OF ORNAMENTAL EXOTIC PLANTS. 
25 
GENUS V. 
' ABUTILON Kunth, THE ABUTILON. 
Lin. Syst. MONADELPHIA POLYANDRIA. 
Generic Character. — Calyx naked, five-cleft, usually angular. | seeded, connected so closely together as to form a many-celled capsule, 
Style multifld at the apex. Carpels capsular, usually bladdery, five to mutic or awned at the apex. ((?. Don.') 
thirty, in a whorl around the central axis, one-celled, three or many- | 
Description, &c. — This genus has been divided from Sida from a difference in the seed-vessel ; which, in 
both genera, consists of several carpels, each carpel in Sida containing only one seed, while in Abutilon each 
carpel is many-seeded and usually bladdery. Almost all the plants now called Abutilon w^ere originally supposed 
to belong to Sida. They are all very ornamental, and neaidy all will flower in a greenhouse, though they appear 
to thrive better if kept in a stove at least part of the year. Some of the species will flow'er in the open air if 
brought forward in a flower-house or stove. 
1.— ABUTILON STRIATUM Dickson. THE STRIPED ABUTILON. 
Synonyme. — Sida picta Gill. 
Engravings. — Bot. Mag., t. 3840; The Botanist, t. 144; and our 
fig- 1. in PI- 8. 
Specific Character. — Leaves trilohed, serrated, very smooth, sub- 
cordate at the base. Peduncles very slender, and very long. Flowers 
campanulate. Styles eight, projecting beyond the stamens. Stigmas 
capitate. 
Description, &c. — This species is a native of Brazil, and it is found abundantly both on the lofty Organ 
Mountains, and in the valleys beneath. In this country it grows freely, and flowers abundantly in a moist stove ; 
but it also flowers freely, and becomes a stronger, though smaller, plant in a greenhouse, where its flowers continue 
to appear nearly all the year. The flowers in this country rarely open, but hang drooping on their long stems, 
only half-expanded, as represented in our figure ; but when exposed to the strong light of a tropical sun, the 
petals are said to open widely, and even to curve back. The plant is generally grown in a pot, one quarter of 
which is filled Avith broken potsherds, to insure perfect drainage. The soil should be a light sandy loam. As 
the stems are very slender, particularly when the plant is grown in a stove, they require to be supported by being 
trained against a wall or a trellis. Sometimes this species is planted in the open air ; and it will grow and flower, 
though not so freely as under glass, if in a sheltered situation, and protected from the winter and spring frosts. It 
was introduced in 1830. The species figured in the “ Botanical Magazine,” t. 3892, and called there Sida 
Bedfordiana, closely resembles Abutilon striatim, in its general appearance, but it differs in being a small tree, 
in the peduncles being articulated, which frequently occasions the flowers to fall before the seed-pods are formed, 
and in the petals and divisions of the calyx being slightly different in their form. The colom’ of the flowers is 
exactly the same. 
2.— ABUTILON VITIFOLIUM Presl. 
Synonyme. — Sida vitifolia Cav. 
Engravings. — Bot. Reg. for 1844, t. 57 ; Bot. Mag., t. 4227 ; 
and OUT fig. 2, in PI. 8. 
THE VINE-LEAVED ABUTILON. 
Specific Character. — Leaves cordate, three, five, or seven-lobed ; 
lobes acuminate, serrated. Peduncles terminal, racemosely umbellate, 
longer than the petioles. Carpels nine, united in a circle. 
Description, &c. — This is by far the handsomest species of the genus, and when planted in the free ground 
of a conservatory, it forms a bushy shrub, six feet high, with large vine-like leaves, and a profusion of beautiful 
lilac flowers, which make it seem one mass of blossom. In the neighbourhood of Dublin it has stood out upwards 
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