100 : FLOWERING PLANTS 
itself. The nectaries in this species are situated between the 
bases of the petals, and are protected from the rain by hairs 
(Hig. 67). In this species the stamens are ripe before the stigmas, 
69 “0 so that cross-pollination 
_. 1s doubly provided for. 
‘British Lhe follow- 
Genera. ing are the 
British genera : 
1. The. Tree Mallow, 
which has no epicalyx 
and is found chiefly on 
the west and _ south 
coasts of England and 
Ireland, growing on 
| Fires. 68 ee eae OF Maya ee , 
SYLVESTRIS IN Two Sracus, 2. The Mallows proper. 
3. Althea, the genus 
to which the garden Hollyhock belongs. 
_ 4, Malope, a commonly cultivated annual. It has an 
epicalyx of 3 large, heart-shaped. bracteoles, and its gynecium 
is different from that of the other genera. The carpels are 
arranged irregularly in vertical rows, and separate from each 
other even before they are ripe. The style is divided into as 
many branches as there are carpels. 
Character. 1+ Lhe lobed, stipulate leaves, palmately veined. 
istics of the 2. The regular, hypogynous flowers, with united 
Oadels “calyx. petals twisted in the bud, and mona- 
delphous stamens. 

Distribution _HIS 1s an extensive Order, consisting of 800 
ofthe species, most of which are tropical. It may be 
Order. divided into two main groups, according to the 
nature of the fruit. In the Mallow group, which includes the 
chief British genera, the fruit is a schizocarp ; whilst in many ot 
the tropical plants belonging to this Order, such as the Cotton- 
plant, the Hibiscus, Silk-cotton trees, the fruit is a capsule, 
dehiscing along the midst of the carpel and containing many 
seeds (“ Elementary Botany,” Fig. 94), 


