94 THALAMIFLOU.'E. 



9 



1. Ochroma Lagopus. Down- Tree. 



Leaves cordate 5-angulato-siiblobate denticulated 

 pubescent beneath. 



Swartz, Fl. Ind. Occ. 1144. t. 2^.— Browne, 286. 



HAB. Common in the lower mountains and in damp situa- 

 tions. 



FL. January, February. 



A tree 20-40 feet in height ; stem smooth, ash- coloured : 

 branches comparatively few, patulous, fragile. Leaves large: 

 petioles horizontally spreading, twice the length of the leaves. 

 Peduncle terminal, solitary, thick, terete, 3-4 inches long, one- 

 flowered. Flowers erect, 3-4 inches in length, of a pale 

 rufescent or yellowish colour. Involucre 3-leaved, deciduous. 

 Calyx tubulose, approaching to funnel-shape, coriaceous, of a 

 red-ferruginous colour, internally incano-tomentose, externally 

 tomentulose with minute stellated hairs : lobes keeled on the 

 back ; 2 of them subacute ; the other 3 rounded by the margin 

 being membranaceo-expanded. Petals twice the length of the 

 calyx, lineari-oblong, wedge-shaped at the base, with the limb 

 somewhat expanded, thinnish, longitudinally veined, minutely 

 puberulous, undulated. Filaments united to form a simple 

 cylindrical angular column ; anthers 5, cohering, spirally twisted 

 marked with labyrinthine lines, slightly 3-ticf at the apex. 

 Ovary conical, 5-sided ; style cylindrical, 5-sided, enclosed in 

 the tube of the filaments : stigmata 5, an inch in length, pro- 

 truding beyond the anthers, spirally twisted and sulcated. 

 Capsule a foot or more in length, longitudinally channelled, 5- 

 celled, 5-valved ; valves woolly within, revolute at the margin ; 

 wool of a pale rufous colour. Seeds many, oblong. 



This tree is very rapid in its growth, attaining its full height 

 in twelve or thirteen years. Its appearance bears some resem- 

 blance to the Mahoe ; but unlike it, the wood is soft and spungy, 

 and only adapted as a substitute for cork. It hence is known 

 by the names of the bombast- Mahoe., and Cork-wood. The bark 

 is well adapted for the purpose of making ropes. The down, 

 which envelopes the seeds, is collected, and is employed for 

 stuffing pillows, mattresses, &c. There is uo doubt but that it 

 might be made into cloth, and employed in hat-making and 

 other manufactures. A gummy juice is said to exude from the 

 branches when broken. 



ORDER XXVI. BYTTNERIACE^. 



Calyx naked or surrounded by an involucrum ; se- 

 pals 5, more or less urited at the base ; aestivation 



