10 
DESCRIPTION OF MEDICINAL, PLANTS. 
long wedge-shaped leaves, and small stalkless clusters, or sol- 
itary small yellow flowers, above the last leaves on the 
branches. It is much esteemed in France as a potherb, where 
three varieties are cultivated. It possesses antiscorbutic prop- 
erties. With us it is only known as a hog- mast. Flowers 
throughout summer ; native of the Old World. 
MALVACEJE. (Mallow Family.) 
Malva rotundifolia, L. Mallow. Annual, with tough downy 
stems lying upon the ground, has roundish- lobed leaves and 
small pale-bluish flowers clustered in their axils. Calyx 
with a 3-leaved involucel at the base, like an outer calyx. 
Petals obcordate. Styles numerous, stigmatic down the inner 
side; column of stamens anther- bearing at the top. Way- 
sides and cultivated grounds, naturalized, from Europe. 
FI. May-June. The herb and flowers. 
Gossypium herbaceum. L. Cotton Plant. Indigenous to the 
Asiatic continent, cultivated in India, from the remotest 
periods of Hindu culture. Gossypium Barbadoense and 
Peruvianum were woven into cloth at the time of the con- 
quest. Both the long (sea-island) and short staple cotton 
(upland) are derived from G. Barbadoense. Leaves alternate, 
heart-shaped, 3 or 5-lobed, with the lobes sharp or rounded. 
Flowers large and showy, growing singly upon stalks in the 
axils of the leaves. They have a cup-shaped, shortly 5- 
toothed calyx, surrounded by a larger outer calyx or involucel 
of three broad, deeply cut segments, joined together, and 
heart-shaped at the base; a corolla of 5 petals; many stamens, 
united into a central column ; and a 3 or 5-celled ovary. 
The fruit is a 3 or 5-celled capsule, which bursts open through 
the middle of each cell when ripe, exposing the numerous 
' seeds, covered with cellular filaments, known under the name 
of cotton. The seeds themselves contain a considerable 
quantity of oil, which, together with the cake, formed by 
pressing, are also important articles of commerce. The bark 
of the root is used medicinally. 
