MALVACEAE. (MALLOW FAMILY.) G 



4. CLAYTON I A, L. SPRING-BEAUTY. 



Sepals 2, ovate, free, green and persistent. Stamens 5, adhering to the short 

 claws of the petals. Style 3-lobed at the apex. Pod 1-celled, 3-valved, 3-6- 

 seeded. Our two species are perennials, sending up simple stems in early 

 spring from a small deep tuber, bearing a pah- of opposite leaves, and a loose 

 raceme of pretty flowers. Corolla pale rose-color with deeper veins, opening 

 for more than one day ! (Named in honor of Clayton, one of the earliest bot- 

 anists of this country, who contributed to Gronovius the materials for the Flora 

 Virginica. ) 



1. C. Virginica, L. Leaves linear-lanceolate, elongated (3' -6' long). 

 Moist open woods ; common, especially westward and southward. 



2. C. Caroliniana, Michx. Leaves spatulate-oblong or oval-lanceo- 

 late (l'-2' long.) Vermont to Wisconsin, and southward along the Alleghanies. 



ORDER 23. MALVACEAE. (MALLOW FAMILY.) 



Herbs or shrubs, with alternate stipulate leaves and regular flowers, the 

 calyx valvate and the corolla convolute in the bud, numerous stamens mono- 

 delphous in a column, which is united at the base with the short claws of the 

 petals, 1-celled anthers, and kidney-shaped seeds. Sepals 5, united at the 

 base, persistent, often involucellate with a whorl of bractlets outside, form- 

 ing a sort of exterior calyx. Petals 5. Anthers kidney-shaped, opening 

 along the top. Pistils several, with the ovaries united in a ring, or forming 

 a several-celled pod. Seeds with little albumen : embryo large, curved, 

 the leafy cotyledons variously doubled up. Mucilaginous, innocent plants, 

 with tough bark, and palmately-veined leaves. Flower stalks with a joint, 

 axillary. 



Synopsis. 



TRIBE I. MALVE.3S. Column of stamens anther-bearing at the top. Ovaries and pods 

 (carpels) 5-20 or more, closely united in a ring around a central axis, from which they 

 separate after ripening. 



* Stigmas occupying the inner face of the styles : carpels 1-seeded, falling away separately. 



1. ALTIL3EA. Involucel of 6 to 9 bractlets. 



2. MALVA. Involucel of 3 bractlets. Petals obcordate. Carpels rounded, beakless. 



8. CALLIRRHOE. Involucel of 3 bractlets or none. Petals truncate. Carpels beaked, 

 4. NAPJEA. Involucel none. Flowers dioecious. Stamens few. 



* * Stigmas terminal, capitate : carpels 1 - few-seeded, opening before they fall away. 

 6. SIDA. Involucel none. Carpels or cells 1-seeded. Seed pendulous. 



6. ABUTILON. Involucel none. Carpels or cells 3 - several-seeded. 



7. MODIOLA. Involucel of 3 bractlets. Carpels 2-seeded, and with a transverse partition 



between the seeds. 



TRIBE H. HIBISCE^E. Column of stamens anther-bearing for a considerable part of 

 its length, naked and 5-toothed at the very apex. Pod mostly 5-ceUed, loculicidal, leav- 

 ing scarcely any axis in the centre after opening. 



8. KOSTELETZKYA. Involucel of several bractlets Pod 5-celled, 5-seeded. 



9. HIBISCUS Involucel of many bractlets. Calyx persistent. Pod 5-clled, many -seeded. 



