COTTON IIOHTUS' JAM'AICENSIS.- C43 



vv.ved; valves- wocc!}' ; seeds verv manj,. vonnd; woolly; recrpt(lo rolunrnar, 

 hvc'-coi'iicred, tarniiny, tht? panuiuns. Tvvo sp-cies are natives ot' Janiuica, 



1. CF.IBA. 



Gossipmm arl'rirenm waxtmum spinosinv filio cli^lfafn, Java serir-j 

 grifca. Sioane, v, 2, p. 72. I^oliis digitaiic, brachns erccto natcn- 

 tibus. Browne, p. 27 7. 

 Flowers manj'-staraene'.l ;, leaTOS^quinate, 



.This tree has a very round sterw, greenish wlren ycmn^y zti<[ co^^red with fhort 

 |mckics, which disappear as the tree gathers st.ren2.th and size. The leaves are' then- 

 &niad and of a deep green coluur. At'tcr a few years the trunk turns nf a ^rey or ash- 

 coiour, and the tree grows to ai> enormous size. Ft braBehes towards the top, iiaving 

 leaves composed of five, seven, oa- more,, smorrth lancrolate leaflets, joined .Lo a com- 

 inon centre, at their base, where tucy adhere to long footstalks. These fall off annn- 

 ally, ana for sometime the trees are- naked; before the- n^w'leaves come- oui, the 

 flower buds appear in large tufts at ihe ei^ds ot-tbe branches, and soon expand. I'hey 

 are cf mposeci of five-obiong petals of a dirty white colour, with a great number of sta- 

 mens in the centre, and are succeeded by oval fruit, Uir;ifer than a swan's egg, having 

 a tliick woody cover, which, when ripe, opens in five parts, and is fall of a short dark 

 cotton, inclosing many roundish seeds, the sizeof sraail peas. Browne calls this spe- 

 cies the silk cotton tree with erect hrwnches. 



The stupen-'ddiis si2e' of these trees Has attracted the notice of mo.st travellers in tTie 

 West Indies.- They have bet n known to rise to npuar !s of one hundred feet in height, 

 tapering from the b-Aix., and art freciirenily seen Ironi fifty to eighty feet length of shaft, 

 nieasurtsd to the first insertion of the lower arms or brandies, and from twelve to four- 

 teen feet circurnfeience.' The woodis light and porous, and makes excellent canoes. 

 In Columbas's first voyage, it is said, there was a canoe seen at Cuba made with one 

 of these.trees, large enough to contain one hundred and fifty men. When sawn into 

 boards, and these afterwards well saturated with lime water rubbed into the pOres, tho 

 w.iod. bears expooure to the weather for many years; it is also formed into- laths for 

 roufs, curing pots, and hogshead hea iing. Tiie leaves and bads, when' young and 

 tendi.'r, are very niu> ilaginous, like ochro, and boiled by the negroes as greens. The 

 pods are pyritorm, upwards of six inches long, and proportionaWv thick'in the biggest; 

 part, tajjering towards the pedicle, like the pear kind. It is sometimes used for'stuff- 

 ing pillow cases, and seems to possess the elasticity of the eider down as soon as it i.s 

 impregnated with the warmth of the booy ; but it is thought unwholesome for West 

 Iiidiabeds, as it is apt to- excite too strong a perspiration; it might pTobabiy answti? 

 b.euer for winter coveruds in Great Britain. Whether it- has a sufficient staple to bo 

 mixed to any advantage in fa'irics of the loom experiment must determine. 



When tile tree decays, it becomes a nest for the 7)2ccac(i breile ; whose caterpillar, 

 gBlted and fried, is esteemed by many persons one of the greatest delicacies- in tha 

 world. 



The bark of the root has boerr sometimes -u.ted with' success as a vulnerary and sub- 

 astringent; and the- seeds are adiainistered in emulsions and pectoral infusions. 

 &>ng, p. 736. 



Barlijim says the seeds of these trees are much of the same quality as the other cot- 



I i 3 tou fc. 



