39 



Geograimiy. India, New Holland, the Cape of Good Hope, and 

 South America, with the West Indies, are the chief countries inhabited by 

 this order, taken collectively ; but its various sections are each characterised 

 by peculiarities of geographical distribution. Thus : — 



Sterculiacece are principally found in India and equinoctial Africa; 5 or 

 6 only have been discovered in Mexico and South America. 



Dombeyacece are all African or East Indian, mostly the latter, with the 

 exception of Pentapetes ovata, found in New Spain. 



Wallichiece are half Indian and half South American ; but 4 species 

 only are on record in the whole. 



Of HennanniacecE two-thirds are found exclusively at the Cape of Good 

 Hope ; the remainder are chiefly West Indian and South American ; about 

 one-tenth are natives of the East Indies, and two or three are found in the 

 South Seas. 



The Biittneriacece are principally natives of South America and the 

 West Indies ; about one-seventh is found in the East Indies, a similar 

 number in New Holland, and a single species, Glossostemon Bruguieri, 

 in Persia. 



Lasiopetalece are exclusively from New Holland. 



Properties. These, like the orders most nearly related to them, are 

 chiefly remarkable for the abundance of mucilage they contain. The seeds 

 of Sterculia acuminata afford the Kola spoken of by African travellers, 

 which, when chewed or sucked, renders the flavour of water, even if half 

 putrid, agreeable. The seeds of the Chicha, Sterculia Chicha, are eaten 

 as nuts by the Brazilians. PL Usuelles, 46. The Gum Tragacanth 

 of Sierra Leone is produced by a species of Sterculia {St. Tragacantha 

 Mihi). The pod of Sterculia foetida is, according to Horsfield, employed 

 in gonorrhoea in Java. The leaves are considered repellent and aperient. 

 A decoction of the fruit is mucilaginous and astringent. Ainslie, 2. 119. 

 The bark of a species of Sterculia is employed in the Moluccas as an 

 emmenagogue; and the seeds of all that genus are filled with an oil, 

 which may be expressed and used for lamps. There is a slight acridity 

 in the seeds of Sterculia. The Waltheria Douradinha is used in Brazil as 

 a remedy for venereal disorders, for which its very mucilaginous nature 

 renders it proper. PL Usuelles, 36. The fruit of Guazuma ulmifolia is 

 filled with a sweet and agreeable mucilage, which the Brazilians suck with 

 much pleasure. In Martinique the young bark is used to clarify sugar, for 

 which the copious mucilage it yields when macerated qualifies it. In the 

 same island the infusion of the old bark is esteemed as a sudorific, and 

 useful in cutaneous diseases. Ibid. 47. The buttery, slightly bitter sub- 

 stance, called Cocoa, is obtamed from the seeds of Theobroma Cacao, and 

 from this Chocolate is prepared. 



XXVIII. MORINGE^. 



MoaiNGEVE, R. Brown in Denham, p. 33. (1826.) 



Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with perigynous stamens, con- 

 crete carpella, a superior 1 -celled ovarium with parietal placentae, a 3-valved 

 capsule, somewhat irregular flowers, and embryo without albumen. 



Anomalies. 



