300 CULTIVATION OF COTTON 
acute, beaked, pitted finely, pink-purplish, with tinges of green, three- 
to four-celled, generally six-seeded. Seeds emerald or sea-green, en- 
veloped in a fine, silky, snow-white, soft, long-stapled cotton, and when 
this is removed they are found to be covered with a close, silky, sea- 
green or emerald fuzz. Staple long. 
Remarks.—This is an exceedingly graceful and ornamental plant. 
Its slender and bending purplish branches, its fine deep-purple flowers, 
and purple capsules, from which the snow-white silky and delicate 
eotton depends, scarcely concealing its bright emerald-coloured seeds 
which it envelopes, renders this a very pleasing plant. lam informed 
that this Akese is cultivated here, as I believe it is in several other 
parts of the world, for the finer cloths, etc., of the chiefs; but this I 
have not seen myself. Behind the Mission House at Aké, in this 
town, are several fine plants, growing on a part of the Aké hill, amongst 
the large blocks of felspathic-porphyritic granite. It was raised from 
seeds planted by Mr. Townsend, about two years ago. These seeds 
were procured from another plant in the neighbourhood, which the person 
who bought them stated he had known for many (six or seven) years. 
There are several detached plants to be seen in Abbeokuta itself, 
amongst the houses, and also a few cultivated patches; but I am as- 
. sured by an old farmer here, that he never saw this kind of Akese when 
a boy; it appears therefore to have been introduced. It is cultivated. 
and used also for medicinal purposes. 
.. 9. Akese (Flore flavo). 
- Character.—A. bush 4 or 5 feet high. Principal stalk and branches 
whitish-grey, with a more brownish tint than that last described, 
dotted with small tubercles of the same colour, branching from the 
base. The young stalks, shoots, peduncles, and stipules very hirsute, 
woolly, black-spotted, light-greenish coloured. Stipules of young 
shoots long and subulate, with a strong midrib, and falcate-lanceo- 
lite. Leaves, more woolly than the purple Akese, feel thick to the 
touch; upper leaves three-lobed ; lower five-lobed. This is often re- 
versed ; Zobes rounded or ovate-obtuse, emarginate, mucronate; angles 
obtuse. Leaves small, one gland beneath. Flowers axillary, solitary, 
yellow, with a pink spot on the claw, showy. Znvolucre strongly 
ater | and toothed, patent, with few spots. Inner calyx dotted with 
P black spots, no purplish tinge on the stalk. Capsules round- 
ite, filled out, shortly and abruptly rostrate, glaucous, smooth, 
