MALLOW FAMILY. Malvaceae. 



A tall perennial with stout shrublike 



Swamp Rose- s t e ms and large showy flowers. The leaves 



mallow ,. . . , . ' 



Hibiscus olive green, bright above and densely 



Moscheutos white woolly beneath ; ovate pointed and 

 Pale pink or indistinctly toothed, with long stalks ; the 



lower leaves three-lobed. Flowers 4-6 

 September inches across, with five broad petals con- 



spicuously veined, pale crimson-pink or 

 white, with or without a crimson base. The flowers are 

 borne singly or in scant clusters ; they show a strong 

 family resemblance to the hollyhock. 4-6 feet high. 

 The most frequent visitors of the genus Hibiscus are the 

 honeybees and bumblebees. In marshes near the coast, 

 and in brackish water near saline springs in the interior, 

 from eastern Mass., south, and west to 111. and Mo., 

 especially near the shores of lakes. 



A similar but smooth species with the 



same period of bloom. The upper leaves 

 leaved Rose- 

 mallow often halberd-shaped, i. e., like an arrow- 



Hibiscus head with conspicuous flanges, the lower 



militaris a i so halberd-shaped or plainly three-lobed. 



Totor Pln The flowers flesh P ink ' sometimes with a 



dark magenta centre ; 2-3 inches broad. 

 Stem 2-5 feet high. On the banks of rivers and small 

 streams from Pa., south, and west to Minn, and Neb. 



A species adventive from southern Eu- 

 rope, with a singular and beautiful 

 Hibiscus inflated calyx, resembling spun glass, five- 



Trionum angled, roundish, and hairy. An annual 



Sulphur often escaping from gardens, with hand- 



some, large pure yellow, or sulphur-col- 

 ored flowers, with a black-purplish centre, that quickly 

 fade ; hence called Flower-of-an-hour. The leaves deeply 

 cut, with 3-7 lobes. 1-2 feet high. Near dwellings from 

 New Eng., south, and west to Neb. 



A handsome southern species, with 



Hibiscus large, deep red-scariet flowers over six 



coccineus , , , , , , , , , 



Red=scarlet inches broad, and deeply cleft leaves. 

 Common in cultivation. 4-7 feet high. 

 In deep marshes near the coast from S. Car., south. 



266 



