XXIII. MALVACEAE. 
257 
Urena.] 
var. tomentosa, U. tomeniosa, Bl. Bijdr. 65. 
A tall strict plant 8 ft. tall, very grey-tomentose. Leaves 
elliptic densely woolly with stellate hairs, thicker in texture, margins 
denticulate, apex rounded, base narrowed 1 to 2 in. long, *5 to 
75 in. wide; nerves and reticulations strongly elevate beneath, 
inarching. Flowers numerous on the ends of the branches, sub- 
sessile. Hab. Setul heaths. Distrib. Java, Sumatra. 
(2) U. rigida Wall. Cat. 1929 {partly ); Masters, lx. i. 330. 
Decaschistia pulchella Ridl. Journ. Roy. As. Soc. S. Br. 59, p. 76. 
A shrub 1 to 2 ft. tall, branched, sprinkled with stellate hairs. 
Leaves ovate or orbicular blunt, base broad, serrate; nerves 8, 
1 in. long and as wide; petioles slender, 1 in. long. Flowers 
numerous, nearly sessile in axils of reduced leaves at end of stem. 
Epicalyx campanulate, with 5 linear lobes. Sepals linear acuminate, 
hairy. Corolla 2 in. across, crimson; petals spathulate, apex 
rounded. Capsule *1 in. long, hairy. Hab. Rare; heaths, Setul. 
Malacca (Griffith). There are specimens of this beautiful plant 
in Herb. Kew, labelled “ Malacca, white, Griffith,” probably 
wrongly localized. Distrib. Tenasserim, Siam, Cambodia, Borneo. 
5 . HIBISCUS, L. 
Herbs, shrubs or trees. Leaves entire or palmately lobed. 
Inflorescence axillary. Epicalyx of 5 or more lobes, free or connate 
at the base. Calyx 5-toothed or 5-lobed, valvate. Petals 5, 
adnate at base to the staminal-tube. Staminal-tube truncate 
or 5-toothed; filaments numerous; anthers reniform i-celled. 
Ovary 5-celled, cells 3- or more-ovuled. Styles 5, connate below. 
Stigmas capitate or spathulate. Capsule loculicidally 5-valved, 
sometimes with false partitions. Seeds glabrous, hairy or woolly. 
Species about 150, tropics of the whole world. 
Cultivated species of Hibiscus are also H. esculentus Linn. 
Kachang Bendi or Kachang Lindir, also known as Lady’s Fingers. 
A tall herb with pale creamy yellow flowers and glabrous pods 
used as a vegetable. 
H. rosa-sinensis L : nn. The garden Hibiscus, Bunga Raya. 
Cultivated as a garden shrub, together with H. schizopetalus, Hook f., 
of Zanzibar, with contort petals and a long stamen tube. Many 
varieties and hybrids of these two are in cultivation. The leaves 
are used for blackening shoes, hence the popular name “ Shoe- 
flower,” the flowers for colouring sweetmeats and preserves, and 
as a demulcent in venereal disease. The bark contains a good 
fibre. 
H. mutabilis Linn., with white flowers turning pink, is also a 
common cultivated shrub from China and H. syriacus Linn, with 
violet flowers. Both species usually with double flowers. 
Fl.M.P., 1. 
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