eiBiscus.] MALVACUJE. 91 



usually grown with other crops, or as a border to fields of sugarcane, 

 ■cotton or indigo. It is more extensively cultivated in Central and S. 

 India, and is reported to be wild on the eastern side of the Northern 

 Ghats. The fibre is soft, white and silky, and though not so valuable as: 

 that oi. sanai {Crotalaria juncea), it is largely used for making coarse 

 sacking and ropes. In the Dacca District of Bengal it constitutes the 

 chief material in the manufacture of paper. The young leaves aroused 

 as a potherb, and the oily seeds are eaten when roasted. Various parts 

 of the plant are used medicinally. 



9. H. Gibsoni, Stocks ex Harv. 4* Sand. Fl. Oa'p. ii, 587 ; F.B. I. i, 339. 

 An undershrab. Branches bristly or with minute prickles. Leaves 



1-3 in., deeply palmately divided; lobes oblong-lanceolate, serrate, 

 : glabrous or hairy; petiole as long as the blade. Peduncles axillary, 

 csolitary, longer than the leaves. Bracteoles free, linear, prickly, curving 

 over the calyx. SepaZs lanceolate, connate below. Corolla twice the 

 length of the bracteoles, yellow with a purple centre or wholly! purple. 

 Capsule ovoid, pointed ; valves setose. Seeds pilose. 

 Merwara. DiSTBiB. : Punjab, Sindh, Deccan, Konkan ; also in Afghan- 

 istan, S. Trop. Africa and N. Australia. 



10. H. Sabdariffa, Linn. Sp. PI. 695 ; W. cS- A. Prod. 52; Boyle. III. 

 84 ; Field ^ Gar d. Crops Hi, 30; Watt E. D. Vern. Patwa, Idl amhdri. 

 (Eoselle, or Eed Sorrel •. 



An erect glabrous annual, without prickles. Stems often reddish. 

 Lower leaves undivided ; upper ipalmately 3-5-lobed, glandular beneath ; 

 petiole 2 in. Peduncles axillary, solitary, very short, thickened at the 

 summit. Bracteoles 8-12, adnate to the base of the calyx. Calyx accres- 

 cent ; sepals connate below the middle into a deep red fleshy Icup, bristly. 

 Corolla 2| in. across, yellow. Capsule ovoid, pointed, villous, shorter 

 than the calyx. Seeds reniform, subglabrous. 



This plant is cultivated in many gardens, chiefly for the sake of the 

 edible fleshy calyx and capsule, from which an acid jelly is prepared. 

 In Bengal, where the climate is more favourable, it is grown to a much 

 larger extent. It is found also as a cultivated plant in most tropical 

 countries. A strong silky fibre is obtained from the stems, and the fruit 

 and seeds are used medicinally. 



11. H. ficulneus, Linn. Sp. PI. 695 ; F. B. I. i, 340. Watt E. D. H. 

 ■prostratus, Eoxh. FL Ind. Hi, 208. H, strictus, Poxh. ; I.e. 206. Abelmos- 

 chus ficulneus, W. ^ A. Prod. 53. 



-A large prickly annual, 6-14 ft. high. Branches usually prickly with 

 small sharp tubercles. Leaves palmately 3-7-lobed, with wide sinuses ; 

 lobes obovate, narrowed to, the base, unequally toothed. Petiole 2^-4 in,, 

 as long as the blade, often minutely prickly ; stipules subulate, caducous. 

 Peduncles | the length of the petioles ; upper forming a leafless raceme. 

 Bracteoles 5-6, small, setaceous, villous, quickly falling. Calyx spatha- 

 ceous, the filiform ends forming a long tip to the buds. Corolla about 

 2 in. across, white with a pink centre. Capsule 1^ in. long, ovoid, 

 5-angled, tomentose, covered with viscid points when green, /Seeds 

 :globose, slightly pilose. 



