Abutiton.] ttli. MALVACE^. il9 



panicles, with a broad, whitish, deciduous, stipular bract under each pedicel. 

 Calyx obtusely 6-angIed, softly tomentose, deeply divided into broad acuminate 

 lobes. Petals not twice as long. Stamens not very numerous. Capsule longer 

 than the calyx, hirsute, truncate ; carpels numerous, with short divaricate points. 

 —Sidaaurita, Wall.; DC. Prod. 1. 468; Bot. Mag. t. 2495. 



Hab.; Keppel Bay, Percy Island. 



The species is also found in Java and in the Philippine Islands. 



9. A. graveolens (heavy-scented), W. and Am. Prod. Fl. Pen. Ind. Or. i. 

 56 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. i. 204. A coarse annual or perhaps perennial, from 1 to 

 5ft. high, clothed with a viscid strong-scented tomentum, intermixed, especially 

 on the branches and petioles, with long spreading hairs. Leaves broadly orbicular- 

 cordate, resembling those oiE A. Avicemm but softer. Flowers yellow, rather 

 large,' on pedicels about as long as the petioles. Calyx about 5 lines long, deeply 

 divided into acuminate lobes, each with a prominent midrib. Petals twice as 

 long. Capsule exceeding the calyx, 8 to 10 lines diameter, hirsute, contracted at 

 the top so as to approach in form that of^. muticum, and the carpels are nume- 

 rous and closely packed as in that species, but angular or very shortly pointed at 

 the top and less deciduous, generally leaving the filiform placentas attached to 

 the axis, the species thus connecting the true Abutila with the section Oayoides. — 

 Hook. Comp. Bot. Mag. i. t. 2; Sida graveolens, Eoxb.; DC. Prod. i. 473. 



Hab.: Piper's Island and many parts along the tropical coast. 



The species is widely spread over East India and tropical Africa. The petals have there 

 usually a dark spot at the base which does not appear in our Australian specimens. 



10. A. oxycarpum (carpels sharp-pointed), F. v. M. Herb.; Benth. Fl. 

 Austr. i. 204. Herbaceous, diffuse or erect, attaining 2 or 3ft., clothed with a 

 close tomentum or soft velvety pubescence, sometimes almost hirsute, the branches 

 usually slender and divaricate. Leaves from cordate-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 

 crenate, obtuse or acuminate, 1 to Bin. long. Pedicels slender, often 2 together, 

 1 to 2in. long. Flowers small, yellow. Calyx deeply cleft, about 2 lines long. 

 Petals not twice as long. Capsule closely tomentose or pubescent, about 4 lines 

 long, truncate and somewhat dilated at the top ; carpels rarely above 10 and 

 often much feWer, with short divaricate points at the outer angle, not separating 

 till the seeds shed, and then leaving the filiform placentas attached to the axis. 

 Seeds 2 or rarely 8. — Sida oxycarpa, F. v. M. Fragm. ii. 12. 



Hab.: Keppel Bay, Brisbane Eiver, Eockhampton, and other places. 



There are two principal forms in our herbaria : 1, acutatum, softly tomentose, pubescent or 

 almost hirsute ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, or lanceolate, acuminate ; the most common Brisbane 

 and N. S. Wales form ; and 2, incanum, tomentum close and white ; leaves broadly cordate- 

 ovate, obtuse or acuminate ; chiefly within the tropics and in the west. Both are readily 

 recognized by the small calyx, : iisually not half so long as the capsule. 



Var. (?) malvdtfoUum. Less tomentose, but hirsute with long spreading hairs. Leaves 

 cordate-ovate, very obtuse, crenate, and more or less distinctly 3-lobed. Sepals almost as long as 

 the carpels. — Mount Murchison in N. S. Wales, Dallachy. This may prove to, be a^distinct 

 species. — Benth. in Fl. Austr. 



11. A. muticum (without points to carpels), G. Don, Gen. Syst. i. 502; 

 Benth. Fl. Aiistr. i. 204. Tall and erect, with the habit of A. graveolens, with 

 which it is often confounded, but differs in the fruit. Tomentum dense and soft, 

 but not usually mixed with spreading hairs. Leaves cordate-orbicular, often 

 acuminate and irregularly toothed, 2 to Sin. diameter, thick and soft. Pedicels 

 rarely exceeding the petioles. Calyx fin. long, the lobes equal to or longer than 

 the tube, the ribs not very prominent. Petals not twice as long, often with a 

 dark base as in ^. graveolens. Capsule longer than the calyx, depressed-globular 



