1353 



STERCULIA^ Tragacantha. 



The Sierra Leone Tragacanth Tree. 



POLYGAMIA MONCECIA. 



Nat. ord. Sterculiaces,. 

 STERCULfA.—Suprc), vol. 3. fol. 185. 



S. Tragacantha ; foliis oblongis cuspidatis integerrimis v. apice trifidis, 



subtus tomentosis, paniculis axillaribus coarctatis tomentosis, calycis 



laciniis apice cohserentibus. 

 IS. Tragacantha. Lindley's introduction to the natural system of botany, 



p. 39. ined. 



Arbor 40 ? pedes altitudine, ramidis ferritgineis tomentosis. Folia alterna, 

 petiolata, oblonga, cuspidata, scepiiis utrinque rotundata, integerrima, nunc 

 apice leviter trijida v. bifida, suprd glabra, subtiis cum petiolo tomentosa ; 

 tomentum c pilis stellatis. Paniculse dense tomentosce, coarctatce, axillares, 

 nunc foliis breviores, nunc longiores. Calyx campanulatus, tomentosus, 

 rufopurpureus, 5-fidus, laciniis apice cohcerentibus. Stamina generis. Pis- 

 tillum haud vidi. 



Our drawing of this species was taken in the Hothouse 

 of the Comte de Vandes' Garden at Bayswater, in which it 

 flowered in May last. It is a native of Sierra Leone, where 

 it is known as the Tragacanth tree ; a gum resembUng 

 Gum Tragacanth being copiously exuded by it when 

 wounded. The panicles of flowers are more contracted 

 and shorter in the garden specimen than in our wild ones 

 from Dr. Barry, and they have a tendency to become 

 lobed at the apex : from the latter circumstance it is not 

 improbable that the tree occasionally produces lobed leaves. 



We have specimens of a plant very nearly the same as 

 this, gathered in Sierra Leone by Mr. George Don, and 

 marked " a tree 40 feet high." Its panicles are much 

 larger and looser, its flowers more funnel-shaped, and 

 their segments without any tendency to cohere at the apex. 

 We, however, dare not decide whether it is a mere variety, 

 or a distinct species. 



* See fol. 1256. 



