XIII. BIXACE^. 53 



1. COCHLOSPERMUM, Kimth. 



Trees or shrubs, with yellow or red juice. Leaves palroately or 

 digitately divided. Flowers hermaphrodite, large, yellow, handsome. 

 Sepals 5, imbricate, deciduous. Pelals 5, large, contorted in bud. 

 Stamens many, inserted on an eglandular disk ; anthers oblong or linear, 

 sometimes apiculate beyond the cells. Ovary globose ; ovules many, on 

 3-5 parietal placentas ; style simple ; stigma minutely denticulate. 

 Capsule 3-5-valved, incompletely 3-5-celled. Seeds cochleate ; testa 

 hard, woolly ; embryo curved ; cotyledons ovate. — Distrib. Tropical 

 regions of the world ; species 11. 



1. Cochlospermum Gossypium, DC. Prodr. v. 1 (1824) p. 527. 

 A sn)nll tree, 8-18 it. high, with a branching head ; bark smooth, ash- 

 colored. Leaves scattered about the ends of the branchlets, 3-7 in. in 

 diam., palmately 3-5-lobed, glabrous above, white-tomentose beneath ; 

 lobes entire, acute ; petioles 4-7 in. long, pubescent when young. 

 Flowers 4-5 in. in diam., in terminal subcorymbose panicles, bright 

 yellow, appearing before the leaves ; pedicels stout, 2-5 in. long, grooved 

 and tM'isttd, pubescent. Sepals unequal, oblong, concave, silky outside. 

 Petals obovate, deeply emarginate. Capsules 2-3 in. long, obovoid, striate 

 outside. Seeds -^ in. long, cochleate, covered with an abundance of 

 white silky wool. Fl. B. L v. 1, p. 190 ; Grab. Cat. p. 22 ; Talb. Trees, 

 Bomb. p. 12 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1897) p. 124 ; Watt, 

 Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 2, p. 412. Bomhax gossijijinum, Linn. Syst. ed. 12, 

 V. 2, p. 457 ; Poxb. Fl. Tnd. v. 3, p. 169. Bomhax Gossypium, Cav. Diss, 

 p. 297. — Flowers : Feb.-Apr. Vern, Ganeri. 



Found on a few of the Konlan and Deccan hills ; often planted near temples. 

 KoNKAN : S/oc7iSl; in gardei,s,'Bomhay, Graham. Deccan: Chattersinghi hill.Poona 

 CoUectoiate, Wvodrow ! ; Kartriz Ghat, Cocke \ ; hill near Poona, Woodrow ! ; Khandesli 

 hills, Tall.ot. S. M. Countuy: Belgaum, Bitchie, ^i98 I Gujarat; Satpura jungles, 

 Dr. Gibson ex Graham. 



2. BIXA, Linn. 



Small trees with yellow or red juice. Leaves large, quite entire, 

 penninerved. Flowers hermaphrodite, terminal, panieled, handsome ; 

 pedicels 5-glandular beneath the calyx. Sepals 5, imbricate, deciduous. 

 Petals 5, large, contorto-imbricate. Stamens many, inserted on a thick 

 torus ; anthers oblong, dehiscing at the apex by 2 short slits confluent 

 into a pore. Ovary 1-celled ; ovules many, on 2 parietal placentas ; style 

 slender, curved ; stigma very shortly 2-lobed. Capsule densely echinate- 

 setose, loculicidally 2-vaIved ; valves thick, placentiferous in the middle. 

 Seeds obovoid or trigonous ; funicle dilated at the apex ; testa subfleshy ; 

 embryo large ; cotyledons flat.— Distrib. Species not more than about 2. 

 The following species is cultivated throughout the tropics for the coloring 

 matter afforded by the testa of the seeds. 



1. Bixa Orellana, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) p. 512. A small evergreen 

 tree. Leaves 4-8 by 2|-5 in., ovate, acute or acuminate, truncate or 

 subcordate at the base, glabrous on both surfaces ; petioles 2-3 in. long. 

 Flowers 2 in. in diam., in terminal panicles ; pedicels pubescent. Sepals : 

 the two smaller concave ; the three larger oblong or suborbicular. Petals 

 white or pink, obovate. Capsules ovoid or subglobose, clothed with long 



