MALVACEAE (MALLOW FAMILY^ 567 



3. MODiOLA Moench. 



Calyx with a 3-leaved involucel. Petals obovate. Stamens 10-20. Stiginafl 

 capitate. Carpels 14-iiO, kidney-shaped, pointed, and at length 2-valved at the 

 top ; the cavity divided into two by a cross partition, with a sini;le seed in each 

 cell. — Humble procumbent or creeping annuals or biennials, with cut leaves 

 and small purplish flowers solitary in the axils. (Name from modiolus, the broad 

 and depressed fruit resembling in shape the Roman measure of that name.) 



1. M. caroliniana (L.) G. Don. Hairy ; leaves 3-5-cleft and incised ; fruit 

 hispid at the top. (M. muUifida Moench.) — Low grounds, Va. and southw 

 (Trop. Am.) 



4. MALVASTRUM Gray. False Mallow 



Calyx with an involucel of 2 or 3 bractlets, or none. Petals notched at the 

 end or entire. Styles 5 or more ; stigmas capitate. Carpels as in Malva, or else 

 as in Sida, but the solitary kidney-shaped seed ascending and the radicle point- 

 ing downward, as in the former. (Name altered from Malva.) 



1. M. angiistum Gray. (Ybllow F.) Annual, slightly hairy, erect, 1.5-3 

 dm. high ; leaves lance-oblong or linear, with scattered fine callous teeth ; 

 flowers in the upper axils, on short peduncles ; bractlets and stipules setaceous ; 

 petals yellow, scarcely exceeding the calyx ; carpels 5, kidney-shaped, smooth, 

 at length 2-valved. — Gravelly and rocky hills, centr. Tenn. to la. and Kan. 

 Aug. 



2. M. coccineum (Pursh) Gray. (Red F.) Perennial, low and hoary ; 

 leaves 5-parted or pedate ; flowers in short spikes or racemes, the pink-red 

 petals very much longer than the calyx ; carpels 10 or more, reticulated on the 

 sides and indehiscent. — Man. and w. la. to Tex., and westw. 



5. StDA L. 



Calyx naked at the base, 5-cleft. Petals entire, usually oblique. Styles 5 

 or more, tipped with capitate stigmas ; the ripe fruit separating into as many 

 1-seeded carpels, which are closed, or commonly 2-valved at the top, and tardily 

 separate from the axis. Seed pendulous. Embryo abruptly bent ; the radicle 

 pointing upward. (A name used by Theophrastus. ) 



\. S. hermaphrodita (L.) Rusby. A smooth tall (1.2-3 m. high) perennial ; 

 leaves ^7-cleft, the lobes oblong and pointed, toothed ; flowers white, umbellate- 

 corymbed, 2.5 cm. wide; carpels 10, pointed. (S. Napaea Cav.) — Glades and 

 river-banks, Pa. to Tenn., rare ; cultivated in old gardens. 



2. S. Elli6ttii T. & G. A smooth erect perennial, 3-12 dm. high ; leaves 

 linear^ serrate, short-petioled ; peduncles axillary, 1-flowered, short ; flotcers 

 yellow, rather large ; carpels 9-10, slightly and abruptly pointed, forming a 

 depressed fruit. — Sandy soil, s. Va. to s. Mo., and southw. May-Aug. 



3. S. 8pin6sa L. Annual weed, minutely and softly pubescent, low (2.6-6 

 dm. high), much branched ; leaves ovate-lanceolate or oblong, serrnte, rather 

 long-petioled ; peduncles axillary, 1-flowered, shorter than the petiole ; flowers 

 yellow, small ; carpels 5, combined into an ovoid fruit, each splitting at the top 

 into 2 beaks. — Waste places, Mass. to Mich., Kan., and southw., where com- 

 mon. — A little tubercle at the base of the leaves on the stronger plants gives 

 the specific name, but it cannot be called a spine. (Nat. from the Tropics.) 



6. ALTHAEA L. Marsh Mallow 



Calyx surrounded by a 6-9-cleft involucel. Otherwise as in Malva. (Old 

 Greek and Latin name, from dXdeip, to cure, in allusion to its healing properties.) 



1. A. officinXlis L. (Marsh Mallow.) Stem erect, 6-12 cm. high ; leaves 

 ovate or slightly heart-shaped, toothed, sometimes 3-lobed, velvety-downy ; 

 peduncles axillary, many-flowered ; flowers pale rose-color. — Salt marshes, 



