M A L 



M A L 



.ire liollowed in, and the two corners rise 

 like horns, ending in a sliarp thorn, as do also 

 the indentures on the sides : the riowers come 

 out I'roni the side of the branches, upon pedun- 

 cles an inch long, each susiaming one small 

 pile biueish flower : the fruit is small, conical, 

 furrowed, changing to a purple red colour when 

 ripe. It is found in the West-Indies. 



Culture. — These plants may be increased by 

 sowinethe seeds in the spring, in pols of lightrich 

 earth, and pluni;ing them in a hot-bed. When 

 the plants have attained a few inches in growth 

 they should be planted out into separate small 

 pots, re-plmiging them in a bark hot-bed in the 

 stove, where they should remain, the two first 

 winters, being afterwards placed in a dry stove, 

 and kept in a moderate warmth, water being 

 occasionally given in smp.ll quantities. 



Thev afford ornament among collections of 

 pi mis of similar kinds. 



MALVA, a genus containing plants of the 

 herbaceous, annual, biennial, perennial, and 

 shrubby kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order MonadeJphia 

 Poli/anclria,' and ranks in the natural order of 

 ColiimniJ'frcs. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a double 

 perianthium : outer three-leaved, narrower : 

 leaflets cordate, acute, permanent : inner one- 

 leafed, half-five-cleft, larger, broader, perma- 

 nent : the corolla has five obcordate petals, 

 proeniorse, flat, fixed to the tube of the stamens 

 at the base tlie stamina have numerous fila- 

 ments, united below into a tube, seceding and 

 loose at the top and surface of it : anthers 

 kidney-form : the pistillum is an orbicular 

 germ : style cylindric, short : stigmas very 

 many, brisly, the length of the style: the pe- 

 ricarpinm is a roundish capsule, composed of 

 very manv cells, (as many as there are stigmas,) 

 two-valved, placed in a whorl about a colum- 

 nar receptacle, finally falling : the seeds are 

 solitary, very seldom two or three, kidney- 

 form . 



The species cultivated are: 1. M. spkala. 

 Spiked Mallow ; 2. M. Americana, Ameri- 

 can Mallow ; 3. M. Peruviana, Peruvian Mal- 

 low ; 4. M. Caroliniana, Creeping Mallow : 

 5. M. Orientalis, Oriental Mallow : 6. M. ver- 

 ticiilata. Whorl-flowered Mallow; 7- M. 

 crispa. Curled Mallow ; 8. M. jEg7jptia, Pal- 

 mated Mallow; 9. M. Mcea, Ve'rvain Mal- 

 low ; 10. M. moschata, Musk Mallow; 11. 

 M. Capensis, Gooseberry-leaved or Cape Mal- 

 low. 



The first has the stem pale-green, two or three 

 feet high, and branched : the leaves are almost 

 round, an inch and quarter long, and three 



quarters of an inch broad at the base, pale- 

 grccn, smooth, on petioles three quarters of an 

 inch in length : the tops of the twigs and 

 branches, for the length of an inch, are thick 

 set, in a spike with orange-coloured flowers, in 

 very hirsute calyxes. It Ts a native of Jamaica, 

 flowering in September and October. 



The second has an annual root : the stem is 

 a foot high, stiff, round, somewhat hairy: 

 branches few, short, upright, from the lowe 

 axils : the leaves scarcely tomentose : pedun- 

 cles axillary, upright, solitary, one-flowered : 

 the spike terminating, with many sessile flow- 

 ers, expanding after noon : the corolla yellow. 

 It is a native of North America, flowering in 

 June and July. 



The third is also an annual plant : the stem 

 from two to three feet high, with hairs thinly 

 scattered over it, usually in pairs : the leaves 

 seven-lobed, (five or three) plaited, smooth, 

 veined, sharply serrate, on petioles the lencth 

 of the leaf: the stipules ovate-lanceolate: the 

 peduncles long, naked : the spike directed to 

 one side, turned upwards, recurved before the 

 flowers open : the corollas small, purple. Ac- 

 cording to Jacqnin, the flowers are red : but 

 others say, pale blue, and set very closely on 

 the spikes, appearing in June. It e,rows 

 naturally in Peru. 



The fourth has an annual root : the stems 

 creeping, eighteen inches and longer, round, 

 putting out roots at the lower joints, hairv : 

 the leaves villose, soft; those next the root larg-e, 

 roundish, gash-serrate, smaller and more 

 deeply di\ided as they ascend, five-lobed and 

 seven-lobed, all on long hairy petioles, srashed 

 and serrate on the edge: the flowers are axillary 

 and terminating, on almost upright peduncles, 

 from an inch to an inch and half in lenn-th, 

 small, the colour of Burgundy wine : the claws 

 of a darker red. It is a native of Carolina. 



The fifth species is an annual plant, with an 

 upright stalk : the flov.ers are large, and of a soft 

 red-colour. According to Martyn, the stalk is 

 six feet or more in height, and the flowers 

 not purple, but dark red, with the veins so 

 dark as to be almost black. It was found in the 

 Levant. • 



The sixth has the root annual, three feet 

 high : the leaves cordate, five- or seven-anoled, 

 subcrenate, smooth, on long alternate petioles : 

 the flowers are whitish red, small, on one-flow- 

 ered peduncles. It is a native of China, and 

 Cochinchina, flowering in June and July. 



The seventh species is also annual : the stem 

 upright, four or five feet high : the leaves curled 

 on their edges : the stem thick, round, arreen 

 hirsute below, branched, from three to four 



