MALVACEAE. (MALLOW FAMILY.) 97 



Tribe I. MALTESE. Columns of stamens anther-hearing at the top. Ovaries and 

 carpels 5 - 20 or more, closely united in a ring around a central axis, from which they 

 separate after ripening. 



* Stigmas occupying the inner face of the styles ; carpels 1-seeded, falling away separately. 



1 . Althaea. Involucel of 6 to 9 bractlets. 



2. Malva. Involucel of 3 bractlets. Petals obcordate. Carpels rounded, beakless. 



3. Callirrhoe. Involucel of 1 - 3 bractlets or none. Petals truncate. Carpels beaked. 



4. Napsea. Involucel none Flowers dioecious. Stamens few (15 - 20). Carpels beakless. 



* * Stigmas terminal, capitate ; carpels 1 - few-seeded, usually dehiscent. 



5. Mai vast rum Involucel of 3 bractlets or none. Seed solitary, filling the cell, ascending. 



6. Sida. Involucel none. Seed solitary in the cells, pendulous. 



7. Sphseralcea. Bractlets 3. Seeds 2 or 3 in each cell. 



8. Abutilon. Involucel none. Seeds 3 - 9 in each cell. 



0. Modiola. Bractlets 3. Seeds 2 in each cell, with a transverse partition between them. 

 Tribe II. HIBISCE^E. Column of stamens anther-bearing for a considerable part of 



its length, naked and 5-toothed at the very apex. Pod mostly 5-celled, loculicidal, 



leaving scarcely any axis in the centre after opening. 



10. Kosteletzkya. Involucel of several bractlets. Pod 5-celled, 5-seeded. 



11. Hibiscus. Involucel of many bractlets. Pod 5-celled, many-seeded. 



1. ALTHJEA, L. MARSH-MALLOW. 



Calyx surrounded by a 6 - 9-cleft involucel. Otherwise as in Malva. (Old 

 Greek and Latin name, from &\6u, to cure, in allusion to its healing properties.) 



A. OFFICINALIS, L. (MARSH-MALLOW.) Stem erect, 2-4 high; leaves 

 ovate or slightly heart-shaped, toothed, sometimes 3-lobed, velvety -downy ; 

 peduncles axillary, many-flowered; flowers pale rose-color. Salt marshes, 

 coast of N. Eng. and N. Y. Aug., Sept. Perennial root thick, abounding 

 in mucilage, the basis of the Pates de Guimauve. (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. MALVA, L. MALLOW. 



Calyx with a 3-leaved involucel at the base, like an outer calyx. Petals ob- 

 cordate. Styles numerous, stigmatic down the inner side. Fruit depressed, 

 separating at maturity into as many 1-seeded and indehiscent round kidney- 

 shaped blunt carpels as there are styles. Radicle pointing downward. (An 

 old Latin name, from the Greek name, /*aAcix>7, having allusion to the emol- 

 lient leaves.) 



* Flowers fascicled in the axils. 



M. ROTUNDir6LiA, L. (COMMON MALLOW.) Stems procumbent from a 

 deep biennial root ; leaves round-heart-shaped, on very long petioles, crenate, 

 obscurely-lobed ; petals twice the length of the calyx, whitish ; carpels pubes- 

 cent, even. Waysides and cultivated grounds ; common. (Nat. from Eu.) 



M? SYLVESTRIS, L. (HIGH M.) Biennial ; stem erect, branched (2 - 3 

 high) ; leaves sharply 5 - 7-lobed ; petals thrice the length of the calyx, large, 

 purple and rose-color ; carpels wrinkled-veiny. Waysides. (Adv. from Eu.) 



M. CRfspA, L. (CURLED M.) A tall, erect annual, with round and angled 

 toothed and crisped leaves, and small sessile jlowers crowded in the axils. 

 Sparingly escaped from old gardens. (Adv. from Eu.) 



* * Flowers only in the upper axils, somewhat racemose or paniculate. 



M. MOSCHATA, L. (MusK M.) A low perennial, with the stem-leaves 

 5-parted, and the divisions once or twice parted or cleft into linear lobes, faintly 

 musky-scented, the jlowers rose-color or white ( 1 \' in diameter) on short pe- 

 duncles crowded on' the stem and branches, the fruit downy. Escaped from 

 gardens to waysides. (Adv. from Eu.) 



