514 
size of a man’s head. 
It is said to be the most 
delicious of all the fruits 
of India. The eatable 
part of-it is that aril-like 
substance which contains 
the kernels, and which 
most resembles cream or 
the blanc-manger of our 
tables; but a consider- 
able drawback from the 
extreme gratification it 
procures to the palate of the epicurean, is its intolerable stench ; 
even the rinds emit such an offensive effluvia, that at Amboyna, 
as Rumphius and Valentine state, it is forbidden by the law to 
throw them out near any public path. Some compare this smell 
to that of putrid animal substances, others to that of rotten 
onions; but all agree that if the first repugnance is once over- 
come no fruit is more enticing than the durion. These qualities 
are so very well known, that it is surprising to find it mentioned 
in the Histoire des Voyages, and copied from thence by Lamarck 
in his Encyclopedie, that the fruit of the durion diffuses an 
excellent odour, but that its taste is rather unpleasant, it being 
that of fried onions. The fruit is used as a bait to entrap the 
civet-cat, which is very fond of it ; hence the specific name. 
Civet-cat Durion. Clt. 1825. Tree 80 feet. 
Cult. This tree will thrive well in a rich loamy soil, and 
cuttings not too ripe, taken off at a joint, not deprived of their 
leaves, will root in sand under a hand-glass, in a moist heat. 
XIV. OCHRO'MA (from wxpoc, ochros, yellow ; in allusion 
to the wool in the pods being yellow, as well as to the colour of 
the flowers). Swartz, act. holm. 1798. p. 148. t. 6. D.C. 
prod. 1. p. 480. 
Lin. syst. Monadélphia, Penténdria. Calyx tubular at the 
base, somewhat funnel-shaped, hardly 5-cleft, with 3 rounded 
flat lobes and 2 acutish ones. Petals 5, larger than the calyx, 
Anthers anfractuous. Stigmas 5. Capsules 5-celled, clothed 
on the inside with silky brownish wool. Seeds numerous, ob- 
long. Trees with soft spongy wood, and long leaves, and soli- 
tary, terminal, 1-flowered peduncles. 
1 O. taco pus (Swartz, fl. ind. occ. 2. p. 1144. t. 23.) leaves 
.cordate, 5-7-angled, rather lobed, toothletted, downy beneath,with 
rusty nerves. kh. S. Native of Jamaica, Hispaniola, Porto- 
Rico and the hotter parts of Mexico on the mountains. Bémbax 
pyramidale, Cav. diss. 5. p. 294. t. 155. Flowers large, erect, 
pale-brown or yellowish. Capsule more than a foot long. The 
wood of this tree is white, tender, and so light, that it is used 
instead of corks to fishing nets. The capsules contain a very fine, 
soft, rufous down, in which the seeds are involved, and which 
down is said to be used in the manufacture of English beavers. 
Hare's-foot Ochroma. Clt. 1802. Tree 40 feet. 
2 O. tomentosa (Willd. enum. 693.) leaves cordate, some- 
what 3-lobed, repand, rather tomentose beneath. kh. S. Native 
of South America. 
Tomentosc-leaved Ochroma. Clt. 1816. Tree 20 feet. 
Cult. These trees grow freely in a mixture of loam and 
peat, and cuttings will root freely under a hand-glass, in heat. 
XV. CHEIROSTE'MON (from xetp, cheir, the hand, and 
ornpov, stemon, a stamen; the stamens are 5 in number, the 
filaments are united at the base, and are recurved at their top, 
which gives them the appearance ofa hand). H.B. pl. æquin. 1. 
t. 44. nov. gen. amer. 5, p. 302. D.C. prod. 1. p. 480. Chi- 
ranthodéndron, Larr. diss. with a figure. 
BOMBACEÆ. XIV. Ocuroma. XV. Cuemostemon. STERCULIACES. 
Lin. syst. Monadélphia, Decdndria. Calyx somewhat cam- 
panulate, 5-parted, furnished with 3 bracteas on the outside at 
the base; sepals deciduous, thick, coloured on the inside, 
foveolate at the base, 5 inches long in the bud. Petals none. 
Stamens? Filaments connate into a tube which is 5-cleft at the 
top, with the lobes leaning to one side, exserted at the apex, 
mucronate, bearing on the back of each lobe two linear anthers 
which open lengthwise. Style 1. Stigma acute. Capsule 
oblong, 5-angled, 5-celled, 5-valved, with a villous dissepiment 
in the middle of each valve. Seeds 15-18 in each cell, egg- 
shaped, corunculate. Albumen fleshy. Embryo slender. Co- 
tyledons flat. A tall tree 15 feet in diameter, with 5 or 6 lobed, 
palmate-nerved leaves, and solitary hoary-tomentose flowers 
on the branches nearly opposite the leaves, bi-bracteolate at 
the base. 
1 C. praranorpes (H. B. 1. c.). 
Spain near Toluco. Tiles. act. Petrop. 5. p. 321. t. 9. 
p. 581.—Hern. mex. 383. f. 1. and 459. f. 2. 
Plane-like Cheirostemon. Clt. 1820. Tree 100 feet. 
Cult. This fine tree succeeds well in a mixture of turfy 
loam and peat, or any rich light soil; and half-ripened cuttings, 
planted in pots of mould, without shortening their leaves, placed 
under a hand-glass in heat, will soon strike root. 
h. S. Native of New 
Fisch. 
Orprr XXXII. STERCULIA‘CE® (plants agreeing with 
Stercilia in important characters). Vent. R. Brown, cong. 
Kunth, diss. malv. p. 6. nov. gen. amer. 5. p. 309.—Byttne- 
riàcæ, Tribe 1. Stercùleæ, D. C. prod. 1. p. 1. p. 481. 
Flowers unisexual from abortion. Calyx naked, 4-5 -lobed, 
deciduous, constantly valvate in ezstivation. Petals wanting. 
Stamens 4-5-20, monadelphous around the rudiment of the 
pistil, always quinary or quaternary in number. Anthers 
bilocular. Styles equal.in number to the cells of the ovary, 
joined into one, crowned by as many stigmas or lobes. Car- 
pels 4-5, distinct, sometimes fewer from abortion, usually 
pedicellate, each crowned by a style, 1, or many-seeded, 
dehiscent above or indehiscent. Albumen fleshy or want- 
ing. Embryo erect, in the seeds with albumen the coty- 
ledons are flat and leafy, in those without albumen they are 
very thick and unequal, with an ovate, short radicle, pointing 
towards the hilum. This order is distinguished from Malvacee 
and Bombacee in the anthers being 2-celled, not 1-celled, from 
Byttneriacee in the carpels being distinct and stellately disposed, 
not joined together into 1 fruit. It is distinguished from Tiliàceæe 
in the filaments being monadelphous at the base, not free. The 
order is composed of large umbrageous tropical trees, with sim- 
ple or compound leaves, and axillary panicles or racemes of 
small, white, greenish, or brownish flowers. The seeds of many 
of the Stercilias are eatable, especially those of the famous 
Kola or Cola of Africa, which possess the property, being chewed, 
of rendering bad water pleasant to the palate. The seeds of 
the Chica, another noble species of the same genus, are highly 
esteemed in Brazil for the dessert. The seeds retain their vege- 
tative properties a considerable length of time, therefore they 
are easily introduced in a living state from their places of natural 
growth, but the most secure mode would be to plant them in a 
box of mould, and either send them off directly, or allow them 
to vegetate before they are shipped. 
1 
