MALLOW FAMILY 



colors range through a wide series of reds and yellows melting 

 into white. The double forms are popular, but the singles hold 

 their own because of their individuality and real beauty. A 

 group of well-grown Hollyhocks in bloom is worth going far to 

 see and the time has been when they were easy of cultivation, 

 but of late years the plants have fallen victims to a parasitical 

 fungus, Piiccinia malvacearum, which has discouraged . and dis- 

 hesirtened growers. 



MARSH MALLOW 



■ Althka officinalis. 



An erect perennial, naturalized from Europe in the salt marshes of 

 the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to New Jersey. August, Sep- 

 tember. 



Stem. — Two to four feet high, branching. 



Zeai/ei-.^Velvety-downy, alternate, ovate, toothed, sometimes three- 

 lobed. 



Flowers. — Mallow -like pale crimson-pink and veined. 



Calyx. — Surrounded by an involucre of six to nine bracts. 



The name Marsh Mallow, frequently applied to the Swamp 

 Rose Mallow, properly belongs to this species. Naturalized- from 

 Europe, it has found a home on our Eastern sea-coast and in 

 midsummer beautifies the marshes from Cape Cod to Cape May. 

 Its hollyhock flowers are a pale crimson-pink borne in small 

 terminal clusters or at the leaf axils. The thick, mucilaginous 

 root is used in the making of confectionery. 



SWAMP ROSE MALLOW. HIBISCUS 



Hibiscus moscMutos. Hibiscus paluslris. 



Hibiscus is an ancient name of obscure origin. 



A tall perennial sending up strong, leafy canes each year which bear 

 at their summit large hollyhock-like flowers. Found in marshes along 

 the coast from Massachusetts to Florida and in interior marshes- west 

 to Michigan. 



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