32 ELEMENTS OP BOTANY. 



monadelphous stamens (Fig: 129), and several more or less 

 distinct pistils. Fruit a several-celled capsule or a collection 

 of 1-seeded carpels. 



I. MALVA, MALLOW. 



Calyx 5-cleft, with a small 3-leaved involucre. Petals ob- 

 cordate or truncate. Styles many, slender, with stigmas 

 running down the sides (Fig. 154). Carpels many, 1-seeded, 

 arranged in a circle and separating from each other, but not 

 opening when ripe. 



a. (M. rotundifolia), Common Mallow, Cheeses (from appear- 

 ance of the unripe fruit). A common weed, with nearly prostrate 

 stems ; long-petioled, round-kidney-shaped leaves, with crenate margins ; 

 and small whitish flowers on long peduncles. Biennial or perennial. 



6. (M. SYLVESTRis), HiGH Mallow. Stem erect, 2-3 ft. high, 

 with 5-7-iobed leaves and purplish flowers, larger than those of the 

 preceding species. Biennial or perennial. 



II. ABUTILOW, INDIAN MALLOW. 



Calyx 6-cleft, the tube often angled. Styles 5-20, with 

 knobbed stigmas. Carpels as many as the styles, arranged 

 in a circle, each 1-celled, 3-6-seeded, and opening when ripe 

 by 2 valves. 



(A. striatum). Tassel Tree, Flowering Maple. A shrub 

 5-10 ft. high, with maple-like leaves and showy solitary flowers nod- 

 ding on slender peduncles ; corolla not opening widely, orange, 

 striped with reddish-brown veins ; column of stamens projecting 

 beyond the corolla like a tassel. Cultivated in hot-houses, from 

 BrazU. 



VIOLACEiE, VIOLET FAMILY. 



Herbs with simple, alternate leaves, with stipules (Fig. 

 72). Calyx of 5 persistent sepals. Corolla • — somewhat 

 irregular, one petal with a spur- — of 5 petals. Stamens 5, 

 short, the filaments often cohering around the pistil. Style 

 generally club-shaped, with a one-sided stigma, with an open- 

 ing leading to its interior. Pod 1-celled, splitting into 3 

 valves, each bearing a placenta. The seeds are often dis- 

 persed by the splitting of the elastic valves. 



