THE INDIAN CRESS FAMILY. 



493 



coffee bags. Its wood is hard and indestructible under water. 

 Its pretty yellow flowers with purple centre make it a favou- 

 rite in hothouses. 



Sida rhomboidea and S. rhombifolia^ natives of India, S. 

 tilicEfolia of China, and 8. retusa of Queensland, are weedy 

 plants with slender stems, attaining the height of 3 or 4 feet, 

 having fibre equal to jute or hemp, but they are not so exten- 

 sively cultivated. 



Blacking-plant (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis). A shrub or small 

 tree, native of China. It is a showy plant in hothouses, 

 having red or yellow flowers, which when bruised yield a 

 black juice, used in China for colouring the eyebrows and for 

 blacking shoes. 



Syrian Rose {Hibiscus syriacus). A stifl'-branched deci- 

 duous shrub attaining the height of from 4 to 6 feet, native 

 of Syria, introduced into England at the end of the sixteenth 

 century. It is the only shrub of the family hardy in this 

 country, and is well known in gardens by its pretty pink 

 flowers in autumn. The mucilaginous seed-vessels of 

 Hibiscus esculentus are in the West Indies known by the 

 name of " Ochro Pods," and are used for thickening soups. 



The family is represented in this country by the Marsh 

 Mallow, already noticed ; by three species of Malva, and the 

 Tree Mallow {Lavatera arborea), a plant native of some parts 

 of the south coasts of England and the Bass Eock in the 

 Firth of Forth. In its wild state it has a stem about the size 

 of a walking-stick, rising to the height of 3 or 4 feet, and 

 quite hard, but when cultivated it grows to the height of 

 6 or 8 feet. 



THE TROPJEOLUM AND GERANIUM ALLIANCE. 

 The Indian Cress Family. 



(TROPiEOLACE^.) 



Herbs, annual or perennial, some with tuberous roots, and 

 trailing or climbing, succulent or wiry slender stems. Leaves 

 alternate, generally round, lobed, or more or less divided. 



