Sidakea. MALVACEAE. 83 



An Old World genus of about 20 species, some common in cultivation in gardens, and the fol- 

 lowing indigenous upon the coast of California. 



1. L. assurgentiflora, Kellogg. Shrubby, 6 to 15 feet high, with slender 

 flexuous brandies, glabrous or sparingly stellate-pubescent : leaves cordate, angu- 

 larly 5 - 7-lobed, 3 to 6 inches broad, on long petioles, the lobes acute, coarsely 

 toothed or lobed : flowers 1 to 4 in the axils, on slender deflexed and curved pedi- 

 cels : involucel persistent, 3 lines long, half the length of the campauulate densely 

 pubescent calyx : petals purple, 1 to 1| inches long, with a broad truncate limb and 

 long narrow glabrous claws, having a pair of dense hairy tufts at base : stamineal 

 column glabrous : styles exserted : fruit half an inch broad, the 6 to 8 carpels not 

 beaked, somewhat appressed-hairy, 2 lines or more in diameter, about equalling the 

 low-conical summit of the axis. Proc. Calif. Acad. i. 11 & 14. 



Said to be native of the island of Anacapa and now frequently cultivated in the southern coun- 

 ties of the State. It is nearly allied to L. acerifolia & phcenicea of the Canary Islands. 



L. OCCIDENTALS, Watson, Proc. Am. Acad. xi. 124, of Guadalupe Island, Palmer, is a similar 

 species : flowers on short deflexed pedicels, with large and foliaceous bractlets and calyx-lobes, the 

 calyx becoming 1| inches long : petals 2 inches long, spatulate, emarginate, purplish, with a dark 

 spot in the centre, the claws glabrous at base : fruit half an inch broad or more, pubescent. 



2. MALVA, Linn. MALLOW. 



Involucel 3-leaved. Petals obcordate. Axis of the fruit broad but not project- 

 ing. Otherwise as Lavatera. Natives of the Old World, but several of the 

 species now naturalized almost everywhere. 



1. M. borealis, Wallman. Annual, erect or somewhat decumbent, hairy or 

 nearly glabrous : leaves round-cordate, crenate, more or less strongly 5 7-lobed : 

 peduncles axillary, solitary or clustered, 1 to 3 lines long : calyx-lobes acute, be- 

 coming very broad and enlarged in fruit : petals 2 or 3 lines long : carpels trans- 

 versely reticulate-rugose. 



From Europe, a common weed on the western coast from Puget Sound to Mexico ; it has also 

 been collected in New Mexico. It is readily distinguished from the biennial species M. rotundi- 

 folia, which takes its place in the Atlantic States and may appear in California, by its short 

 peduncles, smaller flowers, and rugose carpels. 



3. SIDALCEA, Gray. 



Involucel none. Stamineal column double ; the filaments of the outer series 

 united usually into 5 sets, opposite the petals. Styles filiform, stigmatic on the 

 inner surface. Carpels 5 to 9, 1-ovuled, separating at maturity from the short axis, 

 beakless, indehiscent. Seed ascending. Herbs, with rounded and mostly lobed or 

 parted leaves ; the usually purple flowers in a narrow terminal raceme or spike. 



Mainly a Californian genus, only one species of the Rocky Mountains (S. Candida, Gray) not 

 being found within the limits of the State. 



* Perennial. 



1. S. malvaeflora, Gray. Glabrous or somewhat hispid, simple or branched, 1 

 to 3 feet high : leaves on elongated petioles, orbicular to semicircular in outline ; the 

 lower more or less deeply toothed or cleft, the upper more narrowly and deeply 

 5 9-lobed or parted ; the segments sparingly toothed or divided, often linear and 

 entire : flowers in naked often elongated racemes ; bractlets small, lanceolate ; pedi- 

 cels short, naked : calyx often tomentose, the lobes acute or acuminate : petals 

 emargiuate : carpels 7 to 8, smooth and glabrous. PI. Wright, i. 16; Watson, 

 Bot. King Exp. 46. Sida malvceflora, DC. ; Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1036. Ccdlirrhoe 

 spicata, Ptegel, Gart. Fl. 1872, 291, t. 737. 



