78 MALVACEM. [AixHiEA. 



1. ALTHJEA. Linn. ; Fl Brit. Ind. i. 319. 



Herbs, pubescent or villous, erect or decumbent. Leaves more or 

 less deeply divided. Flowers peduQcIed, axillary, solitary or fasci- 

 cled, or in terminal racemes. iJrae^eo^es 6-9, connate at the base. 

 Ovary many -celled; styles as many as the carpels, filiform, inner sur- 

 faces stiginatose ; ovules 1 in each cell. Carjpels numerous, ulti- 

 mately separating from the short torus. Seeds solitary in each oar- 

 pel, ascending. 



A. rosea, L., is the common Holly-hock, often cultivated in Indian 

 gardens. A, oficinalis, L. (Marsh Mallow) is found wild in Kashmir. 



A. Ludwigii, Linn. Mant. 98 ; F. B. I. i, 319. Malva ma.lwensia,'E dgew. 



A slender branching hispid annual. Stems 6'-12 in. high, prostrate or 

 ascending. Leaves long-petioled, orbicular, deeply 5-7-lobed, lobes 

 wedge-shaped, 3-fid. Bracteoles 7-9, as long as the calyx. Flowers shortly 

 peduncled, few or lin clusters, |-f in. in diam , whitish. Petals exceed- 

 ing the lanceolate se pals. Carpels glabrous, wrinkled at the sides. 



Agra dist. (Munro), B andelkhand (Edgeworth) . Distrib. : Punjab* 

 Sindh, Baluchistan ; westward to the Mediterranean j also in S. Africa , 



2. MALVA, Linn.; FL Brit. Ind. i. 320. 



Downy herbs. Leaves lobed. Flowers in axillary tufts. Brac- 

 teoles 3, distinct. Sepals 5, connate at the base. Petals emargi- 

 nate, connate at the extreme base. Staminal-iuhQ antheriferous to 

 the top, without sterile teeth. Ovary many-celled ; styles as many 

 as the carpels ; stigmas linear ; ovules 1 in each cell. ^i\iQ carpels 

 1-seeded, indehiscent, separating from a short conical torus. Seed 

 solitary, ascending. — Temperate regions of the Old World. Some of 

 the species have become widely diffused as weeds of cultivation. 

 Erect herbs. 



Corolla;about twice the length of the calyx . 1. M. verticillata. 

 Corolla 3-4 times "the length of the calyx . 2. M. sylveelris. 

 A procumbent herb corolla scarcely longer than 

 the calyx . • . « . . . 3. If. parviflora. 



1." M, verticUlata.' Linn. 8p. PI. 689} F.B.I, i, 820; Watt E. D. 

 An erect branching pubescent annual or perennial, 2-4 ft. high. 

 Leaves suborbicalar, 5-6-lobed, cordate, downy. Flowers small, nearly 

 sessile, in dense axillary clusters. Bracteoles linear. Caly x-lohea deltoid- 

 lanceolate. Petals notched, about twice as long as the calyx. Carpels 

 10-12, inclosed within theaporesoent c^lyx, reticulate at the sides, pro- 

 minently ribbed on the back. 



