Hibiscus. MALVACE^. 37 



dellexed : calyx witli one or two setaceous bractlets at base, tlie lobes acuminate : 

 petals yellowish, pubescent externally, 4 to 6 lines long : fruit short-conic<'il, smooth, 

 glabrous; carpels G to 10, triangular, 1^ lines long, blunt above, attached by the 

 straight ventral edge to the slender axis. — Gray, PI. Fi'iidi. 23. Afalva hedrrdcfa^ 

 Dougl. in Hook. Fl. i. 107. M. plirata, Nutt.;" Torr. <t Gray, Fl. i. 227. .Wa (?) 

 obliqua, Nutt. 1. c. 233. 



From Oregon to Arizona and New Mexico ; dry valleys and hillsides. 



7. ABUTILON, Tonrn. 



Bractlets none. Seeds or ovules 3 to 9 in each cell. Otherwise as Sida. — Herbs 



or shrubs, usually soft-tomentose; flowers mostly axillary, often yellow. 



Species alwut 70, in the warmer region of both lieniis]ilieres ; a dozen or more on the southern 

 borders of the United States, the following scarcely entering within the limits of California. 



1. A. crispiun, Don. Very finely tomentose: branches very slender, elongated: 

 leaves cordate, acutish or acuminate, crenate, 1 to 3 inches long ; the upper small 

 and nearly sessile : flowers solitary, small, yellow, on slender axillary pedicels aa 

 long as the leaves and jointed near the top : carpels about 12, mcmliranaceous, in- 

 flated, rounded above, 2-valved to the base, 4 - 5-seeded, at length half an inch 

 long. — Gray, Gen. 111. ii. 67, t. 126. Sida crispa, Linn.; Torr. «k Gray, Fl. 

 i. 235. 



Widely distributed through the tropics, and found from Florida westwanl across the continent ; 

 CaRon Tantillaa, below San Diego, Palmer. 



2. A. Newbenyi, Watson. Somewhat woody at base, 4 to 5 feet high, densely 

 tomentose : branches short and stout : leaves thick, oblong lanceolate, cordate at 

 base, acutish, 1 to 2 inches long, on short petioles : pedicels fascicled in the axils, 

 much shorter than the leaves : flowers deep yellow, 3 lines long : carpels about 8, 

 nearly membranaceous, rounded but narrower above, 2-valved to the base, 3-seeded, 

 three lines long. — Proc. Am. Acad. xi. 125. Spkceralcea incana, Gray, Bot. lve.s 

 Colorado Exp. 8. 



In the same locality {Paliner) ; also on the Lower Gila {Einory), and at Canebrako Cafton on 

 the Lower Colorado, Newberry. 



A. PAl.MP.ni, Dray, Proc. Am. Acml. viii. 280, a tailor larger- (loworpd nnd Inrger-lcaved sjiecios, 

 of Arizona nnd Honorn, may reach California. Tlio cnlyx Ih ticnsoly villous, nearly half an inch 

 long; the deep-yellow corolla somewhat longer; carpels also hairy, ncuminato above nnd equal- 

 ling the calyx, 3 - 4-8ceded ; leaves cordate with a deep closed sinus. 



8. HIBISCUS, Linn. 

 Involucel of numerous bractlets. Stamineal column antheriferous much of it« 

 length, but naked at the summit and truncate or 5-toothed. Styles united: stigma-s 

 5, capitate. J'ruit a 5-celled loculicidal pod, the cells several seeded. — Stout herbs 

 or often shrubby, Avith large and showy axillary and solitary flowers. 



A large genus of alxjut l.'iO species, distributed around the world, mainly in tropical or sub- 

 tropical regions. Many are cultivated for ornament. Some of the spe<'ies of Northern Mexico 

 probably extend into Southeastern California, though only a single one has yet been collected. 



1. H. Californicus, Kellogg. Perennial, erect and branching, f) to 7 feet high, 

 the younger loaves and branches velvety pubescent : loaves oorilate, acuminate, 

 rarely sojnewhat 3-lobod, crenate or acutely toothed, 3 to h inches long, exceeding 

 the ])etiole3 : jieduncloa l-floworod, 2 or 3 inches long, jointed above the middle, 

 uniteil with the petiole at base: calyx 9 to 12 lines long, cleft to the middle, the 

 lobes acute ; flowers white, with a purple centre, 2 to 4 inches long : c^ipsule equal- 

 ling the calyx, acute, velvety-pubescent : seeds nearly globose, over a lino bnmd, 

 striate and roughened with small scattomd tubercles. — I'nK'. Calif. Acad. iv. 292. 



