86 MALVACE^. [Payonia^ 



connate at the base. Petals 5, connate below or adnate to the tube 

 of the stamens. Staminal-iMhQ truncate or 5-toothed. Ovary h- 

 celled, with 1 ovnle in each cell ; styles 10 ; stigmas capitate. Ripa 

 carpels 5, opposite the sepals, indehiscent, or more or less 2-valved, 

 separating from the axis, smooth, sometimes winged ; beak 0. Seed 

 ascending. Species about 70, mostly tropical American. 



P. odorata, WilU. Sp. Fl. Hi, 887 ; Roxh. Fl. Ind. in, 214; W. 4^ A.. 

 Prod. 47 ; F. B. I. i. 331; Wait E. D. 



An erect branching annual, l|-3 ft. high. Stems covered with soft vis- 

 cous pubescence and a few longer hairs. Leaves 1-3 in. long, roundish,^ 

 ovate, cordate, shallowly 3-5-lobed, dentate or the lower ones entire^, 

 stellate-hairy on both surfaces, often felted and whitish beneath ; lower 

 petioles longer than the blades. Peduncles as long as the leaves, 1- 

 flowered, clustered at the ends of the branches. Bracteoles 10-12. Sepals 

 lanceolate. Corolla pale pink or white, twice the length of the calyx- 

 Carpels gibbous on their backs, wingless, unarmed, dehiscent. 



Bundelkhand» Distrib. : Bengal to S. India and Ceylon, Burma; also 

 in E. Trop. Africa. A soft white fibre of excellent quality is obtained 

 from this plant. It is cultivated in gardens for its sweet-scented 

 flowers, and the fragrant roots are used medicinally. 



9. DECASCHISTIA. W. & A. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. i. 332. 



Shrubs. Leaves more or less lobed. Flowers shortly stalked, 

 axillary, or clustered and terminal. Bracteoles 10. Sepals 5,. 

 connate below. Petals 5, connate below and adnate to the tube of 

 the stamens. Staminal-iuhe giving off many filaments below the 

 apex. Ovary 10-celled, cells 1-ovuied ; styles 10, connate below ; 

 stigmas capitate.^ Capnule loculicidally 10-valved. Seeds renifornx, 

 ascending. Species 5, of which 2 are confined to India. 



D. crotonifolia, W.Sf A. Prod. 52 ; Royle Til. 83; F. B. I. i, 332. 

 Leaves about 4 in. long and 2 in. wide, ovate or slightly lobed, coarsely 

 toothed, velvety on both surfaces! with short dense tomentum, whitish 

 beneath, midrib with a glandular pore at the base ; petiole I5 in. Peduncle 

 longer than the petiole. Bracteoles nearly as long as the calyx. Calyx- 

 lobes triangular, acuminate. Capsule slightly hispid. Seeds glabrous^ 

 Near Delhi (Eoyle). Disteib. : Konkan. Deccan, Mysore. 



10. SENBA, Cav. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. i. 333. 



A downy undershrub. Leaves orbicular, 3-lobed, Inflorescence- 

 axillary. Bracteoles 3, large, membranous, free. Sepals 5, lanceo- 

 late, connate below. Petals 5, connate below. Staminal-\7ak)Q 

 lightly 5-toothed, antheriferous below the summit. Ovary o-celled,. 



