])lt WRIGHT'S HERBARIA. ^89 



J 11. Achania malvaviscus, Sw. — Hal Mahoe- 



This shrub grows, in copses and shady places, to nine or 

 ten feet high, sometimes more. The trunk is brown in the 

 young trees, and grey in the old ; it is seldom more than two 

 inches in diameter. The leaves are broad, and of a lively 

 green colour. The blossoms are of a beautiful crimson, and 

 the five petals lap over each other, agreeable to the mo- 

 tion of the sun. These petals never expand, but are con- 

 tracted round the stamina, which project a good way above. 



The berry is red, and of the bulk of a small cherry; ^when 

 dry, it opens in sundry compartments, and contains many 

 heartshaped seeds. 



The bark of the young trees makes a fine, white, and very- 

 strong hemp. 



112. Hibiscus mutabilis, L. — Changeable Rose. 



This shrub is cultivated in gardens. The trunk is woody 

 and knotty ; the leaves broad, and of a light-green colour. 

 The blossoms are large like a rose ; and, what is remarkable, 

 these flowers change from white to red, and from red to white, 

 two or three times in twenty-four hours. The plant after- 

 wards bears a round hairy pod, full of small seeds. 



The bark of this, like others of the same class, yields hemp 

 or flax, but the knots of the bark make it good for nothing. 



113. Hibiscus mosciieutos, L. — Musk-Seed, or Wild-Okra. 



This grows wild^in fields and copses. The stem is some- 

 times four feet high, and is thick set with hairy prickles ; so 

 are also the dark green leaves, which resemble okra. 



The pods are full of black seeds, which, when rubbed in 



