ABUTILONS 
yellow flowers; June to August. Calyx swells into a bladder-like 
covering to the fruit. Hardy annual. 
Culture The species of Hibiscus have a liking for a soil that 
is sandy, but they are not hard to please. Many of them, 
as already indicated, require greenhouse protection, and even stove 
treatment. Such is the case with H. rosa-sinensis and its beautiful 
varieties. H. trionum, on the other hand, is a perfectly hardy annual, 
and may be raised from seed sown in the open border in March or April. 
Cuttings of the perennial kinds should be taken in spring, and should 
be struck in a close frame. Those requiring hothouse treatment may 
be grown either in pots or in the hothouse border; the compost most 
suitable for them being a mixture of equal parts peat and fibrous loam, 
with a little charcoal added. If H. rosa-sinensis or its varieties should 
be treated in this way, the plants will flower through the winter; but 
if kept dry and in a restful condition during winter, they may be utilised 
for beds outside during the summer. For this purpose they should be 
potted, and at the beginning of June, or later, according to the prevailing 
temperature, the pots may be plunged in the beds, and removed to 
winter quarters again at the end of September or beginning of October. 
H. syriacus is a handsome, hardy shrub, which prefers a light rich 
soil and a sunny position; it is propagated by cuttings inserted in 
Description of The upper part of a branch of H. roseus is shown 
plates 48 and 49. i n Plate 48 reduced by one-third from the natural size* 
The epicalyx, so characteristic of the genus, is clearly represented in 
several of the figures. Fig. 1 is a section through the flower after 
the petals have been removed. The staminal tube with its spreading 
anthers is seen to be somewhat similar to those of Lavatera and Malvpe. 
Plate 49 represents H. rosa-sinensis, reduced by one-fourth. The section 
shows the great length of the staminal tube, which bears anthers only 
towards the extremity, so that when the petals are expanded this portion 
extends far beyond the mouth of the flower. 
ABUTILONS 
•Natural Order Malvaceae. Genus Abutilon 
Abutilon (an Arabic name for a species of Mallow). A genus of about 
seventy shrubby and herbaceous plants, with similar flowers to those of 
Hibiscus, but wanting the epicalyx. The staminal tube bears stalked 
