1353 



STERCULIA* Tragac^tha. 



The Sierra Leone Tragacanth Tree, 



POLYGAMIA MONCECIA 



Nat. ord. Sterculiace^;. 

 STERCULIA.Supn), vol. 3. fol. 185.. 



A, 



S. Tragacantha ; foliis oblongis cuspidatis integernmis v. aplce trifidis^ 

 subtils tomentosis, paniculis axillaribus coarctatis tomentosis, calycis 

 iaciniis amce cohserentibus. 



^- Tragacantha. Lindlev's introduction to thp. nnfnrnJ ^i^ffim 



P- 39, ined. 



Ltndley's introduction to the natural system of botany^ 



Arbor AQ1 pedes altitudine, ramulis ferrugineis tomentosis. Folia altema^ 



al'f^' ^^^^^3<^^ cuspidata, s(£piils utrinque rotundata, integerrima, nunc 



pice leviter trifida v. bifida, suprd glabra, subtils cum petiolo tomentosa ; 



^mewfMw e pilis^stellatis. Paniculae densi tomentoS(B, coarctatce, axillares, 



mc Joins breviores, nunc longiores. Calyx campanulaius, tomentosus, 



jopurpureus, 5-fidus, Iaciniis apice coh<2rentibus. Stamina generis. Pis- 



Our drawing of this species was taken in the Hothouse 



01 the Comte de Vandes' Garden at Bayswater^ in which it 



flowered in May last. It is a native of Sierra Leone, where 



is known as the Tragacanth tree; a gum resembling 



""^ '''ragacanth being copiously exuded by it when 



ounded. The panicles of flowers are more contracted 



na shorter in the garden specimen than in our wild ones 



/?^ Barry, and they have a tendency to become 



obed at the apex: from the latter circumstance it is not 



^probable that the tree occasionally produces lobed leaves. 



th' ^^^^ specimens of a plant very nearly the same as 

 JJ's gathered in Sierra Leone by Mr. George Don, and 

 marked *' a tree 40 feet high." Its panicles are much 

 arger and looser, its flowers more funnel-shaped, and 

 ^eir segments without any tendency to cohere at the apex, 

 e, however, dare not decide whether it is a mere variety, 

 "^^ a distinct species. 



• See fol. 1256'. 



