384 



ORDER MALVACEAE, OR MALLOW TRIBE. 



two or even three feet high, in places where it is not cropped by 

 cattle ; its stem is covered with longish hairs, which frequently 

 spring in stellate (star-shaped) clusters ; its leaves are roundish, 

 slightly divided at their edges, and possess small scale-like 

 stipules at the base of their petioles. The sepals are five, and 

 are placed in a uniform whorl ; they are partly adherent ; and 

 on the exterior they have three bracts, so arranged as almost to 

 resemble an additional calyx. The petals are also five ; pre- 

 viously to their ex- 

 pansion they are folded 

 together in a very cu- 

 riously-contorted man- 

 ner. The stamens are 

 numerous ; and their 

 filaments adhere at 



FIG, 143. DIAGRAM OF THE FLOWER OF MALVACEAE, their lower part, SO as 



to form a tube which 



embraces the pistil. This structure is exactly what is termed, 

 in the language of the Linnaean classification, monadelphous ; 

 and the whole of this order, therefore, belongs to the Linnaean 

 class MONADELPHIA*. The anthers only possess one lobe, which 

 opens transversely. The pistil is composed of several united 

 carpels, each of which has its own style arising from its summit ; 

 the styles, like the stamens, are united at their lower part into 

 a tube. The seed-vessel is divided by complete partitions into 

 numerous cells, each of which contains one or two ovules ; and 

 when cut across in its unripe condition, the ovarium exhibits a 

 very beautiful aspect, from the regularity of the arrangement of 

 its contents. When ripe the carpels readily separate. All the 

 characters now enumerated, with the exception of the number of 

 sepals and petals, which varies from three to five in each whorl, 

 are common to nearly the whole order. 



548. The British species are not numerous ; they consist of 

 four of the genus Malva, or ordinary Mallow, two of the Althaea 

 or Marsh-mallow, and one of the Lavatera or Tree-mallow, so 

 called from its higher growth. These are remarkable for little 

 else than the quantity of thick transparent mucilage, which 



