"0 X. MALVACEAE. [Malra. 



*'M. parviflora, L., Diss. Devi. PL Nov. Artioen. Acad. iii. 416. Biennial. 

 Stems decumbent at the base or suberect, rather stout, furrowed, scabrid. Leaves 

 on long petioles, 5-7-lobed ; lobes acute. Plowers in 3-6-fiowered fascicles, small. 

 Peduncles very short. Segments of epicalyx oblong-ovate, ciliate ; calyx segments 

 broadly ovate, ciliate, twice as large as the calyx. Carpels when mature forming a 

 ridge at the line of contact, transversely rugose. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands: naturalised in waste places, &o. Nov. to Jan. Europe. 



*M. verticillata, L., Sp. PL 689. Biennial, erect, larger than M. parvi- 

 flora. Leaves on longer petioles, 5-7-lobed. Flowers small in axillary clusters, 

 sessile. Carpels transversely rugose, forming a ridge at the line of contact. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands : naturalised by roadsides, waste places. Nov. to Jan. Europe. 



'•' M. crispa, L., Syst. ed. x. 1147. Annual, erect. Leaves on long petioles, 

 lobed and toothed, crisped at the margins. Flowers very small, sessile, crowded, 

 axillary. 



NORTH Island : naturalised at Port Waikato. Curled mallow. Nov., Dec. Europe. 



1. PLAGIANTHUS, Forst. 

 Braoteoles 0. Sepals 5-toothed or -fid. Stamina! tube divided from the 

 apex into numerous filaments. Ovary 2—5- or rarely 1-celled. Style-branches 

 as many as the cellsj united below, stigmatose along the inner face. Fruit of 

 1 or more separable indehiscent carpels whorled round an axis. Seeds pendu- 

 lous ; raphe dorsal. Herbs, shrubs, or trees, with tough inner bark. Leaves 

 usually entire. Flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual, axillary or terminal. 



Species, about 10 or 12, restricted to Australia and New Zealand. Endemic in their 

 respective countries. 



Btym. Prom the Greek — oblique, in reference to the unequal-sided petals. 



1. P. divaricatus, Forst., Char. Gen. 86. A glabrous bush or shrub, 

 excessively branched. Branches slender, divaricating, very tough. Leaves in 

 the young state alternate or fascicled, on long slender petioles, linear-oblong, 

 lin. long, sinuate ; in the mature state fascicled, iin.— fin. long, narrow linear- 

 obovate or cuneate, obtuse, 1 -nerved. Flowers on very short slender axillarv 

 1 -flowered peduncles, fascicled or solitary, perfect or unisexual. Calyx 

 5-toothed, obtuse. Ovary pubescent, 1-celled. Style 1. Stigma clavate, flat- 

 tened. Fruit a 1- rarely 2-seeded spherical capsule, as large as a peppercorn, 

 globose, downy. — A. Rich., Fl. N.Z. 299; Hook. f. in Bot. Mag. t. .3271 ; A. 

 Cunn., Precurs. n. 604; Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 29, and Handbk. 30; A. Gray, 

 Bot. U.S. Expl. Exped. IBl ; Buch. in Trans. N.Z.I, xvi. (1883) t. 31, fig. 2. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands: North Cape to Poveaux Strait. CHATHAM Islands. Lit- 

 toral. Sept., Oct. 



3. P. cymoSUS, n. s. A shrub or small tree, with slender almost divari- 

 cating branches. Leaves alternate or fascicled, distant, linear-oblong or oblon"'. 

 obtuse, sinuate with one or two obtuse teeth on each side, iin.— fin. lono- ; 

 petioles very slender. Flowers axillary, solitary, or in 2— 5-flowered cvmes 

 sometimes terminal on arrested branchlets. Peduncles very short. Calvx 

 tubular, teeth obtuse. Petals very short. Stigma club-shaped, flattened. 

 Ovary 2- celled ; cells 1-seeded. Capsule not seen, 



