MALLOW FAMILY. 71 



L MALOPE. (Ancient Greek name for some kind of Mallow.) Herbs, 



resembling Mallows, from the Mediterranean region ; cult, as garden annuals : 



fl. summer. 



M. trifida, THREE-LOBED M. Smooth, with rounded leaves, the upper 

 ones 3-lobed ; the handsome flowers 2' or more broad, rose-color, veined with 

 purple or rose-red, also a white var. 



M. malacoides is rarer, hairy, low, with oblong-ovate toothed leaves, 

 long peduncles, and rose-colored flowers, y. 



2. KITAIBELIA. (Named for Paul Kitaibd, a botanist of Hungary,, 

 where the plant grows wild.) Fl. summer. The only species is 



K. vitif61ia, VINE-LEAVED K. Cult, in gardens ; a rough-hairy herb, 

 2 - 3 high, rather clammy at the summit, with acutely 5-lobed and toothed 

 leaves, involucre longer than the true calyx, and dull white corolla l' broad 

 when expanded. ^ 



3. ALTH./EA. (From Greek word meaning to cure, used in medicine as an 

 emollient.) Tall herbs (the Shrubby Althaea belongs not to this genus, but to 

 Hibiscus), natives only of the Old World : fl. summer and autumn. 



A. officinalis, MARSH-MALLOW. Rarely cult., but has run wild on the 

 coast E. ; a rather coarse downy plant, with ovate, sometimes a little heart- 

 shaped or 3-lobed leaves, and clusters of short-peduncled flowers in their axils ; 

 corolla 1' broad, rose-color. The thick root is used for its mucilage, and for 

 making Marsh-Mallow paste. 1}. 



A. rdsea, HOLLYHOCK. Cult, from Syria, with tall and simple hairy 

 stem, rugose rounded and heart-shaped angled or 5 7-lobed leaves, and large 

 flowers on very short peduncles, forming a long spike ; corolla of all shades of 

 rose, purple, white, or yellow, single or double, 3' - 4' broad. 



4. LAVATERA. (Named for the brothers Lavater, of Zurich.) A sort 

 of Mallow, sometimes cult, in gardens, from Europe : fl. all summer. 



L. trirn6stris, THREE-MONTH L. or FLOWERING MALLOW. Smooth or 

 smoothish, 1 - 2 high ; lower leaves round-kidney-shaped, crenate, upper heart- 

 shaped, uppermost 3-lobed ; flowers 2' 3' broad, rose-color, rarely white ; in 

 fruit a broad disk-shaped or umbrella-like expansion of the top of the axis com- 

 pletely covers the carpels. 



L. Thuringiaca. GERMAN L. Rather downy, smaller; leaves mostly 

 3-lobed ; flowers long-peduncled, 1 ' - 2' broad, rose-color ; in fruit the axis pro- 

 jects much beyond the ring of carpels as a pointed cone. 11 



L. arbdrea, TREE MALLOW. Not quite hardy N., has a stout stem 2-6 

 high, woody below, rounded 5 - 9-lobed rather downy leaves, pale purple flow- 

 ers l' broad, on short pedicels, in a terminal raceme or narrow panicle ; the 

 axis of the fruit (like that of Mallow) not projecting beyond the carpels. %. 



5. MALVA, MALLOW. (Latin alteration of an old Greek word, mean- 

 ing soft or emollient.) All from Europe or the Orient, but several have run 

 wild in fields and along roadsides : fl. all summer and autumn. 



* Flowers small, white or whitish, not conspicuous nor handsome. 



M. rotundifdlia, COMMON or ROUND-LEAVED M. Weed in cult, 

 grounds ; with procumbent stems from a strong deep root, rounded kidney 

 shaped crenate leaves on very long petioles, rather slender peduncles, and fruit 

 not wrinkled. y. 



M. crispa, CURLED M. In country gardens, rarely in waste places ; with 

 erect stem (4 -6 high) leafy to the top, rounded 5- 7-lobed or angled leaves 

 very much crisped round the margin, flowers clustered and almost sessile in the 

 axils, and fruit slightly wrinkled. (T) 



# # Flowers larger, more or less showy, l' 2' in diameter; the purple, rose-color, 

 or sometimes white petals much exceeding the calyx : stem erect. 



M. Mauritiana, sometimes called TREE MALLOW. Cult. ; 3 - 5 high, 

 with rounded 5-lobed smooth or smoothish leaves, and clusters in their axils of 



