ORDER MALVACEAE. COTTON PLANT. 385 



almost ail the green parts yield ; and on this account they are 

 thought to afford useful remedies in some pectoral complaints. 

 They do not possess, however, any active properties. It is be- 

 tween the tropics, that the most remarkable species of Malvaceae 

 abound ; and this seems to be the natural habitation of the Order, 

 since the proportional nnmber of species belonging to it in any 

 country, diminishes rapidly as we pass from the Equator to the 

 Poles. The showy Hollyhocks, now naturalised in our gardens, 

 are species of Malvaceae introduced from a warmer climate. The 

 genus Hibiscus is remarkable for the striking aspect of its 

 flowers, which are much cultivated in hot-houses in this country ; 

 their stems contain strong and tough fibres, which have been 

 used as a substitute for flax and hemp in making cordage. (It 

 is said that whips, formerly employed by slave-drivers in the 

 West Indies, were made of the plaited fibres of chis plant). The 

 unripe fruit of one species of Hibiscus, known in the East and 

 West Indies under the name of Ochro (in some places Gobbo), 

 is used, on account of the abundance of its mucilage, to thicken 

 soups. Other species of this genus contain a powerful colouring 

 principle, which gives a black stain to anything which it 

 touches ; and the leaves of a species of Althaea are said to yield 

 a blue colour not much inferior to indigo. 



549. Of all the genera of this order, however, there is none 

 so important to man as that which yields Cotton ; and it may 

 be questioned if there is any other single tribe, except the Grasses, 

 with which he would now find it more difficult to dispense. 

 Cotton is derived from several species of Gossypium, which are 

 cultivated in both the Old and New World; of no part of 

 Europe, however, are any of these species natives, though cotton 

 has been cultivated in the southern parts of Spain and Italy. 

 There is much uncertainty as to the real number of species ; as 

 the genus is one in which there is a great tendency to the pro- 

 duction of varieties. It is desirable, however, that their re- 

 spective characters should be well ascertained ; since the differ- 

 ences in their produce make the knowledge of them of great 

 importance to the cotton-planter, as this varies greatly both in 

 quantity and quality. Some yield their downy harvest twice 



