Yellow or Indian Mallow, in botany: A genus of plants belonging to the clas of monadelphia, and to the order of polyandria; and in the natural system ranging under the 37th order, Columnifere. The calyx is simple and angulated; the style is divided into many parts; there are several capsules, each containing one seed. There are 27 species. 1. The Spinosa; 2. Angustifolia; 3. Alba; 4. Rhombifolia; 5. Alnifolia; 6. Ciliaris; 7. Retusa; 8. Triguetra; 9. Jamaicensis; 10. Carpinitfolia; 11. Vifcofa; 12. Cordifolia; 13. Umbellata; 14. Paniculata; 15. Atroanguinea; 16. Periplocifolia; 17. Urens; 18. Arborea; 19. Occidentalis; 20. Americana; 21. Abutilon; 22. Mauritiania; 23. Asiatica; 24. Indica; 25. Criffa; 26. Cristata; 27. Ternata. The first 18 species have 15 capsules; the rest are multicapsular. They are all natives of warm climates; and most of them are found in the East or West Indies.

The Chinese make cords of the sida abutilon. This plant loves water, and may be advantageously planted in marshes and ditches, where nothing else will grow. From experiments made by the Abbé Cavailles, a Spaniard, which are inserted in the Mem. de l'Acad. Royale, it appears that the plants succeed best when sown in May, and they arrive at perfection in three months and a half. The maceration of the smaller stalks is finished in about 15 days; of the larger in a month. The strength and goodness of the thread appeared to be in proportion to the perfection of the vegetation, and to the distance the plant was kept at from other plants. The fibres lie in strata, of which there are sometimes five: they are not quite straight, but preserve an undulating direction, so as to form a network in their natural