n 74 ] 



ROSE MALLOW (MARSH HIBISCUS) 



August 16, 1852. Hibiscus Moscheutos (?), marsh 

 hibiscus, apparently, N. Barrett's. Perchance has 

 been out a week. I think it must be the most con- 

 spicuous and showy and at the same time rich- 

 colored flower of this month. It is not so conspicuous 

 as the sunflower, but of a rarer color, — "pale rose- 

 purple," they call it, — like a hollyhock. It is sur- 

 prising for its amount of color, and, seen unexpect- 

 edly amid the willows and button-bushes, with the 

 mikania twining around its stem, you can hardly 

 believe it is a flower, so large and tender it looks, like 

 the greatest effort of the season to adorn the August 

 days, and reminded me of that great tender moth, 

 the Attacus luna, which I found on the water near 

 where it grows. I think it must be allied to southern 

 species. It suggests a more genial climate and luxu- 

 riant soil. It requires these vaporous dog-days. 



Journal, iv, 297, 298 



