14() MONADELPHIA DODFXANDRIA. SterClllla. 



every part covered \vith a glutinous, farinaceous, yellow 

 down. Bractes laiKeolate. Flowers small, numerous, yel- 

 low, male and henuaplnodite mixed ; there is but a small 

 proportion of the latter. Her in aphrodite calyx below, cam- 

 panulate, five-toothed, leathery ; divisio}is acute; on the in 

 side ot each division near the base, there is an obcordate 

 hairy gland. Coral none. Filaments ten, al(ernr>tely longer, 

 united below into a thin sheath, which girds the receptacle 

 of the germs. Anthers large, tu o lobed, alternately larg- 

 er. Germs five, placed on a thick, short pedicel, as in 

 Grewia. Sti/le single, short, thick. Stie/ma five-lobed. Cap- 

 sules five, united in the form of a star, one-celled, one-valved, 

 opening lengthways on the inside, covered with yellow doAvn, 

 and many stifi^' burning hairs. Seedn from three to six, oblong, 

 chesnut-coloured, inserted alternately into the margins of the 

 capsules. 



Male. Calyx ; stamens and columnar receptacle as in the 

 hermaphrodite. Pistillnm, the rudiments of the genus only, 

 without any appearance of a style. 



The wood of this tree is soft and spongy, except towards 

 the centre of larsfe trees, where it is reddish, 1 do not know 

 of any use it is put to, except to make fuel. 



I observed, that the water in which I kept the green 

 branches for examination, became thick, like a clean gluti- 

 nous jelly. Bark exceeding astringent, tinges the spittle 

 reddish. 



Note. This agrees neaY]ywh\\ Sterculia plantatiij'olia of the 

 supplement. The chief diflference is, that here the leaves are 

 downy, there very smooth. It yields a gum not unlike 

 Traqacanth, and has been sent to London as such, but the 

 artists, who use that gum, did not find it answer. The seeds 

 are roasted and used by the natives as an article of diet, and 

 also as a dainty. 



3. S. colorata. Willd. ii. 873. R. Corom. pi. i. JV. 25. 

 Leaves five-lobed; lobes acute. Calyces club-funnel- 



