FLOWERS OF GARDEN AND GREENHOUSE 
chiefly of the Mediterranean region, one Australian, and two indigenous 
to the Canaries. 
Lavatera arborea being found wild on our coasts where 
HiSt0ry ’ there are rocky cliffs, we may suppose that it got trans¬ 
planted to neighbouring cottage gardens, where we constantly find it. 
In some districts the converse of this is true : the plants growing wild 
on the cliffs are really escapes from the cottage gardens. But we may 
feel sure that L. arborea was the first member of the genus to be 
cultivated in our gardens. Of the exotic species, L. Olhia came first, 
having been introduced from South Europe three and a quarter centuries 
ago; L. trimestris reached us from the same quarter in 1633. Others 
followed at later dates, but those mentioned are the most important from 
a horticultural point of view, and practically the only ones at all widely- 
grown to-day. 
Species Lavatera arborea (tree-like). The Tree-Mallow. 
Downy ; stems, 3 to 6 feet, stout and erect. Lower leaves 
with five to nine short broad lobes and long stalks ; upper more entire; 
edges round-toothed. Flowers purple, glossy, 2 inches diameter; July to 
Sept. Biennial. The garden var. variegata has strikingly mottled leaves. 
L. Olbia (rich). Stem shrubby, rough, 6 feet. Leaves woolly; 
lower five-lobed, upper three-lobed. Flowers, reddish purple, solitary; 
June to October. 
L. trimestris (three - monthly). Spanish Lavatera. Stem her¬ 
baceous, rough, 3 to 6 feet; leaves heart-shaped, somewhat smooth. 
Flowers rosy; June to August. Hardy annual (Plate 47). 
For cultivation see remarks on Malope below. 
MALOPES 
Natural Order Malvaceas. Genus Malope 
Malope (Greek, vnallos, woolly). A genus containing two or three species 
in many respects similar to Lavatera, with entire or three-lobed leaves, 
and large showy violet or rosy flowers. The three bracts of the epicalyx 
are heart-shaped and distinct throughout, not coherent as in Lavatera. 
Species. Malope malacoides (Mallow-like). Stems prostrate, 
branching, hairy; plant 1 foot high. Leaves oblong egg- 
shaped with rounded teeth, or deeply cut lobes, on footstalks. Flowers 
large, axillary, rosy pink with purple tinge; June. A South European 
biennial (introduced 1710). 
