CLASSIFICATION OF ANGIOSPERMS. 6ii 



the seeds they are smooth. (2) G. arboreiim has purplish-red 

 flowers, yields a particularly white cotton, and is cultivated in 

 Egypt, Arabia and India. (3) G. herhaceum is distinguislied by 

 Its broadly lobed leaves and yellowish flowers. This plant has 

 been cultivated for over 26 centuries in Arabia and the East 

 Indies, and since 1774 in the United States. Of this latter species 

 there are a number of cultivated varieties. The bark of the root 

 constitutes the cotton-root bark of medicine. 



The seeds of the genus Gossypium contain a large percentage 

 of fixed oil, which is obtained by expression and is official as 

 Cotton seed oil. The residue is known as cotton seed oil-cake, 

 and contains a considerable amount of proteins with a small quan- 

 tity of fixed oil and a poisonous principle, gossypol. The acetate 

 of gossypol is toxic in the dose of 0.24 Gm. per kilo of weight of 

 live rabbit (Withers and Carruth, Jour. Aqric Research 1915 

 v., p. 261). 



The flowers of some of the members of the Malvaceae contain 

 coloring principles, and have been used for dyeing, as Hollyhock 

 (Althcra rosea) and Mallow {Malva sylvestris). Musk seed or 

 Amber seed, which is used in perfumery as a substitute for musk, 

 is obtained from Ahelmoschus moschatus indigenous to the East 

 Indies and now cultivated in other tropical countries. Malva mos- 

 chata also has the odor of musk, and is found in Aliddle and 

 Southern Europe. 



Saponin is found in the roots of Sida jamaicensis and Hibiscus 

 Sabdarijfa of the East and West Indies; Sida paniculata of Peru 

 is used as an anthelmintic and the action is supposed to be due 

 to the glandular hairs. The seeds of several members of this 

 family are used as substitutes for cofl:'ee, as Abutilon niuticum of 

 Egypt, and Okra or Gumbo (Hibiscus esculentus). The leaves 

 of Sida canariemis and S. retusa, the latter of India, have been 

 substituted for tea leaves. The fruits of several of the members 

 of this family are edible, as Hibiscus esculentus, which yields the 

 vegetable okra, and H. ficulneus of Ceylon and Egypt, which are 

 used like beans. 



Fibers are obtained from a number of the other members of 

 this family, as the bast fibers of Hibiscus tiliaceus of the Tropics, 

 H. cannabinus of the East Indies, Urena lobata, Abutilon indicum, 



