XXVT. STBRCFLIACE^. 123 



albumen bipartite, adhering to the cotyledons ; cotyledons flat or slightly 

 undulate, thin or tleshy ; radicle near to, or remote from the hilum. — 

 DiSTEiB. Warmer regions of both hemispheres, especially in tropical 

 Asia ; species about 70. 



Follicles coriaceous or woody ; seeds not winged. 



Leaves digitate !• S.fa-tida. 



Leaves palmately lobed. 



Follicles armed with sharp stinging hairs 2. S. urevs. 



Follicles rusty villous, without stinging hairs 3. 8. villosa. 



Leaves entire not lobed ." 4. S. guttata. 



Follicles membranous, opening before maturity ; seeds few, not 



wino-ed •'•• 8. colorata. 



Follicles very large, woody ; seeds many, with a coi-ky wing ij. S. alata. 



1. Sterculia foetida, Linn. Sp. PI. (1753) p. 1008. A large tree ; 

 bark whitish, flaking off ; branches whorled, horizontal. Leaves digitate, 

 crowded at the ends of the branches ; leaflets 5-9, subsessile, 4-7 by 

 1^-2 in., oblong-lanceolate, acute or acuminate, tapering to the base, 

 pubescent when young, glabrous on both surfaces when mature ; petioles 

 6-9 in. long, terete, grooved; stipules caducous. Flowers 1-1| in. in 

 diam., in erect racemose panicles 6-8 in. long, formed immediately 

 under the young leaves : pedicels |-1 in. long, jointed above the middle. 

 Calyx deeply divided: lobes linear-oblong, suljacute, spreading, much 

 longer than the tube, slightly pubescent outside, woolly inside. Male 

 FLOWERS : Staminal column g iu. long, curved, hairy at the base, bearing 

 10-15 anthers. Female flowers : Carpels 5, downy ; gynophore stout, 

 I in. long. Staminodes subsessile, in a ring beneath the carpels. Styles 

 deflexed, hairy. Follicles 1-5 (commonly 3), 4-5 in. long, boat-shaped, 

 shortly beaked, thick and woody, bright red when ripe, nearly glabrous 

 without, quite glabrous within. Seeds numerous, | in. long, ovoid- 

 oblong, the back with a small yellow caruncle on one side at the base. 

 Fl. B. 1. v. 1, p. 354 ; Grab. Cat. p. 18 ; Dalz. & Gibs. Suppl. p. 10 ; 

 Wight, Icon. tt. 181, 3(54 ; Trim. Fl. Ceyl. v. 1, p. 164 : Talb- Trees, 

 Bomb. p. 22 ; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1897) p. 129 ; Watt, 

 Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 6, part 3, p. 362. — Flowers : Mar.-May. Veen. 

 JangU-hadam ; Pan. 



Not common in a wild state; often planted. Konkan : Law I, Stoc/csl; Konkan 

 (planted). Wood row I; Bombay, Cajit. Ge/iurncl; Mahim and Girgaum Woods (Bombay), 

 Graham. 



The flowers have a most offensive odor. The seeds are roasted and eaten, especially 

 iu times of scarcity. — Distrib. East tropical Africa, the Moluccas, North Australia, 

 Ceylon. 



2. Sterculia urens, lio.vh. Cor. PI. v. 1 (1795) p. 25, t. 24. A 



large tree ; young parts more or less pubescent ; trunk erect, straight ; 

 bark white, smooth, papery, the outer surface thin, peeling off, the inner 

 coat fibrous and netted. Leaves 8-12 in. in diam., crowded at the ends 

 of the branches, shallowly palmately lobed, glabrous or nearly so above, 

 velvety beneath ; lobes 5, caudate-acuminate, base cordate ; petioles 

 terete, 5-9 in. long, velvety-tomentose. Flowers yellow, numerous, 

 small, 5-| in. in diam., the hermaphrodite or female mixed with many 

 males, in much-branched glandular-pubescent terminal panicles appear- 

 ing before the leaves at the ends of the branches. Calyx campanulate, 

 hairy on both surfaces ; lobes oblong, acute, about as long as the tube, 

 with a small hairy gland at the base of each lobe. Male floweks : 



