126 XXII. MALVACE^. [tiihucm. 



Staminal column about as long as the petals. Style-branches spreading; 

 stigmas hispid, with white hairs. Capsule somewhat globose, not exceeding the 

 calyx, more or less covered by short, bristle-like, usually simple hairs. Seeds 

 bordered by silky laeiniate scales. 



Hab.: MeKinley Kanges and Buckley Biver, B. C. Burton. 



At first sight specimens of this plant remind one of Solanum discolor, and it is probable that 

 shoots of it may have been mixed with those of H. microchltena and the Wesfern species if. 

 Pinonianus, both of which Baron von Mueller at one time named H. solanifoUus. H. Burtonii 

 has much smaller flowers than either of the two species above named. 



9. H. radiatus (radiated), Cav. Diss, 150, t. 54, /. 2 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. i. 

 212. An erect annual (or rarely perhaps perennial) of 2 to 3ft., glabrous or hispid 

 in the lower part with a few rigid hairs, and often bearing also small conical 

 prickles. Lower leaves broad and shortly lobed, upper ones deeply 3 to 5-lobed 

 or the uppermost undivided, the lobes narrow, toothed and unequal, the central 

 one often 2 to Sin. long. Flowers white or pink with a dark centre, on axillary 

 pedicels usually very short, rarely attaining lin. Bracteoles about 10, narrow- 

 linear, often spreading or reflexed, and ciliate with a few rigid hairs. Calyx 

 about fin. long, deeply divided into lanceolate acuminate lobes of a thin texture, 

 but marked with a prominent midrib and thickened marginal nerves, more or less 

 rigidly ciliate. Petals 1 to l^in. long. Capsule globose, glabrous in the Aus- 

 tralian specimens. Seeds few, glabrous. — DC. Prod. i. 449 ; Bot. Mag. t. 1911 ; 

 F. V. M. Fragm. ii. 117. 



Hab.: Palm Islands and Curtis Island. 



The species extends over E. India and tropical Africa, but the extra- Australian specimens I 

 have seen have always hirsute and less obtuse capsules. H. Lindleyi, Wall. PI. As. Bar. i. 4, t. 

 4, is probably a purple-flowered variety. H. cannabinus, Linn., cultivated in Asia and Africa for 

 its fibre, differs from H. radiahis only in the glands on the calyx. — Benth. 



10. H. divaricatus (spreading), Orah. in Edinh. Phil. Journ. July. — Oct. 

 1880; BeMh. Fl. Austr. i. 212. " Ngar-goUy," Cloncurry, Palmer; " Ithnee," 

 Mitchell, Palmer. A tall erect glabrous shrub, with the foliage of some varieties 

 of H. heterophyllus and the flowers of H. radiatus, the branches often beset with 

 small conical prickles. Leaves on short petiolfes, entire or deeply 8-lobed, from 

 round-cordate to ovate-lanceolate or oblong, often fully 4in. long,, more or les,s 

 toothed. Flowers large, yellow with a crimson eye, on short pedicels in the axils 

 of the upper reduced leaves. Bracteoles 10 to 12, linear, rigid, ciliate. Calyx 

 deeply divided into lanceolate lobes, with prominent midribs and margins as in 

 H. radiatus, rigidly ciliate or rarely minutely tomentose. Petals 2 to 2Jin. long. 

 Capsule ovoid-globose, densely silky-hairy. — Abelmoschus divaricatus, Walp. Eep. 

 i. 809 ; Hibiscus magmficus, F. v. M. Fragm. ii. 118. 



Hab.: Shoalwater Bay, N.E. coast, Newcastle Bange, Mackenzie and Dawson Elvers. 

 One of P. V. Mueller's specimens, -with the calyx not ciliate but minutely tomentose, seems to 

 connect this species with some forms of H. heterophyllus. — Benth. 

 Buds eaten raw, and the thick root is peeled and eaten raw. — Paliner. 



11. H. Fitzgerald! (after E. Fitzgerald), F. v. M. Fragm. vjii. 242. A 

 handsome tall shrub, the stem and branches ahnost glabrous or sparsely aculeate. 

 Leaves glaucous. green, ovate or rotundate, crenately dentate, shortly or not lobed, 

 about lOin. long, on petioles of about 6in. Flowers large, yellow with a dark- 

 purple centre, on axillary pedicels. Bracteoles about 12, linear-subulate, thinly 

 tomentose. Calyx deeply divided, and more or less velvety-hirsute, with yellowish 

 hairs. Staminal-column 2 or 3 times shorter than the petals ; filaments purple, 

 style shortly lobed. Ovary densely silky-hairy. 



Hab.: Bowen Biver. 



12. H. Elsworthii (after G. Elsworth), F, v. M. Fragm. viii. 241. Shrubby, 

 the branches slightly pilose. Leaves 2 to 3in. long, ovate, acuminate, slightly 

 cordate at the base, glabrous above, with a light-coloured thin tomentum' 



