Hibiscus.'] 
MALYACE/E. 
25 
* H. ficulneus , Linn. D.C. Prod. i. 448, (Lagunea aculeata, Cav.), a 
native of India, is established in Mauritius, m marshy ground at Pam- 
plemousses. It is a robust erect annual, with branches scabrous with 
hard tubercles, not otherwise pilose, long-petioled glabrous round- 
cordate leaves with 5 deltoid or oblong lobes, 5 lanceolate caducous 
bracteoles, pilose sepals, connate nearly througaout, large white corolla 
with a rosy eye, and carpels 1\ in. long, pilose, triq uetrous, with a 
beak. 
* H. Manihot , Linn. ; D.C. Prod. i. 448, a native of China, is natural- 
ised in Mauritius, round Mont Plaisir. It is a tall robust annual, with 
thinly bristly stems, long-petioled cordate leaves, glabrous, with 5-7 
deep linear lobes, 5-6 large oblong-lanceolate bristly persistent brac- 
teoles, a spathaceous calyx faintly toothed at the top, petals ob ovate, 
2-3 in. long and broad, yellow, with a purple eye, and beaked hairv 
narrow triquetrous carpels 1J in. long. 
7. THESPESIA, Corr. 
Epicalyx of 5 lanceolate deciduous bracteoles. Calyx large, nearly 
entire. Staminal column only toothed at top. Ovary 5-celled; ovules 
few in a cell; styles clavate, stigmas connate. Fruit hard, dry, 
obscurely 5-angled indehiscent. Seed obovoid ; cotyledons crumpled ; 
albumen thin. — Trees or shrubs, with entire or lobed leaves, and large 
showy yellow flowers. Distrib. Tropics of Old World. Species 6. 
1. T. populnea, Corr.; DC. Prod. i. 456. A shrub or low tree, with 
branches, leaves below, calyx and outside of corolla clothed with minute 
brownish lepidote scales, not otherwise pilose. Leaves long-petioled, 
large, firm, entire, round, deeply cordate. Flowers many, solitary, 
axillary, peduncled. Petals obovate, 2-3 in. long and broad, yellow, 
with a purple spot. Fruit 1 in. or more thick, umbilicate at the apex. 
Hibiscus populneus, Linn. 
Moist places near the sea-coast. Seychelles, Perville ! Mauritius, He aux 
Tonneliers, Bojer ; about Port Louis, Dr. Ayres. Regarded by Bojer as introduced. 
Rodriguez, all round the island. Balfour ! Polynesia to tropical Africa. Porcher. 
* Gossypium barbadense , Linn. (Gr. vitifoiium, Lam.) is reported 
by Dr. Ayres as naturalised on Flat Island. It is the commonly-culti- 
vated fruticose species, and may be known from C. arboreum by the 
Cotton separating readily from the seeds. In the Mauritius it is called 
Cotonier des Seychelles. Both this and G. herbaceum, Linn, are esta- 
blished in Rodriguez, covering the Pierrot almost entirely. 
Eriodendron anfractuosum, DC. ( Ouat ) is in Dr. Balfour’s Rodriguez her- 
barium, from two trees seen near the station of the oldest inhabitants . It is a native 
of the West Indies, and commonly planted in Mauritius and through the tropical 
zone of the Old World. 
