MolM.\ XXII. MALVACE^. 109 



3. ]V[. rotundifolia (ronnd-leaveil), Limi. A much-branched, decumbent, 

 or prostrate herb, sparingly villous. Leaves suborbicular, lobed, crenate ; petiole 

 6 or Tin. Peduncles l^in. Bracteoles lanceolate half the length of the broadly- 

 lanceolate sepals. Corolla lin. diameter. Petals wedge-shaped, notched, twice 

 the length of the sepals. Ripe carpels about 15, downy, flat or wrinkled. 



Hab.: Naturalised on waste places about townships. 



4. ]¥[. parviflora (small-flowered), Linn. A comparatively small spreading 

 herb, slightly downy. Leaves roundish, obsoletely lobed. Peduncles short, 

 spreading after flowering. Bracteoles linear. Sepals broad, acute. Petals 

 notched, scarcely exceeding the sepals, claw glabrous. Carpels wrinkled, angular. 



Hab.: Naturalised on waste places about townships. 



8. MALVASTRUM, A. Gray. 



(Altered from Malva.) 



Bracteoles either none or 1 to 3, small and distinct. Calyx 5-lobed. Staminal 

 column divided to the top into several filaments. Ovary-cells 5 or more, 1- 

 ovulate ; style-branches of the same number as the cells, filiforrn or club-shaped, 

 with terminal small or capitate stigmas. Fruit carpels seceding from the short 

 axis, indehiscent or slightly 2-valved, occasionally produced at the top into 

 erect connivent beaks. Seeds ascending, reniform. — Herbs or undershrubs. 

 Leaves entire or divided. Flowers red or yellow, shortly pedunculate or sessile, 

 axillary or in terminal spikes. 



A considerable genus, chiefly American, with a few South African species. 



The genus, formerly confounded with Malva and Sida, is readily distinguished from the 

 former by the styles, from the latter by the ascending ovules and seeds. 



Tomentum stellate. Flowers mostly in a short terminal spike .... 1. M. spicatum. 

 Hairs appressed, parallel. Flowers mostly axillary. Calyx broad . . . i. M. tricuspidatum. 



1. M. spicatum (flowers in spikes), A. Gray, PI. Fendl. 22, and Bot. Amer. 

 F.rpl. E.rped. i. 147 ; Benth. B'l. Austr. i. 187. An erect branching herb of 1 to 

 2ft., becoming almost woody at the base, scabrous or softly tomentose with 

 stellate hairs. Leaves petiolate, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute or obtuse, 1 to 

 2in. long, irregularly serrate or crenate, very rarely obscurely 3-lobed. Flowers 

 rather small, yellow, sessile in a dense terminal spike, rarely exceeding 1 to Ifin. 

 in length, and often leafy at the base. Bracts narrow, shorter than the calyx, 

 usually 2-lobed. Bracteoles 8, filiform, closely appressed to the calyx. Calyx 

 softly pubescent, the lobes acuminate, and often bordered by long hairs. Petals 

 about 4 to 5 lines long. Carpels H to 12, not close-pressed, angular on the edges, 

 pubescent on the top, without points. — Malva spicata, Linn. ; Cav. Diss. t. 20, f. 

 4 ; DC. Prod. i. 430 ; M. ovata, Cav. Diss. 81, t. 20, f. 2 ; M. timoriensis, DC. 

 Prod. i. 480 ; M. brachystachyaj F. v. M. in hinusea,, xxv. 378. 



Hab.: Common in Queensland. 



The species is common in tropical America, and has been found also in the Cape de Verd 

 Islands and in Timor. 



2. Dfl. tricuspidatum (referring to the points on the Carpel), A. Gray, PI. 

 Wright, and Bot. Amer, Kxpl. Exped. i. 148 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. i. 187. An 

 erect branching herb, 2 to 8ft. high, hard and almost woody at the base, although 

 sometimes annual, the branches sprinkled or covered with closely appressed hairs. 

 Leaves on rather long petioles, from broadly ovate to lanceolate, 1 to 2in. long, 

 irregularly toothed, hairy. Flowers yellow, almost sessile in the axils of the 

 leaves, or clustered towards the ends of the branches. Calyx broadly 5-lobed, 



