FLAX FAMILY 193 



The Hollyhocks (Althaea rosed) (Fig. 120), mallows and 

 some other interesting ornamental plants belong to this family. 

 Most of the members of this family are grown from seeds, 

 but the hollyhocks and related forms persist from year to year. 

 The cheese (Malva rotundifolia) and the Indian mallow or vel- 

 vet weed (Abutilon abutilon) are common weeds. 



STERCULIA FAMILY (STEKCTJLIACE^E) 



The members of this family are trees or shrubs somewhat 

 similar to the Malvaceae, but the capsules are much larger and 

 are fleshy. Here we find one of the very important plants which 

 America gave to the world, the cocoa or chocolate plants 

 (Theobroma cocoa). It is tropical and was taken to Europe by 

 the Spaniards about 1520, but it was more than a hundred years 

 before its spread to England. It is now cultivated in other parts 

 of the world, but the greater part of the supply comes from trop- 

 ical America. 



FLAX FAMILY (LINAGE^) 



Herbaceous, slightly woody plants with perfect, regular 

 flowers, borne in terminal racemes or corymbs. Five sepals, oc- 

 casionally four, hypogynous ; stamens, same number as petals 

 and alternate with them ; style three to five ; ovary five to four 

 chambers with two ovules in each chamber ; fruit capsular. 



Flax (Linum usitatissimuin and L. angustifolium) is 

 one of the most important fibre plants. It is supposed to have 

 originated in some of the Mediterranean or Far East countries, 

 but its use as a fibre plant began long before the Christian Era. 

 This is a very important crop in some parts of the United States, 

 especially in Minnesota and the Dakotas. It is grown pri- 

 marily for the fibre which is used in the manufacture of linen 

 and for the seed from which the linseed oil of commerce is 

 extracted. 

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