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Malvaceae 



2. Hibiscus tiliaceus L. H. tortuosus Roxb. Yama- 



ASA, O-HAMAEo. Small tree with rather thick branches, 



minutely puberulous and punctulate when young; leaves rather 

 thick, cordate-orbicular, 8-15 cm. long, 10-20 cm. wide, 

 abruptly acute, deeply cordate at base, entire or with obsolete 

 undulate teeth, with minute yellowish gray stellate pubescence, 

 7- to 9-nerved, the petioles 1-10 cm. long, the stipules narrowly 

 ovate-triangular, obmse, 1.5-3 cm. long; flowers axillary or 

 subterminal on the upper part of the branchlets, pale yellow, 

 with a dark red center, 8-10 cm. across, the pedicels 3-5 cm. 

 long, often with 2 stipulelike bracts on the upper part, the 

 caliculus cup-shaped, with deltoid marginal teeth; calyx-lobes 

 lanceolate, gradually acute, about 15 mm. long; petals broadly 

 obovate, rounded; capsules globose, mucronate, about 1.5 cm. 

 across, yellowish brown long-pilose; seeds many, dark brown, 

 reniform and thick, about 4 mm. across, with scattered raised 



minute spots. July-Aug. Near seashores; Kyushu (Yaku- 



shima and Tanegashima). Ryukyus, Formosa, s. China, 



India, Malaysia, and Australia. 



3. Hibiscus trionum L. H. ternatus Cav. Ginsen-ka. 



Annual herb 30-60 cm. high; stems with scattered coarse 

 spreading hairs and with short hairs; leaves petiolate, mem- 

 branous, 3-parted nearly to the cuneate base, thinly hirsute, 

 the terminal segment large, 3-10 cm. long, narrowly ovate or 

 broadly lanceolate, obtuse, pinna tely lobed and incised; flow- 

 ers solitary, axillary, pale yellow, 4-5 cm. across, the bracteoles 

 linear; calyx 1.5-2 cm. long, coarsely spreading-hirsute, mem- 

 branous, with green nerves, the lobes deltoid; capsules globose, 

 enclosed within the calyx, brown-hairy, about 1 cm. across. 



Aug.-Sept. Sometimes naturalized in our area; common 



in warmer regions of the Old World. 



4. Hibiscus syriacus L. H. chinensis DC. Mukuge, 



Hachisu. Deciduous shrub with grayish branches, stellate- 

 puberulent when young; leaves ovate, rhombic-ovate, or 

 broadly ovate, 3-lobed, 4-10 cm. long, 2.5-5 cm. wide, sub- 

 cuneate at base, 3- to 5-nerved, with scattered simple and stel- 

 late hairs, the terminal lobes narrowly deltoid, rather large, 

 acuminate and sometimes with an obtuse tip, the petiole 7-20 

 mm. long, densely puberulous on upper side; flowers axillary 

 and terminal, 5-6 cm. across, rose-purple, sometimes white 

 (often double in cultivars), the pedicels about 1.5 cm. long, 

 as long as the calyx, the bracteoles linear, nearly as long as 

 the calyx; calyx stellate-puberulent, the lobes deltoid; fruit 

 ovoid-globose, densely stellate-puberulent; seeds reniform, 



about 4-5 mm. across. Aug.-Oct. Widely planted for 



hedges and in gardens, several cultivars are grown. Intro- 

 duced from China. 



5. Hibiscus mutabilis L. Fuyo. Deciduous shrub 



densely gray stellate-pubescent on branchlets, under side of 

 leaves, peduncles, and calyx; leaves long-petiolate, 5-angled- 

 orbicular, 10-20 cm. long and as wide, cordate, shallowly 5- or 

 sometimes 3-lobed, with remote and shallow undulate teeth, 

 stellate-pubescent and with minute spots on upper side, the 

 lobes deltoid, acuminate; flowers solitary, pink, 10-13 cm. 

 across, the peduncles to 12 cm. long, usually with an obscure 

 joint above the middle; calyx 5-lobed, nearly to the middle, 

 sometimes glandular-pilose, the lobes narrowly deltoid, the 

 bracteoles longer than the calyx-tube; capsules globose, about 

 2.5 cm. across, long spreading-pilose, nerved; seeds many, 



reniform, about 2 mm. across, white-hirsute on the back. 



Aug.-Oct. Thickets; Kyushu; often cultivated for the large 

 showy flowers, and sometimes naturalized in warmer regions 

 in our area. Ryukyus and China. 



2, URENA L. BoNTEN-KA Zoku 



Coarse herbs or shrubs; leaves angled or palmately lobed, with glands at the base of the midrib beneath; flowers rather small, 

 sessile or short-pedunculate, rose-colored or yellow, the bracteoles forming a 5-lobed connate caliculus, adnate to the calyx-tube; 

 calyx 5-lobed or -toothed; staminal tube truncate or 5-toothed, the anthers sessile or nearly so; ovary 5-locular, the ovules soli- 

 tary in each locule; style-branches 10, the stigmas capitellate; fruiriets indehiscent, glochidiate-hairy, the seeds ascending. 



Few species, in Asia, Africa, and tropical America. 



1. Urena lobata L. var. tomentosa (Bl.) Walp. U. 

 tomentosa Bl.; V. lobata var. scabriuscula sensu auct. Japon., 



non A. Gray Oba-bonten-ka, O-bonten-ka. Shrub, 



densely grayish stellate-puberulent, the branches elongate; 

 leaves orbicular to broadly ovate and angled, 4-5 cm. long, 4-8 

 cm. wide, shallowly 3- to 5-lobed or undivided, rounded, cor- 

 date or broadly cuneate at base, the lobes deltoid, acute to ob- 

 tuse, toothed, the petioles 3-10 cm. long; flowers axillary, soli- 

 tary, on very short pedicels, rose-colored, the caliculus deeply 5- 

 lobed, the lobes lanceolate, longer than the calyx; calyx about 

 5 mm. long, the lobes broadly lanceolate; fruitlets obovoid, 5-6 



mm. long, stellate-hairy and glochidiate-pilose, the hairs about 

 1.5 mm. long; seeds reniform, about 4 mm. long, grayish 



brown. Aug. Thickets and waste grounds; Kyushu (s. 



distr. inch Yakushima and Tanegashima). The typical phase, 

 widely distributed in the Tropics, is very variable. 



Var. sinuata (L.) Gagnep. U. sinuata L. Bonten-ka. 



Leaves smaller and less densely puberulous, deeply 5-lobed, the 

 lobes usually ovate, narrowed at the base; bracteoles as long 



as the calyx; petals glabrous. Shikoku, Kyushu (s. distr. 



incl. Yakushima and Tanegashima). Widely distributed in 



the Tropics of Asia. 



3. SIDA L. KiN-Goji-KA Zoku 



Herbs or shrubs; leaves simple or lobed; flowers yellow or white, sessile or peduncled, without bracteoles, solitary or in 

 glomerate, racemose, capitate, or spicate inflorescences; calyx 5-toothed or -lobed; staminal tube shorter than the free part 

 of the filaments; ovary 5- to many-locular, the ovules solitary in each locule; style-branches as many as the carpels, filiform or 

 somewhat clavate, the stigmas capitate or truncate; fruitlets separating from the axis, rostrate or erostrate, indehiscent or 



2-valvate and dehiscent, the seeds pendulous or horizontal. About 130 species, abundant in America, occurring also in 



Africa and Asia. 



