S36 THE MALLOW FAMILY. 



umn surrounding the style. Carpels : five, depressed, very rough, hairy and con- 

 taining one seed in each cell. Leaves: those on the lower ])art of the stem ovate, 

 pointed at the apex and cordate at the base ; those at the upper part mostly 

 hastate, lobed near the base ; unequally dentate ; rough and pubescent on both 

 sides. Stem: erect, stout, branched, roughly pubescent. 



Especially in the swamps near Wilmington, North Carolina, where is 

 clustered such a wealth of flowers, does this plant with its delicate pink 

 blossoms grow in great luxury. Were it not for the difference in their cap- 

 sules it might readily pass for a Hibiscus, so like is it to them in general 

 characteristics. 



SCARLET HIBISCUS. 



Hibiscus coccineus. 



Flcnue7-s : large ; very showy; often six to eight inches in diameter ; solitary, or a 

 few growing in a terminal cluster. Calyx : with five long, ovate, pointed sepals, 

 and having underneath a row of twelve linear-pointed bracts. Corolla : with five, 

 broadly-obovate, long-clawed petals, rounded at their apices and becoming deep 

 magenta at the base where they are slightly ciliate. Stamens : numerous ; mono- 

 delphous, forming a column-like formation about the style, from all sides of which 

 the anthers are borne near the summit. Style : one, with four divisions above the 

 column. Capsule: globose, or oblong; five-celled, containing many pubescent 

 seeds. Leaves : with long, smooth petioles, ovate, and palmately divided into 

 three to five linear-lanceolate segments, pointed at their apices and remotely 

 toothed; glabrous. Stem : four to eight feet high; smooth; glabrous. 



In deep, almost inaccessible marshes near the coast and raising itself 

 higher than rushes, tall and thrifty, there opens to the sun in late summer 

 the great glorious bloom of the scarlet hibiscus. Like a small ball of fire it 

 then appears from afar as surrounded by an intense greenness, and pro- 

 duces in fact a startling tropical effect wherever it grows. Even more beau- 

 tiful it is through the brilliancy of its colour than the better known rose 

 mallow. Hibiscus Moscheutos. 



H. grandiflbrus, the great flowered member of the genus, is often crowned 

 wuth blossoms as wide as twelve inches. They are pale rose colour, becom- 

 ing deep red at the centre and fairly transform in July the marshes along 

 the coast. Truly then the plant appears an astonishing wild flower. Its 

 leaves are known by being rounded ovate, long pointed, lobed and deeply 

 toothed and velvety to the touch especially on the lower side. The flower's 

 calyx also is soft, like velv'et. 



H. Moscheiitos, rose mallow, or swamp mallow, bears a flower which, 

 while smaller, resembles closely the preceding species. In August it 

 blooms through swamps, and often side by side with the pink form will be 



