Eriodendron^ Malvacece. \ 6 1 



bably three or four combined in each), connate at base into a 

 fleshy tube and adnate to pet; anth. large, sinuous; ov. 5-celIed, 

 with very numerous ovules in each cell ; stigma obscurely 

 5-lobed ; fruit a capsule, with a thick central axis, dehiscent 

 by 5 thin, completely deciduous valves ; seeds numerous, 

 enveloped in copious silky cotton. — Sp. 3 ; i in Fl. B. Ind. 



* H. anfractuosum, DC. Prod. i. 479 (1824). Zmbul, Pulun- 

 imbul, 6*. 



Fl. Zey]. n. 220. Bombax peiitandrum., L. Sp. PI. 511 ; Moon Cat. 

 50. E. orientale, Steud., Thw. Enum. 28. C. P. 1138. 

 Fl. B. Ind. i. 349. Wight, Ic. t. 400; ■* 



A tall tree, with a straight trunk, the primary branches 

 horizontal in whorls of three, bark smooth, greenish-white, 

 young parts glabrous ; 1. closely placed, on long glabrous 

 petioles, digitate, Iflts. 5-7, on short winged stalks, 3-5 in., 

 lanceolate, acute at both ends, finely cuspidate, entire or 

 serrulate near tip, glabrous, paler beneath, stip. i in., linear- 

 filiform, deciduous ; fl. ii-2 in., in axillary clusters of 2-8 

 appearing with the young 1. at ends of the branches, drooping, 

 ped. about i in., no bracteoles ; cal. ^ in., tubular-campanulate, 

 with very shallow lobes, glabrous outside, lined with dense 

 appressed hairs at the base within, pet. twice as long as cal., 

 spreading, obovate-oblong, acute, densely tomentose outside, 

 nearly glabrous within, stam. a little longer than pet., erect ; 

 ovary globular, glabrous ; capsule 3^,-4 in., surrounded at 

 base by persistent cal., ovoid-fusiform, blunt, tardily dehiscent 

 from the base upwards by 5 septifragal membranous valves, 

 5-celled, cells densely lined with long white silky hair which is 

 deciduous, so that thevalves are ultimatelyglabrous and areolate 

 within ; seeds over \ in., compressed-globose, quite glabrous, 

 blackish, each surrounded by a copious crumpled mass of 

 silky hair. 



Low country up to 2000 ft., very common, but nearly always planted, and 

 I doubt if really a native. Fl. Jan.-March ; creamy-white, faintly scented. 



Apparently found in Tropics of both worlds ; native of Malaya(.?). 



Though each seed appears to have a separate investment of cotton, 

 this is quite unconnected with the testa, and really arises from the inner 

 side of the wall of the capsule and from the central axis ; it ultimately 

 becomes separated from these, and is then a mere stuffing round the 

 seeds. This material is called ' Pulun,' or silk-cotton, and is largely used 

 for stuffing cushions and pillows ; of late years (under its Malay name 

 ' Kapok ') it has become an article of export on a rather large scale, 

 chiefly to Queensland. 



This tree was not noticed by Hermann, who has neither specimen nor 

 drawing of it in his collection. 



A bright red resinous gum is afforded by the stem. 



M 



