STERCULIACEiE. 



THEOBROMA. 



Calyx 5-sepaled. Petals 5, vaulted at the base, ligulate and 

 strap-shaped above. Stamens 15, connected into an urceolus 

 at the base ; sterile filaments 5, alternate with the petals, linear, 

 subulate, elongated ; fertile ones short, united into 5 filaments, 

 each opposite to a petal and bearing 2 anthers. Style 5-cleft 

 at the apex : stigmas simple. Fruit indehiscent, between cori- 

 aceous and woody, ovate-oblong, 5-celled. Seeds imbedded in 

 a buttery pulp (arillus?). Albumen none. Cotyledons thick, 

 wrinkled, full of oil. Small trees. Leaves large, entire. Pe- 

 duncles axillary, lateral after the fall of the leaves ; sometimes 

 simple, 1 -flowered, and fascicled, sometimes branched and many- 

 flowered. W. and A. 



■ 9T15. T. Cacao Linn. sp. pi. 1100. DC. prodr. i. 484. — 

 Cacao Shane, ii. 15. t. 160. — West Indies and Continent of 

 America. 



A small upright tree. Leaves lanceolate oblong, bright green, entire, 

 stalked. Flowers clustered, axillary, reddish, scentless. Fruit clus- 

 tered on the old branches, smooth, yellow, or red, oval, about 3 inches 

 long, with a fleshy rind nearly half an inch thick ; filled with a whitish 

 pulp, of the consistence of butter (an aril ?), sweet, and subacid. Seeds 

 about 25 in each fruit, flesh-coloured. — The torrefied seeds rubbed 

 down with arnotto, vanilla and other ingredients form chocolate, the 

 nutritive restorative properties of which are well known. 



ERIODENDRON, 



Calyx without bracteoles, irregularly 5-lobed ; lobes usually in 

 pairs. Petals 5, united at the base with each other, and with 

 the column of stamens. Filaments joined together into a short 

 tube at the base, but divided upwards into 5 filiform bundles 

 each bearing 2-3 linear or serpentinely bent (anfractuose) an- 

 thers, the latter combined and resembling a simple anther. 

 Style crowned by a 5-6-cleft stigma. IV. and A. 



276. E. anfractuosum DC. prodr. i. 479. W. and A. i. 61. 



Bombax pentandrum Linn, sp.pl. 959. Cav. diss. v. t. 151. 



{Bumf. i. t. 80. Rheede. iii. t. 49-51.) — East Indies, both on 

 the continent and islands. 



A very large tree. Trunk prickly at the base. Leaves palmate ; 

 leaflets 5-8, quite entire, or serrulated towards the point, lanceolate, 

 mucronate, glaucous beneath. Flowers large, woolly, yellowish. An- 

 thers versatile, anfractuose. — Trunk yields a gum which is given in 

 conjunction with spices in certain stages of bowel complaints. Aindic. 



HELICTERES. 



Calyx tubular, somewhat 5-cleft. Petals 5, ligulate-unguiculate, 

 slightly toothed at the apex. Stamens 5-10-15, united into a 



1 38 



