MALVACEAE. 271 



1. Malache scabra B. Vogel; Trew, PI. Sel. 50. 1772. 



Pavonia spicata Cav. Diss. 3: 136. 1787. 



Pavonia racemosa Sw. Fl. Ind. Occ. 2: 1215. 1800. 



An erect, usually little-branched shrub, 1-5 m. high, the branches and 

 inflorescence densely roughish-pubescent. Leaves ovate to oblong-ovate, firm 

 in texture, 5-15 cm. long, palmately veined, repand-dentate or entire, acuminate 

 at the apex, subcorda'te or rounded at the base, the petioles 3-6 cm. long; 

 racemes loosely several-flowered; pedicels ascending, 2-5 cm. long; involucel- 

 bractlets oblong-lanceolate, a.bout 1 cm. long; calyx as long as or a little 

 longer than the bractlets, its lobes ovate, acute; petals yellowish, about twice 

 as long as the calyx, finely pubescent, longer than the stamen-column; carpels 

 somewhat shorter than the calyx, with 2 short blunt beaks on the upper margins 

 and a short terminal crest. 



Borders of mangrove swamps, Andros at Conch Sound : Florida ; Cuba to Porto 

 Rico and Trinidad ; Jamaica ; coasts of tropical continental America. SWAMP BUSH. 



2. Malache bahamensis (Hitchc.) Britton & Millspaugh. 



Pavonia bahamensis Hitchc. Eep. Mo. Bot. Gard. 4: 63. 1893. 

 Malvaviscus Cokeri Britton; Coker in Shattuck, Bahama Islands, 259. 1905. 



A shrub, or small tree, up to 4 m. high, with round glabrous branchlets. 

 Leaves ovate or nearly orbicular, acuminate, cordate, thin, 7-nerved, entire or 

 slightly repand, the upper surface glabrous but papillose, the under side gla- 

 brous except for tufts of hairs in the axils of the principal veins, and a few 

 scattered ones on the veins, the blades 4-7 cm. long, 3-6 cm. wide, the petioles 

 slender, 1.5-2.5 cm. long; peduncles slender, puberulent, 2 or 3 times as long 

 as the petioles; involucrel-bractlets narrowly linear, acuminate, glabrous, 1 cm. 

 long, 1.5 mm. wide, about as long as the calyx; calyx-lobes triangular-ovate, 

 acuminate, about one-half as long as the tube, woolly within; petals about 2 cm. 

 long; stamen-column 3 cm. long or more; carpels with 2 compressed rounded 

 terminal lobes and a central crest. 



Rocky coastal thickets, Watling's Island, Crooked Island, Fortune Island, Ack- 

 lin's Island and Pine Cay (Caicos). Endemic. BAHAMA SWAMP-BUSH. 



9. MALVAVISCUS Dill.; Adans. Fam. PI. 2: 399. 1763. 



Shrubs or small trees, with broad usually dentate or lobed, petioled leaves, 

 and red flowers. Involucel of several narrow bractlets. Calyx 5-cleft. Petals 

 erect-connivent. Stamen-column truncate or 5-toothed, bearing numerous 

 stamens. Ovary 5-celled; ovules 1 in each cavity; style-branches 10, stigmatic 

 at the capitate summit. Fruit baccate, the indehiscent carpels finally separat- 

 ing. [Latin-Greek, similar to Malva.] About 10 species of tropical America. 

 Type species: Hibiscus Malvaviscus L. 



1. Malvaviscus Sagraeanus A. Rich, in Sagra, Hist. Cub. 10 : 46. 1845. 

 Malvaviscus arboreus Sagraeanus Griseb. Fl. Br. W. I. 83. 1859. 



A branching shrub, 2-4 m. high, the twigs finely pubescent or glabrate, 

 slender. Leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate, irregularly crenate, sometimes 3- 

 lobed, 5-15 cm. long, acuminate at the apex, rounded or subcordate at the base, 

 glabrous, or with a few scattered hairs, the slender pubescent petioles shorter 

 than the blades; involucel-bractlets linear-spatulate, 8-10 mm. long, about as 

 long as the calyx, glabrous or pubescent; corolla red to scarlet, about 2 cm. 

 long; fruit depressed-globose, about 1 cm. in diameter. 



Scrub-lands of Abaco and Great Bahama : Cuba. SACRA'S MALVAVISCUS. 



