MALVACEAE (MALLOW FAMILY) 



281 



at the base. Leaves rounded or kidney-shaped, on long, slender 

 petioles, heart-shaped at base, five- to nine-ribbed and -lobed, 

 scallop-toothed, with edges often 

 crisped. Flowers pale pink, 

 veined with deeper pink, clus- 

 tered or single in the axils ; calyx- 

 lobes five, hairy, ovate, pointed, 

 about half the length of the 

 petals, which are notched at the 

 outer edge; styles many, stig- 

 matic down the inner side, longer 

 than the stamens which are 

 united in a column, the anthers 

 at the summit, the pollen grains 

 very large and white 'like pearls 

 when seen through a lens. Car- 

 pels as many as styles arranged FlG- 

 in a circle, one-seeded ; when 

 green they are mucilaginous and sweet the " cheeses " that 

 children like to eat. (Fig. 197.) 



Means of control 



Hand-pulling or deep hoe-cutting before the development of seed. 



MUSK MALLOW 

 Mdlva moschata, L. 



Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom: June to August. 



Seed-time: July to September. 



Range: Eastern Canada, New England, and Middle States. 



Habitat: Meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 



A very handsome plant, an escape from gardens, objectionable 

 in meadows and pastures, for cattle dislike its musky odor and 

 hard, woody stalks and usually leave it to reproduce itself. Stems 

 one to two feet high, slender, clothed with soft hair or sometimes 

 smooth. Base-leaves rounded, with five to nine shallow, scallop- 

 toothed lobes, slender-petioled ; stem-leaves deeply five-parted, the 



