MALVACEAE. 621 



leaves with a small spine-like tubercle at the base. In waste places. Me. to N. J., 

 Mich.. Kans.. Fla. and Tex., and in tropical Am. Summer. 



2. Sida Elliottii T. & G. Elliott's Sida. (I. F. f. 2428.) Perennial, gla- 

 brous or nearly so. 3-12 dm. high. Leaves short-petioled, linear or linear-oblong, 

 2-5 cm. long, 4-5 mm. wide, mostly obtuse, serrate-dentate; peduncles often 

 longer than the petioles; flowers axillary, yellow; calyx-teeth broadly ovate, acute; 

 carpels 8-10, dehiscent at the apex, slightly and abruptly pointed. In dry Soil, 

 southern Va. to Fla., Mo. and Chihuahua. Summer. 



3. Sida hermaphrodita (L.) Rusby. Virginia Mallow. (I. F. f. 2429.) 

 Perennial, 1-3 m. high. Leaves petioled, 7-15 cm. wide, ovate-orbicular, deeply 

 3-7-lobed or cleft, the lobes lanceolate or ovate, incised-dentate, acute or acumi- 

 nate; flowers white, 1 5-2.5 cm. broad, numerous; pedicels, calyx, and petioles of 

 the upper leaves finely pubescent; calyx-lobes acute; carpels about 10, acute, 

 dehiscent at the top. Along rivers, in rocky places, southern Penn. to Ohio, Va. 

 and Tenn. Summer. [S. Xapaea Cav.] 



4. Sida hederacea Torr. Round-leaved Sida. Perennial, low, decumbent. 

 Leaves reniform to broadly ovate, inequilateral, 1-5 cm. broad; flowers solitary or 

 few in the axils; peduncles recurved in fruit; petals white to yellowish; calyx 

 5 angled, the lobes ovate-lanceolate, acuminate; fruit short, conic, of 6-10 carpels. 

 In moist, often saline, soil, Kans. to Tex., Mex., Cal., Utah and Wash. 



7. ABUTILON Gaertn. 



Herbs or shrubs, sometimes trees in tropical countries, mostly soft-pubescent, 

 with cordate angular or lobed leaves and axillary flowers. Involucels none. Calyx 

 5-cleft. Cavities of the ovary 5-00 , 3-9-ovuled. Style-branches the same number 

 as the ovary-cavities, stigmatic at the apex; carpels 2-valved, often rostrate, falling 

 away from the axis at maturity. Seeds reniform, the upper ascending, the lower 

 pendulous or horizontal. [Name given by the celebrated Arabian physician Avi- 

 cenna (Ibn Sina). died 1037.] About 90 species, natives of warm and tropical 

 regions. In addition to the following, some 15 others inhabit the southern U. S. 



1. Abutilon Abutilon (L.) Rusby. Velvet Leaf. Indian Mallow. 

 (I. F. f. 2430.) Annual, stout, I -2 m. high, densely velvety-pubescent. Leaves 

 long-petioled, cordate, ovate-orbicular, 1-3 dm. wide, dentate, or nearly entire, 

 acuminate, the point blunt; flowers yellow, 1-2 cm. broad; peduncles shorter than 

 the petioles; head of fruit 2 cm. in diameter or more; carpels 12-15, pubescent, 

 dehiscent at the apex, each valve beaked by a slender awn. In waste places, fre- 

 quent or common throughout our area, except the extreme north. Nat. or adven- 

 tive from southern Asia. Aug.-Oct. 



8. SPHAERALCEA St. Hil. 



Herbs or shrubs. Bractlets 3, distinct, or united at the base. Cavities of the 

 ovary 5-30 , 2-3-ovuled. Style-branches the same number as the ovary-cavities, 

 stigmatic at the apex; carpels 2-valved, not septate between the seeds, separating 

 from the axis at maturity. Seeds reniform. [Greek, globe-mallow. | About 30 

 species, natives of America and S. Africa. In addition to the following, about 

 14 others occur in the southwestern U. S. 



Leaves nearly orbicular, 5-7-lobed; flowers pink or white. 1. S. acerifolia. 



Leaves lanceolate, crenulate; flowers red. 2. S. cuspidata. 



i. Sphaeralcea acerifolia Nutt. Maple- leaved Globe-mallow. (I. F. f. 

 2431.) Perennial, erect. 6-18 dm. high, finely stellate-pubescent and scabrous. 

 Leaves palmately 5-7-lobed or cleft, cordate, the lobes ovate or lanceolate, dentate, 

 acute; flowers 2.5-4 cm. broad, short-pedicelled, clustered in the upper axils or in 

 terminal spike-like racemes; bractiets of the involucels linear, shorter than the calyx; 

 calyx-lobes triangular, acute; carpels stellate-pubescent and hairy, not beaked. 

 Kankakee Co., 111.; Dak. to Nev. and Br. Col. Summer. 



2. Sphaeralcea cuspidata (A. Gray.) Britton. Sharp-fruited Globe- 

 m allow. (I. F. f. 2431a.) Perennial, densely stellate-canescent; stems leafy, 

 3-12 dm. high. Leaves firm, crenulate, the lower with petioles as long as the 

 blade, the others short-petioled, the larger 5-10 cm. long, sometimes hastately 

 bbed toward the base; flowers 1-2 cm. broad, clustered in the axils, short-pedi- 



