223 XXI. MALVACE^. [Thespesia. 



t 



and woody, indehiscent or opening longitudinally when very dry. — "Wight, Ic. 

 t. 8. 



N. Australia. Islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria, R, Brown, Hcmne. 

 Queensland. N.E. coast, A, Cunningham, IVGiUivray. 



The species is widely spread over the seacoasts of tropical Asia, extendiiig from eastern 

 Africa to the Pacific Islands. It is also introduced into the West Indies. 



13. GOSSYPIUM, Linn. 



(Sturtia, K Br) 



Bracteoles 3, large and cordate. Calyx much shorter, truncate or shortly 

 B-lobed. Staminal column heai^ing numerous filaments outside', below or up 

 to the top. Ovary 5-, rarely 4-celled, with several ovules ia each ceU. 

 Style club-shaped at the top, furrowed, with decurrent stigmas. Capsule 

 loculicidally 5-, rarely 4-valved. Seeds angular or nearly globular, very 

 woolly or nearly glabrous; cotyledons very much folded, enclosing the radicle. 



Tall herbs, shrubs, or almost trees. Leaves 3- to 9-lobed, or rarely entire- 

 Flowers large, yellow or purple. Bracteoles entire, toothed or cut, usually, 

 as well as the calyx and cotyledons, marked with black dots. 



The genus, besides the Australian species^ which is endemic, comprises the cultivated 

 Cotton^ whose various forms, described as species, races, or varieties, are distributed either 

 as indigenous or introduced plants over the warmer regions both of the Nevv and the Old 

 "World, but not hitherto found in a wild state in Australia. 



1. G. Sturtii, -F. MuelL Fragm, iii. 6. A shrub of several feet, gla- 

 brous and more or less marked with black dots. Leaves on rather long pe- 

 tioles, broadly ovate, entire, 1 to 2 in. long, rather coriaceous and glaucous. 

 Mowers large, purple with a dark centre, on short pedicels in the upper axils. 

 Bracteoles cordate, entire, f to 1 in. long, many-nerved and black-dotted. 

 Calyx not half so long, broad, truncate with minute or narrow-linear teeth, 

 copiously black-dotted. Petals fully 2 in. long. Capsule ovoid, shortly acu- 

 minate, much longer than the calyx, usually 4-cellcd, glabrous but copiously 

 black-dotted. Seeds very sparingly and shortly woolly. — Sturtia gossy/wldes^ 

 H. Br. App. Sturt. Exped. 5. 



S. Australia. In the interior ; Barren Range, Sfnrt ; Elder's Eange, F> Mueller; 

 Mutanie Ranges, Beckkr ; Flinders Range, Viclorian Bjc^ edition ; towards Spencer's Gnlf. 

 Warlurion. 



■ 



14. ADANSONIA, Linn. 



Calyx ovoid or oblong, deeply splitting into 3 to 5 lobes. Staminal co^ 

 lumn divided at the top into numerous filaments. Ovary 5- to lO-celled, 

 with many ovules in each cell. Style shortly divided at the summit into as 

 many radiating stigmas as there are cells. Fruit oblong, woody, indehiscent, 

 the cells filled with a mealy pulp. Reeds reniform -globular, embedded in 

 tlie pulp ; cotyledons very much folded, enclosing the radicle.— Trees with a 

 comparatively short truuk, acquiring an immense girth, the wood soft and 

 spongy. Leaves digitate, with entire leaflets. Peduncles axillary, l-flo\vcred, 

 bracteate. Flowers large, white, pendulous. Fruits large, pendulous. 



Besides the Australian species, which is endemic, the genus only contains one other, the 

 celebrated Baobab of tropical Africa, which extends into the western districts of East India. 



