38 



rium 5-celled, the cells usually 2-seeded. Seeds sometimes without albumen, 

 with thick cotyledons ; sometimes albuminous, with foliaceous, plane, or con- 

 volute cotyledons. Dec— Trees, shrubs, or very rarely herbaceous plants. 

 Leaves alternate, entire, sometimes cut. Stipules twin. Peduncles axillary, 

 opposite the leaves, and terminal, with 1 or many flowers. Kunth. 

 Examples. Theobroma, Guazuma, Commersonia, Buttneria. 



<§ 6. LasiopetalejE. 



Lasiopetalese, Gay. Mem, Mus. 7. 431. (1S21). — Biittneriaceae, § Lasiope- 

 talea-, Kunth, 1. c. (1822) ; Dec. 1. c. (1824.) 



Calyx 5-parted, petaloid, persistent, or withering. Petals minute, like scales, 

 or wanting. Filaments subulate, connate at the base ; sometimes 5, opposite 

 the petals ; sometimes 10, alternately barren and fertile. Anthers incumbent, 

 with contiguous lobes. Ovarium with from 3 to 5 cells, each of which con- 

 tains from 2 to 8 ovules. Carpella 5, 2-valved, usually closely concrete, or 

 partially distinct. Seeds strophiolate at the base. Albumen fleshy. Embryo 

 erect. Cotyledons flat, foliaceous. Dec. — Shrubs. Leaves alternate, usually 

 in threes, simple, entire, or lobed. Stipules twin (or perhaps none.) Inflore- 

 scence cymose, corymbose, or racemose, opposite the leaves, very rarely pro- 

 duced within the leaves. Pedicels with bractea^, sometimes articulated above 

 the middle. Kunth. 



Examples. Lasiopetalum, Seringia. 



Geography. 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 characterized by peculiari- 

 ties of geographical distribution. Thus : 



SterculiacecB are principally found in India and equinoctial Africa ; 5 or 6 

 only have been discovered in Mexico and South America. 



DombeyacecR are all African or East Indian, mostly the latter, with the ex- 

 ception of Pentapetes ovata, found in New Spain. 



JVallichiece are half Indian and half South American ; but 4 species only are 

 on record in the whole. 



Of Hermanniaceaz 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 Biithieriacecc 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 Ster- 

 culia 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. 

 PI. Usuelles, 46. The Gum Tragacanth of Sierra Leone is produced by a spe- 

 cies of Sterculia (St, Tragacantha Milii.) The pod of Sterculia fcetida is, ac- 

 cording to Horsfield, employed in gonorrhoea in Java. The leaves are con- 

 sidered repellent and aperient. A decoction of the fruit is mucilaginous and 

 astringent. Jlinslie, 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 ren- 

 ders it proper. PI. Usuelles, 36. The fruit of Guazuma ulmifolia is filled 



