MALVA MUNROANA.-MR. MUNRO’S MALLOW. 
Class XVI. MONADELPHIA. Order III. POLYANDRIA. 
Natural Order, MALVACEAE. THE MALLOW TRIBE. 
This plant was found by Mr. Douglas abundantly upon the barren plains of the Columbia, in July 
1826, and is closely allied to Malva miniata of Cavanilles. 
In our gardens it does not possess any very striking beauty, but this is probably owing to a want of 
the right inode of managing it, for Mr. Douglas speaks of it as one of the most beautiful of the plants he 
collected ; and it appears from his dried specimens that it really is a far more showy plant when wild than 
when cultivated. It suffers much in beauty from rain, which discharges the rich vermilion of the petals, and 
gives the flowers a dirty red appearance. We have hitherto seen it cultivated in a rich border, or in peat 
earth, in such situations it does not thrive, it would perhaps be better in a coarse gravelly soil, amono- 
shaded rockwork. 
Mr. Douglas named the species in compliment to Mr. Munro, the gardener to the Horticultural 
Society. 
It does not ripen seeds, but is easily increased by cuttings; if allowed to form a single bush, its ascend- 
ing branches root at the base, and increase plentifully. 
Covered all over with whitish down. Stem ascending, from a foot and a half to 2 feet high, taper. 
Leaves roundish, cordate, somewhat 5-lobed, toothed ; the middle lobe larger than the rest. Flowers 
panicled, arranged rather on one side. Calyx campanulate, 5-cleft, with an involucrum consisting of three 
setaceous deciduous leaflets. Corolla vermilion-coloured, roundish, with rounded, emarginate petals. 
Cappella very numerous, capsular, one-seeded, 2-valved, reticulated, arranged in a circle.* 
The study of botany is not confined to the details of science, to the structure of plants, or even to an 
acquaintance with those curious facts which betoken that the hand of a Great Master has been occupied in 
their construction. It embraces a wider field, and has conferred incalculable blessings on the whole family 
of mankind; for if we except the inhabitants of the Arctic regions, who principally subsist upon the flesh of 
seals, there is scarcely any description of civilized human beings who may not gratefully acknowledge the 
innumerable benefits which they have derived from an acquaintance with its two most important branches ; 
the virtues of different plants and their wonderful adaptation to the wants of animals and men. They have 
prepared the way for blessings of a more exalted character, and inclined the once wretched inhabitants of the 
Society and Friendly Islands, with the miserable rangers of Chickamaugah, and those of various other dis- 
tricts, not only to appropriate the unexplored riches of their soil, but also to receive with thankfulness the 
offers held out to them for ameliorating their moral as well as physical condition. 
But not to multiply examples. “ If you would behold an instance of what may be effected in any coun- 
try by an acquaintance with the vegetable kingdom,” quit for a moment the banks of the Seine, and ascend 
one of the steepest summits of the mountains of the Vosges. “Come and behold the Ban de la Roche : 
climb with me the rocks so sublimely piled on each other, which separate this canton from the rest of the 
world ; and though the scene and the climate appear unfavourable and forbidding, I venture to assure you an 
ample recompense for the fatigue of the ascent .”f 
In the reign of Louis XV. the whole of the country was uncultivated, and almost inacessible, contain- 
ing fourscore hungry and naked families, a starving population on a barren soil. The ground was naturally 
sterile, and evergreens, such as the lichens, mosses, horsetails, hepatic®, confervee, and the families which 
delight in elevated situations with little mould, formed the principal clothing of the heights of Ban de la 
Roche. 
By means of the introduction of agriculture and an acquaintance with the vegetable productions, which 
by ameliorating the condition of the people, led the way for the arts of civilized life, the once miserable po- 
pulation of the Ban now live in respectability and comfort. This wonderful amelioration has been produced 
under providence by the wisdom, the zeal, and the perseverance of M. Jean Frederic Oberlin. 
Descended from a learned family of Strasbourg, and educated at the college of that city, M. Oberlin 
brought to the Ban de la Roche extensive and practical knowledge, with an ardent desire of appropriating 
his various attainments in science, philosophy, and religion, to the temporal and spiritual happiness of his 
parishioners. At the first glance which he threw over the mountains destined to the scene of his minis- 
terial labours, he perceived the necessities of the people, and the difficulties which opposed their removal. 
* Botanical Register. 
f Speech of M, Le Comte Francois de Neuf Chateau to the Royal Agricultural Society of Paris. Authority, Ban de la Roche. 
