566 MALVACEAE. [ Hibiscus. 
large and showy. Bracteoles numerous, rarely few, usually narrow, free 
or connate at the base. Calyx 5-toothed or 5-fid, valvate. Petals 5, 
adnate at the base to the staminal column. Staminal column truncate or 
5-toothed at the summit; filaments many, inserted on the sides of the 
column; anthers reniform. Ovary 5-celled; ovules 3 or more in each 
cell; styles 5, spreading ; stigmas capitate. Capsule loculicidally 5-valved. 
Seeds glabrous, hairy, or woolly. ; 
HW: Ro®tenra « 1? € Litt Ge 
A large and beautiful genus, abundant“in the tropicatregions of both hemi- 
spheres, a few species only extending into the North or South Temperate Zones. Both 
the New Zealand species have a wide distribution outside the Dominion. 
Annual or biennial, 1-2 ft. Leaves deeply lobed. Flowers 
axillary iP A " 52 “4 ve .. lL. A. trionum, 
Perennial, 3-6 ft.; stem prickly. Leaves broad, lobes shallow, 
Flowers in terminal racemes - 5 s .. 2. H. diversifolius. 
1. H. trionum Linn. Sp. Plant. (1753) 697—A simple or branched 
annual or biennial 1-2 ft. high, scabrous-pubescent or hispid; branches 
erect or spreading. Leaves very variable, 1-3in. long, lower orbicular- 
cordate with 3-5 shallow lobes, middle and upper deeply 3-5-lobed or 
-partite ; segments oblong or lanceolate, coarsely toothed or incised. Flowers 
on short axillary peduncles, large, 1-14 1n. diam., pale-yellow with a dark- 
brown centre. Bracteoles 7-12, narrow-linear, hispid. Calyx membranous, 
inflated, with numerous raised hispid veins, shortly 5-lobed. Capsule 
ovoid-globose, hirsute, enclosed in the bladdery calyx. Seeds glabrous.— 
Bot. Mag. (1795) t. 209; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i (1853) 28; Handb. 
N.Z. Fl. (1864) 31; Benth. Fl. Austral. 1 (1863) 210; VT. Kirk Students’ 
Fl. (1899) 73; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 81. H. vesicarius Cav. 
Diss. tii, 171, t. 64, f. 2; A. Cunn. Precur. (1839) n. 607; Raoul Chow 
(1846) 48. 
North Istanp: Sheltered places near the sea, from the North Cape to the 
Auckland Isthmus, always rare and local, now practically confined to the North Cape 
district. Hicks Bay, East Cape district, Bishop Williams. SournH Istanp: South 
Wanganui, Lyall. In most tropical countries outside America. 
2. H. diversifolius Jacg. Ic. Plant. Rar. t. 551.—A tall stout and rigid 
perennial 3-6 ft. high, often woody at the base; branches, petioles, and 
nerves of the leaves covered with short conical prickles. Leaves on stout 
petioles 2-3in. long; blade 2-4in., broadly cordate or nearly orbicular, 
irregularly toothed, angular or shghtly 3-5-lobed, scabrous. Flowers in 
terminal racemes, large, handsome, 2-3 in. diam., pale-yellow with a dark 
centre. Pedicels short; bracts lanceolate or 3-fid. Bracteoles 10, linear. 
Calyx-lobes lanceolate, bristly. Capsule ovoid, acuminate, densely hispid.— 
Benth. Fl. Austral. 1 (1863) 2138; T. Kirk m Trans. N.Z. Inst, 11 (1871) 
163; Students’ Fl. (1899) 73; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 81. 
Nort Istanp: Moist sandy places near the sea, from the North Cape to Hokianga 
and the Bay of Islands, rare, Colenso, T. Kirk! R. H. Matthews! T. F. C. Also 
in Australia, the Pacific islands, tropical Africa, &c. 
Both this and the preceding species are being rapidly destroyed by cattle, fires, 
&c., and are now rare or almost extinct in localities where they were plentiful twenty 
or thirty years ago. 
