82 



DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SHRUBS 



in the North is the extensively cultivated summer-flowering SHRUBBY 

 AI.TIIKA, usually called ' Rosi; or SIIAKOX' (50) Hibiscus sjTiacus, 

 with tapering-based more or less 3-lobed leaves. There are scores of 

 named varieties with single or double flowers of many colors, white, 

 pink, red, purple, and variegated. 



In southern California there is in cultivation another tall shrubby species 

 from Australia, (lui.i.v KDRRAJOXG or QUEENSLAND SORREL TREE Hibis- 

 cus heterophyllus, with abundant white flowers having a deep crimson 



FIG. 50. Rose of Sharon. 



FIG. 57. Swamp Rose Mallow. 



center. These flowers are large, 3 to 4 inches long, with hairy calyx and 

 capsule. The leaves are, as the name indicates, exceedingly variable in 

 form : linear, lanceolate, oblong, and with a tendency to 3-lobing in the 

 broader forms. These leaves are 5 to 6 inches long and in some varieties 

 white beneath, though usually green on both sides. 



Besides these two shrubby species, we include a tall swamp-growing 

 hardy herb, SWA MI- UOSK MALLOW (57) Hibiscus Moscheutos. Itgrows 

 3 to 7 feet high, has white or pink flowers 4 to 8 inches broad often with 

 a crimson center, in summer. The ovoid capsule is 1 inch long and remains 

 on the plant through the winter. The leaves are large, ovate, notch-edged, 

 sometimes slightly :',-lobed and almost velvety beneath. 



[Seeds ; twig cuttings.] 



