Tap. 4549. | 
PACHIRA Lonciro.ta. 
Long-flowered Pachira. 
Nat. Ord. Bompacr®.—MoNADELPHIA PoLYANDRIA. 
Gen. Char. (Vide supra, Tas. 4508.) 
PacHIRA macrocarpa ; foliis 7—11-natis, foliolis oblongo-obovatis basi cuneatis 
apice acuminatis glabris, floribus maximis, calyce brevi-tubulo truncato 
basi glanduloso, petalis longissimis albis extus sericeo-velutinis, staminibus 
petala equantibus flavo-coccineis, antheris anguste linearibus curvatis, stylo 
gracili, stigmate 5-lobato. 
CAROLINEA macrocarpa. Cham. et Schlecht. in Linnea, v. 6. p. 423. Walpers, 
Repert. Bot. v.1. p. 329, Hort. Makoy. e 
, 
eae: '@ 3 
M. Auguste St. Hilaire, under the genus Pachira, justly ob- 
serves, “Le diagnostic des espéces de ce genre est fort difficile 
& établir ; car ses fleurs, qui généralement ne se développent pas 
en méme temps qui les feuilles, ont été souvent seules observees 
et recucillies par les voyageurs ; et, uniformes dans leur structure, 
elles ne présentent pas entre elles des differences assez saillantes 
pour qu’on puisse les caractériser en peu de mots.” These ob- 
servations will apply eminently to the P. (Carolinea) macrocarpa 
of Chamisso and Schlechtendal, in the Linnea above quoted ; 
and, indeed, the authors candidly remark of their plant, “ Flores 
ex alabastro nobis imperfecte noti.” Nor should we venture to 
call this plant “ macrocarpa,” but that it was received from 
Mr. Makoy under that name, who probably derived it from 
Berlin, where the seeds of the original macrocarpa were raised. 
It is a native of Mexico. ‘The flowers are truly magnificent, and 
yet produced in the present instance from a young and small 
plant. As a species it comes very near the P. aquatica of 
Aublet, and may probably prove identical with it. 
Desor. Of the ordinary size of the native plant we are ignorant. 
Our flowering specimen had not attained a greater height than 
four feet, and what gives this a decided advantage over our 
P. alba, lately figured (‘Tab. 4508), it bears the flowers and foliage 
together. eaves large, glabrous, digitate, with from seven to 
DECEMBER Ist, 1850. 
