Ceiha] xxiii. malvace^. 81 



IcoLO E Bexgo. — Foto, on the Dande ; fl. Sept. No. 5404. _ St. 

 Antonio ; fr. Dec. No. 5405. Abundant at the banks of the river 

 Bengo ; one side of the tree had leafy branches without flowers, and 

 the other had flowering branches without leaves, Sept. 1854. No. 5407. 

 An eminently handsome tree, 80 to 100 ft. and more ; the trunk is not 

 unf requently excavated by the natives for boats, as are the gigantic 

 trunks of Adansonia, which it rivals ; abundant in the wooded parts 

 near the river Bengo, fl. with or without leaves, nijddle of Sept. 1857 ; 

 called by the natives " Mufuma." No. 5408. 



GoLUNGo Alto.— In the forest, near Mussengue ; capsule pentagonal- 

 conical, 4 in. long, 5-valved ; valves free from the pentagonal axis : 

 June 1856. No. 5409. Eastern Queta, fl. Dec. 1855. No. 5410. 

 Coll. Carp. 273. 



St. Thomas' Island.— '^Ocd" ; end of Dec. I860,; fl. and fr. No. 5411. 



Dishes or small bowls are made from the wood of " Muf umeira," and 

 the natives in Angola usually make use of them at their meals. The 

 Mufumeiras (the Portuguese name for Mufuma, by which the native 

 tribes call this tree) are, with the exception of Adamoma, the most 

 gigantic and bulky of the Bombax group in Tropical Africa; they 

 grow by preference along rivers and streams, remarkably adorning the 

 country of Portuguese Africa with their majestic crowns. Not only 

 these small bowls, but also much larger ones for baths, washing-tubs, 

 etc., and nearly all the canoes are made from the trunks, which not 

 uncommonly attain 120 ft. in height and 8 to 12 ft. in diam. at the 

 lower part of the trunk. The wool in which the seeds are enveloped 

 is known under the name of " Suma-uma " ; but not being of much 

 durability and of very little elasticity, it is not of much use. (See 

 Welwitsch, Synopse, p. 21, and Apontamentos, p. 559.) 



XXIV. STERCULIACE^. 



This Order contains trees of the finest habit belonging to the 

 giants of the vegetable kingdom, and also some of the most useful 

 trees of the tropical zone. The great promptness with which 

 many of these trees strike root, from branches stuck in the 

 ground in the rainy season, considerably facilitates the formation 

 of fences and the planting of roads and squares mth trees, 

 especially in the hilly and upland districts; stakes of 3 to 5 in. in 

 diam., so planted, become established in a few months, and within 

 a year form tolerably bushy little trees. Some species of Stercidia 

 furnish gum tragacanth of excellent quality ; a species of Edwardia 

 has edible fruit; and several plants of the Order afford textile 

 material for the manufacture of ropes, provision -bags, and other 

 such domestic articles. (See Weh\itsch, Apont. p. 558.) 



1. STERCTILIA L. ; Benth & Hook. f. Gen. PL i. p. 217. 

 1. S. pubescens G. Don ex Loudon, Hort. Brit. p. 392 (May 

 1830); G. Don, Gen. Syst. i. p. 515 (1831). 



S. Tragacantha Lindl. Bot. Reg. t. 1353 (Sept. 1830) ; Masters 

 in Oliv. Fl. Trop. Afr. i. p. 216 ; Brown in PI. Jav. Bar. p. 233. 



GoLUNGO Alto.— A lofty tree, 100 to 120 ft. high, remarkable for 

 a very strictly erect trunk ; not uncommon in forests whether dense 

 or sparse, often in company with Elaeis guhieensis ; (fruit carpels 1^ in. 



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