Voi,. II.] 



MALLOW FAMILY. 



423 



i. Sphaeralcea acerifolia Nutt. 



Maple-leaved Globe-Mallow. 



(Fig. 2431.) 



Sphaeralcea acerifolia Nutt.; T. & G. Fl. N. A. 



i: 228. 1838. 

 Sphaeralcea rivularis Torr. ; A. Gray, Mem. Am. 



Acad. (1104:23. 1848. 



Perennial, erect, branched, 2-6 high, 

 finely stellate-pubescent and scabrous. Leaves 

 nearly orbicular in outline, palmately 5-7- 

 lobed or cleft, cordate, the lobes ovate or lance- 

 olate, dentate, acute, the middle one generally 

 longest; flowers pink or white, I'-i^' broad, 

 short-pedicelled, clustered in the upper axils 

 or in terminal spike-like racemes; bractlets of 

 the involucels linear, shorter than the calyx; 

 calyx-lobes triangular, acute; carpels stellate- 

 pubescent and hairy, not beaked. 



Kankakee Co., 111.; Dakota, west to Nevada 

 and British Columbia. Summer. 



9. MODIOLA Moench, Meth. 619. 1794. 



Prostrate or ascending herbs, often rooting from the nodes, with palmately cleft or di- 

 vided leaves, and small axillary peduncled red flowers. Bracts of the involucre 3, distinct. 

 Calyx 5-cleft. Stamen-column anther-bearing at the apex. Cavities of the ovary oo, 2-3- 

 ovuled. Style-branches stigmatic at the summit; carpels 15-20, septate between the seeds, 

 dehiscent into 2 valves with awn-pointed tips, and aristate on the back. [Latin, from the 

 likeness of the fruit to the small Roman measure, modiolus. ] 



A monotypic genus of warm and temperate America and South Africa. 



i. Modiola Caroliniana (I,.) Don. 

 Bristly-fruited Mallow. (Fig. 2432.) 



Malva Caroliniana L. Sp. PI. 688. 1753. 

 Modiola multiftda Moench, Meth. 620. 1791. 

 Modiola Caroliniana Don, Gen. Hist. PI. 1:466. 



1831. 



Decumbent, annual or biennial, more or less 

 pubescent, freely branching; stems 6 / -i8 / long. 

 Leaves nearly orbicular in outline, ^ / -2^ / wide, 

 petioled, pedately 3-5-cleft, the lobes dentate or in- 

 cised; leaves sometimes simply dentate; flowers 

 axillary, solitary, 3 // -5 // broad, red; peduncles at 

 length elongated, slender; fruit depressed-orbicular, 

 the carpels hispid-aristate along the back. 



In low grounds, Virginia to Florida, west to Texas, 

 and in Central and South America. The same species 

 apparently occurs in South Africa. Summer. 



10. KOSTELETZKYA Presl, Rel. Haenk. 2: 130. pi. 70. 1836. 



Perennial, scabrous or pubescent herbs or shrubs, with hastate or angular leaves, and 

 showy, axillary or paniculate flowers. Bractlets of the involucels several, linear. Calyx 5- 

 toothed or 5-cleft. Stamen-column entire, or 5-toothed at the summit, anther-bearing be- 

 low for nearly its entire length. Ovary 5-celled, the cells i-ovuled; style-branches of the 

 same number, stigmatic at the capitate summits. Capsule depressed, 5-angled. Seeds reni- 

 form, ascending. [Named in honor of V. F. Kosteletzky, a botanist of Bohemia.] 



About 6 species, natives of warm and temperate America. In addition to the following, 2 

 others occur in the southern and southwestern United States. 



