8o 



Ma Ivacece Pa lava. 



3. PALAVA. 



This genus has the carpels irregularly disposed in a head 

 like the two preceding genera, but it is readily distinguished 

 from them by the absence of involucral bracts. Three species 

 are described, from Peru and Chili. 



1. P. flexudsa. 

 An elegant annual 

 with slender stems 

 about 1 foot high, 

 bipinnatifid pilose 

 petiolate leaves, and 

 showy lilac-purple 

 flowers on long slender 

 peduncles. 



4. ALTHJ]A. 

 Tall or dwarf hairy 

 herbs with lobed leaves 

 and axillary solitary or 

 racemose flowers. In- 

 volucel 6- to 9-lobed. 

 Staminal column long, 

 filaments free at the 

 top. Carpels arranged 

 in a regular whorl, 1- 

 seeded, indehiscent. 

 About twelve species, 

 from temperate and 

 warm countries. A. 

 officinalis is the 

 Marsh Mallow. From 

 a\0a), to heal or 

 cure. 



Hollyhock. This 

 noble plant is the 

 principal ornamental 

 species in this family. 



Fig. 52. Althaea rosea. (J nat. size.) J ca me Originally 



from the Levant, and has been in cultivation about three 

 centuries. It is often treated as a biennial, but it is really 

 perennial. The ordinary single-flowered form, although very 



