I)DWN-11IIEK. OCHROMA. 



Cr.. 16, OR. 2. Moaadelphiii pnifavdria. Nat. ORs Cchtzinifevar. 

 Tiiis name is derived fKom a Greek word signifyipg^ idleness. 



Gek. char. Calyx a double periantii : outer three- L'aved ; leaflets- lanceolate, ca- 

 ducous; inner one-lcalcd, funncl-f.)rni-, five-clefc; the corolla has five petals, 

 vvedge-fonn, coriaceous ; the stamen one ryhndri.; fiJanicnt ; anther.'; five, laree, 

 linear, connate, creeping up and down ; the jMstil has a s'.iperior- oblong gerni ; 

 a filiforav stjle, covered with tlie cyiiiifler of stamens ; stigmas two, awl-shaped, 

 , wide, contorted ; the jieriearp is a coriaceous capsule, sub-eylindric, five-grooved, 

 tomnioaly ten-qornerod, live-celled, five-valved ; \alvcs woolly within, rolled 

 back at the edge ; partitions kidney-fonu ; seeds very many, oblong. There is 

 only one species. 



I-XGWUS. 



Illbisciis. Arhore.rcenx trichnfomnns, foJih amplissimis, cordaio an- 

 giilatis i .sei!ii/n!)us lana obvolu.tk. Browne, p. 286. 



"nils tree is nlso called bomb tst mahoc, and rises sonrvetimes to the heiglit of sixly or 

 scAenty feet, and is above six in circumference ; it begins to divide about twelve or 

 iburteen feet from the ground, the branches are diffuse and trichotomons, the leaves 

 descend from their extremities, supported by long^ reddish brown waving pedicels; 

 their margins are plain, they are cordated sometimes, .but oftener cordato-angulated, 

 u foot and a half in length, and a proporti'lnable breadth, their colour a dull green, and 

 hairy below, darker above. The flower pedicels arise on the upper branchlets froBa 

 the bosom of the leaves singly,, they are erect-, thick, fleshy, 'cylindrical, five inches 

 lonsr,- and of an obscure or dull purple colour ; the flower-cup is near four inches long, 

 widening from a narrow base, of an inch and half to near si.K inches in circumference ; 

 the margins ar.e divided by dents better than an inch deep, into as many broad seg- 

 ments, alternately marginated, winged, or welted down the middle of their exterior 

 ])arts ; the petals are two inches longer than the cup, and ribbed on their outsidcs ; 

 and the stigmata two inches longer than them.- The pod is long, blackish, compressed, 

 aaid channelled longitudinall}'. The silken down, which envelopes the seeds, appears 

 on first beiiig-thsplayed as if it had newly passed the hackle, the threads being cie- 

 gantly.disposed all one way ; but the part of the down next the valves seems to have 

 bden stuffed, and lies in a disorderly manner. The down tree is very remarkable for 

 the quickness ef Its growth, arriving to the height-of thirty or forty feet in twelve or 

 thirteen years, which maybe a reason that the "wood is very lax-and spungy, being fit 

 for nothing4>ut to nrake corks, and is used as such by fishe'rmen, and therefore called 

 by some the cork-tree : others slop bottles with it, and some nr.ike ropes of the bark, 

 which is thick, fibrous, ash-coloured, varied with white spots, and netted with rufe- 

 scent wrinkles, to which it seems well adapted. The cotton is used for stuffing beds, 

 matrasses, &c. and is certainly capable of being manufaclured, as it mav' be made into 

 garments. It begins to blossom in November and December, and continues flourish- 

 ing three or four months. It delights to grow near rivers, and in rocky or sandy barren 

 aoiis in many parts of Clarendon mountains ; and is frequent on the banks of the Kio > 

 Cabrc, jn the road to Sixtceu-Mile-'Walk ; and easily propagated from seecb. 



BUCK" 



