palmately lobed. Hibiscus Lampas, Uav. Diss. iii. 

 154, t. 56, f. 2 ; DC. Prodr. i. 447 ; Roxb. FL Ind. iii. 197 ; Wight Ic. t. 5 ; 

 W. & A. Prodr. i. 48 ; Wall. Cat. 1889, 1 to 4 & E to I. Thwaites Enum. 26 ; 

 Miq. FL Ind. Bat. i. pt. 2, 153. H. tetralocularis, Roxb. Fl. Ind. iii. 198. 

 Azanza Lampas, Alefeld in Bot. Zeit. 1861, 297. H. gangeticus, Roxb. Ic. 

 ined. and Heyne in Herb. Paritium gangeticum, Don, Gen. Syst. i. 485. 



TROPICAL HIMALAYA, alt. 1-4000 ft., from Kumaon eastwards ; BENGAL, the WESTERN 

 PENINSULA, BIRMA, and CEYLON. DISTRIB. Java, East Tropical Africa. 



Arborescent, not prickly. Leaves 5 in. diam., cordate, 3-lobed, lobes spreading, acu- 

 minate, sparingly stellate, pilose above, tomentose beneath, midrib with a glandular 

 pore at the base beneath ; petioles 2| in., downy. Stipules subulate. Peduncles axil- 

 lary or terminal, panicled, 3-flowtred. Bracteoles 4-8, subulate, deciduous. Calyx of 

 5 subulate sepals connate below the middle. Corolla campanulate, yellow with a 

 crimson centre. Capsule ovoid, pointed, villous, 5- rarely 4-valved, valves hispid gla- 

 brescent. Seeds glabrescent. 



'" 2. T. populnea, Corr. in Ann. Mus. ix. p. 290 ; arboreous, herbaceous 

 portions covered with peltate scales, leaves entire ovate acute or acuminate. 

 Cav. Diss. iii. 152, t. 56, f. 1; DC. Prodr. i. 456; W. & A. Prodr. i. 54; 

 Wig/it Ic. t. 8; Thwaites Enum. 27 ; Beddome FL Sylvat. t. 63; Dah. & Gibs. 

 Bomb. FL 18 ; Wall. Cat. 1888, 1, 2, & C to H. Miq. FL Ind. Bat. i. pt. 2, 

 150. Hibiscus populneus, L. ; Roxb. Hort. Beng. 51 ; Flor. Ind. iii. 190. 

 H. populneoides, Roxb. I.e. Malvaviscus populneus, Gcertn. Fruct. ii. 253, 

 t. 135. Azanza acuminata, Alefeld Bot. Zeit. 1861, 299Rheede Hort. Mai. 

 i. 29. 



Tropical shores of BENGAL, CEYLON, and both PENINSULAS. DISTRIB. Tropical Asia, 

 the Pacific islands, and Africa. 



A small tree. Leaves 3 in. diam., cordate, roundish, acuminate, quite entire. 5-7- 

 nerved, with a glandular pore beneath between the nerves ; petiole 2^ in. Peduncle 

 axillary, shorter than the petiole. Bracteoles obsolete or 5,' oblong-lanceolate, deci- 

 duous, as long as the cup-shaped 5-toothed calyx. Corolla 23 in. diam. Stominal- 

 title toothed at the top ; filaments ascending. Capsule 1^ in., oblong, depressed, scaly, 

 ultimatel vvglabrescent. Seeds pilose or powdery on the surface. The characters assigned 

 by Roxburgh to Hi: iscus populneoides are not sufficient, as on the same specimen acute 

 and acuminate, glandular and izlandless leaves may be seen, and the characters of the 

 capsule appear equally invalid. Roxburgh describes the integument of the capsule 

 in H. populneoides as double, " the exterior one, which is fragile and composed of five 

 valves, opens from the apex spontaneously when ripe, exposing the inner lamina, which 

 is remarkably strong, tough, reticulated with fibres and not opening without consider- 

 able force;" whereas in H. populneus the integument "is single, and can be easily 

 broken by the pressure of the thumb and finger." 



