All the plants belonging to Malvaceæ bear so much resemblance to each other, that this order may be considered a very natural one; and it is one very remarkable for the botanical construction of its flowers. In some respects it resembles Linaceæ, quite enough indeed to show clearly the chain by which they are so beautifully linked together; but in others, it differs so decidedly as to show how completely they are distinct. _Fig._ 119, which represents the flower and seed-vessel of the Althæa frutex (_Hibiscus syriacus_), will serve to show the chief peculiarities of this order. The calyx consists of five sepals, below which is an involucrum of six or seven leaflets, which have the appearance of a second calyx. The corolla is cup-shaped, and consists of five petals, which are close together at the base, and this is peculiar to the genus Hibiscus. The capsule is round and somewhat convex, being nearly in the shape of what is called a batch-cake, as shown at _c_; it consists of five carpels grown together, each containing many seeds; and when ripe, it bursts naturally into five valves, each of which has a dissepiment down the centre. The filaments grow together very curiously, inclosing the styles, and forming a column in the centre of the flower, which is the distinguishing mark of the Malvaceæ. Some of the stamens are shorter than others, and as part of each filament is detached, the anthers form the fringe-like border to the column, shown at _d_. The anthers are kidney-shaped and one-celled, and this is another of the characteristics of the order; but the styles are terminated by five ball-shaped stigmas, like those of the Linum. There are many kinds of Hibiscus; but perhaps the best known are: _H. rosa sinensis_, the species which is so often represented in Chinese drawings, and the petals of which are so astringent, that they are said to be used in China by the men to black their shoes, and by the women to dye their hair; and the Bladder Ketmia (_H. Trionum_), which takes its English name from its inflated capsule. All the plants belonging to the order Malvaceæ have a central column, round which are placed numerous carpels, which grow together and form a many-celled capsule; and they all have kidney-shaped, one-celled anthers. They have also always an involucrum below the calyx, but this involucrum differs in the different genera. In the genus Malva, the involucrum consists of three leaflets, which in the common Mallow (_Malva sylvestris_) are oblong. The petals are wedge-shaped, and they are what botanists call auricled; that is, they are set so far apart at the base that light can be seen through them. The stamens are all of nearly the same height, and they form a kind of bunch round the styles, which are pointed. The capsule consists of a circle of woolly-looking carpels growing close together, but so as to be easily detached with a pin, and each fitting into a little groove in the receptacle, in which they are placed.