A GUIDE TO THE WILD FLOWERS 113 



Flowers 4-7 in. broad Rose-mallow no. 323 



Plants mostly less than 2 ft. tall 

 Plants prostrate or nearly so 



Flowers purple-yellow ; leaves divided Modesty no. 324 



Flowers pale blue ; leaves toothed but not divided 



Cheeses no. 325 



Plants erect 



Flowers pink or white ; leaves much cut 



Musk Mallow no. 326 



Flowers reddish-purple ; leaves merely lobed 



High Mallow no. ZV 



See also no. 330. 



322. Marsh-mallow. Althaea officinalis. An erect perennial 

 23^-4 ft. high, covered on all its parts with a dense velvety 

 hairiness. Leaves somewhat 3-lobed, the margins finely 

 toothed. Flowers often solitary among the leaves, or in few- 

 flowered terminal clusters. Petals separate almost to the base, 

 more or less spreading, the flower i-i^ in broad, pink. Be- 

 low the calyx is a series of 6-9 linear bracts. August. In salt 

 marshes and saline situations. Mass., Conn., and N. Y., also 

 in Penn. and Michigan. Much less common than 



323. Rose-mallow. Hibiscus Moschcutos. A stout salt marsh 

 herb, sometimes in fresh water meadows, 4-7 ft. tall, with an 

 almost woody stem. Leaves broadly oval, pointed at the tip 

 and rounded at the base, green above and pale and velvety 

 beneath, 3-7 in. long and stalked. Flowers 4-7 in. in diame- 

 ter, white, or pink, or white with a crimson eye. August. 

 Mass. to Florida and Louisiana, and in saline situations in 

 the interior. Fig. 323. A related species, H militaris, with 

 pink, darker eyed, flowers, and 3-lobed leaves is found along 

 fresh water streams from Penn. to Florida, and westward. 



324. Modesty. Hibiscus Trionum, A nearly prostrate hairy 

 ])lant with stalked 3-lobed, or even more divided leaves, the 

 segments toothed. Flowers 1-23/2 in. wide, purplish-yellow, 

 solitary at each of the upper leaves, fading in a few hours. 

 Calyx somewhat inflated, prominently veined and hairy, 

 longer than the linear bracts below it. August. In waste 

 ])laces. Nova Scotia to Florida, and westward. Native of 

 southern Europe. 



325. Cheeses. Malva roiundifolia. A prostrate plant, very 

 common in waste places and fields, with long-stalked round- 



