MALLOW FAMILY 



MALVACEAE 



FLOWER OF AN HOUR 



Hibiscus Trio num. L. 



The Rose Mallows described on the preceding pages are 

 rather shy plants, but the Flower of an Hour, belonging to the 

 same genus, is much bolder and dwells in places frequented by 



man, such as road- 

 sides, the edges of 

 cornfields and other 

 waste or cultivated 

 places. This species 

 is a native of south- 

 ern Europe but it 

 seems to like America 

 very well and is now 

 found from Nova 

 Scotia to Florida and 

 west to South Da- 

 kota and Kansas. 

 It is a low annual which branches 

 from the base and spreads over the 

 ground. The whole plant is covered 

 with spreading hairs and the leaves 

 are j-^-lobed or divided, the obtuse 

 lobes round toothed or cleft, and 

 the middle one longest. 



During the blooming season of 

 August and September the Flower of an Hour opens for only a- 

 short while in the morning, thus acquiring its common name. 

 The flowers, produced in the axils of the upper leaves, are sulfur 

 yellow with a dark purple center, and the outer edges of the 

 petals are tinged purple also. The involucel of many narrow 

 bractlets is much shorter than the beautifully veined, inflated 

 calyx, which is 5-lobed and 5-angled. The numerous stamens 

 are united into a column around the compound pistil and the 

 style has 5 branches at the end, each branch bearing a stigma. 

 The fruit is a hairy, nearly spherical, several-seeded capsule. 



The Rose ot Sharon, Hibiscus syriacus L., is a southern plant 

 which frequents rocky soil near streams. It is a tall, smooth shrub 

 with wedge-shaped to ovate, pointed and cut-toothed or lobed leaves. 

 The flowers, pink or white with a crimson center, bloom from July 

 to September. 



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