MALLOW FAMILY. 71 



1. MAIiOFE. (Ancient Greek name for some kind of Mallow.) Herbs, 

 resembling Mallows, from the Mediterranean region ; cult, as garden annuals : 

 fl. summer. 



M. triflda, Three-lobed M. Smooth, with rounded leaves, the upper 

 ones 3-lobed ; the handsome flowers 2' or more broad, rose-color, veined with 

 purple or rose-red, also a white var. ® 



M. malacoldes is rarer, hairy, low, with oblong-ovate toothed leaves, 

 long peduncles, and rose-colored flowers. % 



2. KITAIBELIA. (Named for Paid Kitaihd, a botanist of Hungary,, 

 where the plant grows wild. ) Fl. summer. The only species is 



K. vitifdlia. Vine-leaved K. Cult, in gardens ; a rough-hairy herb, 

 2° - 3° high, rather clammy at the summit, with acutely 5-lobed and toothed 

 leaves, involucre longer than the true calyx, and dull white corolla Ij' broad 

 when expanded. 2/ 



3. AIjTH.SiA. (From Greek word meaning to cure, used in medicine as an 

 emollient.) Tall herbs (the ShrubbyAlthosa belongs not to this genus, but to 

 Hibiscus), natives only of the Old World : fl. summer and autumn. 



A. ofQ.cm&lis, Marsh-Mallow. Rarely cult., but has run wild on the 

 coast E. ; a rather coarse downy plant, with ovate, sometimes a little heart- 

 shaped or 3-lobed leaves, and clusters of shorfr-peduncled flowers in their axils ; 

 corolla 1' broad, rose-color. The thick root is used for its, mucilage, and for 

 making Marsh-Mallow paste. % 



A. r6sea, Hollyhock. Cult, from Syria, with taU and simple hairy 

 stem, rugose rounded and heart-shaped angled or 5 - 7-lobed leaves, and large 

 flowers on very short peduncles, forming a long spike ; coroUa of all shades of 

 rose, puiple, white, or yellow, single or double, 3' - 4' broad. @ 



4. LAVATERA. (Named for the brothers Lavaier, of Zurich.) A sort 

 of Mallow, sometimes cult, in gardens, from Europe : fl. all summer. 



L. trim6stris. Three-month L. or Flowering Mallow. Smooth or 

 amoothish, 1° - 2° high ; lower leaves round-kidney-shaped, crenate, upper heart- 

 shaped, uppermost 3-lobed ; flowers 2' - 3' broad, rose-color, rarely white ; in 

 fruit a broad disk-shaped or umbreUa-like expansion of the top of the axis com- 

 pletely covers the carpels. ® 



L. Thuringiaca. German L. Rather downy, smaller; leaves mostly 

 3-lobed; flowers long-peduncled, l^'-2' broad, rose-color; in fruit the axis pro- 

 jects much beyond the ring of carpels as a pointed cone. % 



L. arb6rea. Tree Mallow. Not quite hardy N., has a stout stem 2° - 6° 

 high, woody below, rounded 5-9-lobed rather downy leaves, pale purple flow- 

 ers 1|' broad, on short pedicels, in h. terminal raceme or narrow panicle ; the 

 axis of the fruit (like that of Mallow) not projecting beyond the carpels, y. 



5. MALVA, MALLOW. (Latin alteration of an old Greek word, mean- 

 ing soft or emollient. ) All from Europe or the Orient, but several have run.' 

 wild in fields and along roadsides ; fl. all summer and autumn. 



* Flowers small, white or whitish, not conspicuous nor handsome. 



M. rotundifdlia, Common or Round-leaved M. Weed in cult, 

 grounds ; with procumbent stems from a strong deep root, rounded kidney 

 shaped crenate leaves on very long petioles, rather slender peduncles, and fruit 

 not wrinkled. ® 2/ , . , . , 



M. crispa, Citrled M. In country gardens, rarely m waste places ; with 

 erect stem (4° - 6° high) leafy to the top, rounded 5 - 7-lobed or angled leaves 

 very much crisped round the margin, flowers clustered and almost sessile in the 

 axils, and fruit slightly wrinkled. (J) 



« « Flowers larger, more or less showy, l^'-2' in diameter; the purple, rose-color, 

 or sometimes white petals much exceeding the calyx : stem erect. 



M. Maurititoa, sometimes called Tree Mallow. Cult. ; 3° - 5° high, 

 with rounded 5-lobed smooth or smoothish leaves, and clusters in their axils of 



