( 226 .) 
AlLTH^E'A* *. 
Linnean Class and Order. Monade'lphia f, Polya'ndria. 
Natural Order. Mai/ya'ce.e^, Jiiss. Gen PI p. 271. — Sm. 
Gram, of Bot. p. 148. — Lindl. Syn. p. 40. ; Introd. to Nat. Syst. of 
Bot. p. 33. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 476. — Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 502. — 
Don’s Gen. Syst. of Gard. & Bot. v. i. p. 458 . — Rosales ; subord. 
RnyEADosAi; sect. Malvina?; Burn. Outl. of Bot. v.ii. pp.614, 
784, &814 . — Columnifeua;, Linn. 
Gen. Char. Calyx (fig. 1.) inferior, double, permanent. Outer 
Calyx (Involucrum, Lindl.) smallest, of 1 sepal, in from 6 to 9 nar- 
row, deep segments ; inner Calyx of 1 sepal, divided half way down 
into 5 broader segments. Corolla (fig. 2.) of 5, inversely heart- 
shaped, blunt, rather oblique, flat petals, attached by their broad 
claws to the bottom of the tube of the stamens. Filaments (see 
fig. 3.) numerous, hair-like, united below into a tube ; separate in 
the upper part, both at the summit and sides. Anthers somewhat 
kidney-shaped. Gcrmen (see fig. 3.) orbicular, depressed. Style 
cylindrical, as long as the tube of the filaments Stigmas (see 
fig. 3.) about 20, bristle-shaped, nearly the length of the style. 
Capsules (fig. 5.) as many as the stigmas, compressed, ranged in a 
circle round the columnar receptacle (see fig. 4), each of 2 valves 
and 1 cell (see fig. 6.), finally deciduous. Seeds (fig. 7.) solitary, 
kidney-shaped, compressed. 
The outer calyx or involucrum of from 6 to 9 segments ; and the 
numerous, 1-seeded capsules, collected in an orbicular head; will 
distinguish this from other genera in the same class and order. 
Two species British. 
ALTHiE'A OFFICINA'LIS. Common Marsh-mallow§. Wymote. 
Spec. Char. Leaves clothed with soft white down on both sur- 
faces ; heart-shaped or egg-shaped, toothed, undivided or somewhat 
5-lobed. Peduncles (flower-stalks) axillary, many-flowered, much 
shorter than the leaves. 
Engl. Mot. t. 147. — Woodv. Med. Mot. v. i. p. 146. t. 53. — Linn. Sp. PI. p. 
966 — VVilld. Sp. PI. v. iii. pt. i. p. 770. — JIuds. FI. Angl. (2nd ed.) p.3Q6. — 
Sm. FI. Brit. v. ii. p. 738. — Ait llorl. Kew. (2nd ed.) v. iv. p. 207. — Sm. Engl. 
FI. v. iii. p. 244. — With. (7th ed.) v. iii. p. 807. — Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 639.— 
Lindl. Syn. p. 41. — Hook. Brit. FI. p. 315. — Lightf. FI. Scot. v. i. p. 373. — 
Thornt. Family Herb. p. 625.— Purt. Midi. FI. v.i. p.322. — Relh. FI. Cant, 
(•trd cd.) p. 281. — Hook. FI. Scot. p. 208. — Don’s Gen Syst. of Gard. and Bot. 
v. i. p. 466. — Mack. Catal. of PI. of Irel.p. 64. ; FI. Hib. pt. t. p. 37 . — Althcea 
vulgaris, Itay’s Syn. p. 252 — Althee'a Ibiscus, Johnson's Gerarde, p. 933. 
Looai.itif.s. — I n salt marshes, and on the banks of ditches; especially near 
the sea ||. — Cambridgesh. On the bank of a ditch between the Osier-holt near 
Fig. 1. The double Calyx. — F'ig. 2. The Corolla. — F'ig. 3. Germen, Stamens, 
Style, and Stigmas. — F'ig. 4. Fruit, accompanied by the inner permanent Calyx. — 
F'ig. 5. A Capsule. — Fig. 6. Transverse section of ditto. — Fig. 7. A Seed. — 
Fig. 8. One of the stellated Hairs.— Figs. 1 Ik 8 magnified. 
* From altko, to cure ; in allusion to the well known salutary effects of 
Althee'a officinalis. Don. 
t See Lavatera arborea, folio 106, note +. { See folio 106, a. 
$ In the Language of Flowers, this plant is consideied the emblem of Bene- 
ficence ; and the friend of the poor man. 
|| A solitary plant of Althee’a officinalis was found on the margin of a watery 
ditch in Long Meadow, near Oxford, by .Mr. Josuni Bast, Aug. 9, 1835. It 
is probably an escape from the Oxford Garden. 
