46 MALVACE^. 



the Okra or Gombo (Abclmoschus esculentus) , a well-known ingredient in 

 soups, &c., in warm climates, is still more mucilaginous. Nearly all Mal- 

 vaceas have a tough fibrous bark, which, in several plants of different parts of 

 the world, is employed as a substitute for hemp. Of these the most impor- 

 tant is Hibiscus cannabinus, which produces the Sz/n-hemp of India. But 

 far the most important product of the family is cotton, which consists of the 

 long hairs that cover the seeds in the genus Gossypium ; a tropical genus 

 of great ambiguity as to the number of species, but which was originally 

 given both to the New and to the Old World. 



Into the subjoined arrangement I have introduced all the admitted gen- 

 era of the order. Several of them are known to me only by the published 

 characters. 



Conspectus of the Tribes and Genera. 



Tribe I. MALOPE^'E. — Carpels indefinite, crowded together in a 5- 

 lobcd or amorphous head, uniovulate. Radicle inferior. (None are North 

 American.) 



* Styles stigmatose down the inner face. 

 Malope, Linn., Cav. Mediterranean. 



* * Styles terminated by a capitate stigma. 

 KiTAiBELiA, Willd. Southeastern Europe. 

 Palava, Cav. Peru. 



Tribe II. MALVE.:E. — Carpels as many as the stigmas (5-20 or 

 more), uniovulate or few-ovulate, disposed in a ring around a central axis, 

 from which they at length separate. Column antheriferous at the summit. 



Subtribe I. Eumalve^. — Styles stigmatose down the inner face. Car- 

 pels uniovulate, numerous. Ovule peritropous-ascending. 

 * Stamineal column simple. 

 -)- Involucel 6-9- (rarely 3-) cleft. 

 Alth^a, Linn., Cav. Europe and Asia. 

 Lavatera, Linn. European. 

 Savinionia, Webb 4' Berthd. Canaries.* 

 Nav^a, Webb 4" Bcrthel. Canaries.* 



-<- -)- Involucel 3-phyllous or wanting. Flowers perfect. 

 Malva. (Plate 116.) Petals obcordate. Carpels cochleate-reniform, 



muticous, conformed to the seed. 

 Callirrhoe. (Plates 117, 118.) Petals truncate, often erose-toothed. 

 Carpels more or less beaked; the cell containing a dorsal process 

 between the seed and the hollow beak. 



_ * Although in the generic characters the stigmas are said to be " capitellate," 

 It IS evident from the figures that they are just as in Malva. 



