Shrubs or small trees with alternate, simple, feather-veined leaves. Flowers large (3 to 4 in. wide), white, showy, solitary in the axils of the leaves. Blooming in summer. Fruit a dry, dehiscent, conical-pointed, 5-celled capsule with 10 to 30 seeds, ripe in the autumn. [Illustration: G. Lasiánthus.] 1. =Gordònia Lasiánthus=, L. (LOBLOLLY BAY.) Leaves thick, evergreen, lanceolate-oblong, minutely serrate, nearly sessile, smooth and shining on both sides. The large, solitary, sweet-scented, axillary flowers on peduncles half as long as the leaves. A large tree (30 to 70 ft. high) in the south (wild in southern Virginia), and cultivated as far north as central Pennsylvania, without protection; at St. Louis and Boston it needs protection. Wood of a reddish color, light and brittle. [Illustration: G. pubéscens.] 2. =Gordònia pubéscens=, L'Her. Leaves thin, deciduous, obovate-oblong, sharply serrate, white beneath. Flowers nearly sessile. A small tree or shrub of the south (30 ft. high in Georgia), hardy, and rarely cultivated as far north as Philadelphia, or still farther north if slightly sheltered. ORDER =VI. MALVÀCEÆ.= (MALLOW FAMILY.) A large family, mainly of herbs, found in tropical and temperate regions. One cultivated species, almost a tree, is included in this work. GENUS =9. HIBÍSCUS.= Herbs or shrubs; one sometimes tree-like, with simple, deciduous, alternate, stipulate, usually lobed leaves. Flowers large, showy, 5-parted (Hollyhock-shaped), in late summer. Fruit a 5-celled, many-seeded pod, ripe in autumn. [Illustration: H. Syrìacus.] =Hibíscus Syrìacus=, L. (TREE HIBISCUS.) The only woody and sometimes tree-like species; has ovate, wedge-shaped, 3-lobed, toothed leaves, and large (3 in.) white, purple, red, or variegated flowers. Usually a shrub, 6 to 15 ft. high, often cultivated throughout; introduced from Syria. ORDER =VII. STERCULIÀCEÆ.= Trees or shrubs (a few are herbs), with alternate leaves, and the stamens united into a tube. A large order of tropical plants. GENUS =10. STERCÙLIA.= Leaves alternate, simple, usually lobed, ovaries more or less divided into 5 carpels, each 2- to many-lobed; fruit when ripe forming a star of 5 distinct pods. [Illustration: S. platanifòlia.] =Stercùlia platanifòlia=, L. (CHINESE PARASOL.) Leaves large, deciduous, alternate, palmately 3- to 5-lobed, deeply heart-shaped at base, the margin entire, the lobes acute; smooth or slightly hairy; leafstalk about as long as the blade. Flowers green, in axillary panicles; fruit star-shaped. A small, beautiful tree from China; probably not hardy north of Washington. ORDER =VIII. TILIÀCEÆ.= (LINDEN FAMILY.) An order, mainly of trees, abundant in the tropics; here represented by a single genus: GENUS 11. =TÍLIA.=