MALLOW FAMILY 



Stem.— Three to five feet high, leafy, hairy. 



Leaves— 'Alternate, large, ovate, sometimes slightly three-lobeii, cre- 

 nate-toothed, with soft hairs beneath, petioled. 



FloTiiers.— Mallow type and showy on one-flowered peduncles, four 

 to six inches across, rose or white, with or without a crimson eye. 



Ca/yx.— Five-cleft with an involucre of ten linear bractlets; not 

 inflated in fruit. 



Cordila.—Five obovate petals, ranging in color through rose to wljite. 



Stamens.— United in a long column, bearing anthers for much of its 

 length. 



• Styles.— United, bearing in full view above the stamen column five 

 capitate stigmas. 



Capiule. — Smooth, five-celled, sub-globose. 



Seeds. — Several or many in each cell. 



The flower of Hibiscus moscheutos greatly resembles a holly- 

 hock; it is, in fact, quite as showy, but there are not so many 

 individuals on the stem and the scale of color is not so varied. The 

 blossom may always be known as Hibiscus in distinction from 

 hollyhock by the five thread-like styles which protrude from the 

 column of stamens, each bearing at the end a little stigmatic ball. 

 This is characteristic of the genus. 



At home these magnificent flowers appear among sedges and 

 cat-tails, but, like so many others, the plant when transferred to 

 the garden finds a congenial home. 



A variety called Crimson Eye, a clear white with crimson centre, 

 was found in a swamp in New Jersey and introduced to the trade' 

 in 1894. 



TRAILING HOLLYHOCK. FLOWER-OF-AN-HOUR 



Hibiscus tribnum. 



A low annual appearing in gardens, but rarely cultivated, blooming 

 only in sunshine. Native to southern Europe and northern Africa. 

 Midsummer. 



Stem. — Erect or decumbent, leafy, hairy, one to two feet high. 



Leaves. — ^Alternate, lobed or three-parted, downy. 

 . -^-Flowers. — Mallow -shaped, solitary, in axils of the leaves,, pale-yellow _ 

 with a dark-reddish centre, open only in direct sunshine. 



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