Hypericum .] 
IX. HYPERICIN^.®. 
29 
1. H. gramineum, Horst. ; — FI. N. Z. i. 36. An erect or ascending, 
rather wiry, quite glabrous, perennial-rooted herb, branching from the root, 
with 4-anglecl branches, 6 to 12 in. high, slender and sparingly leafy. Leaves 
small, i to 1 in. long, sessile, cordate, oblong, obtuse, quite entire, black- 
dotted, margins usually revolute. Flowers subsolitary or in 3-chotomous 
terminal cymes, £ to | in. across, on rather stout, erect, rigid peduncles. 
Sepals oblong or ovate, obtuse or acute, black-dotted, quite entire. Petals 
longer than the calyx, golden-yellow, curling inwards as they wither. Stamens 
nearly free. Capsule ovoid, acute, longer or shorter than the sepals. — Labill. 
FI. Austr. Caled. t. 53. — Brathys Forsteri, Spach. 
Common in grassy places throughout the islands, Banks and Solander , etc. ; also fre- 
quent in temperate Australia, New Caledonia, and the hilly country of Tndia. 
2. H. japonicum, Thunb. ; — FI. N. Z. i. 37. A much smaller plant 
than H. gramineum , with prostrate branches, broader, flat leaves, smaller, 
often sessile flowers, having broader, more obtuse sepals, and shorter, rounder 
capsules ; but apparently intermediate forms occur both in New Zealand, 
Australia, and India, in all which countries both occur, and I suspect they are 
the extreme forms of one variable species. — H. pusillum, Choisy ; A. Cunn. 
Prodr.; Ascyrum humifusum, Labill. FI. Nov. Holl. ii. t. 175. 
Abundant in moist, grassy places, etc., throughout the islands, Banks and Solander, etc. 
Also found in many parts of temperate and subtropical Asia. A very similar and perhaps 
identical plant, inhabits the west coasts of temperate North and South America. 
Order X. MALVACEAE. 
Herbs shrubs or trees, with (usually) tough fibrous inner bark, alter- 
nate stipulate leaves, and stellate hairs. Flowers usually hermaphrodite, 
regular and large. — Calyx 5-lobed, lobes valvate. Petals 5, hypogynous, 
usually connate at the base, adnate to the staminal tube, imbricate. Disk 0 
or a small torus. Stamens very numerous, their filaments united into a tube ; 
anthers often reniform, 1-celled. Ovary of 1 or more free or connate 1- or 
many-ovuled carpels, whorled round and adnate with the torus ; styles as 
many as carpels, connate below, filiform above. Fruit of one or more inde- 
hiscent or 2-valved cocci, or capsular. Seeds often hairy ; albumen little or 
none ; cotyledons large, folded. 
A very large Order, abundant both in the tropics and temperate zones, to which the Mal- 
lov •), Lavatera, Hollyhock, Cotton, and many other well-known cultivated New Zealand garden 
plants belong. 
* Bracts 0 or small. Stigmas longitudinal. Ovules solitary .... 1. Plagianthus. 
Bracts 0 or small. Stigmas capitate. Ovules solitary 2. Hoheria. 
Bracts large. Stigmas capitate. Ovules 2 to many 3. Hibiscus. 
1. PLAGIANTHUS, Forst. 
Shrubs or small trees, with very tough inner bark. Flowers uni- or bi- 
sexual. — Bracts 0, or small and distant from the calyx. Calyx 5-tootlied or 
5 -fid. Staminal tube divided above into many short or long filaments. 
Ovary of 1 free, or many more or less united, 1-ovuled carpels ; styles filiform 
or club-shaped, combined below, stigmatiferous towards the apex along the 
