THALAMIFLOR-E. 469 



laginous, demulcent, and emollient ; others have a hairy cover- 

 ing to their seeds, and others yield fibres. The cottony covering 

 of their seeds, and the fibres yielded by plants of this order, are 

 not, however, to be compared in importance to similar products 

 of the Malvaceffi. Some plants are reputed to be diuretic, 

 emetic, or purgative. Many of the Bombacece are remarkable 

 for their prodigious size, height, and apparently enormous age. 

 The more interesting plants are as follows : — 



Adansonia digitata, the Baobab-tree The fruit commonly known as 



Monkey-bread or Ethiopian Sour-gourd, has its seeds surrounded by a large 

 quantity of a starchy pulp, with an acid flavour much resembling cream of 

 tartar. This forms a wholesome and agreeable article ot food. When mixed 

 with water it is used as an acid drink, which is regarded as a specific in putrid 

 and pestilential fevers. It is also employed in Egypt in dysentery. All parts 

 of the tree possess emollient and demulcent properties. Its powdered leaves 

 are used by the Africans under the name of Lalo, mixed with their daily food 

 to check excessive perspiration. This property is owing to the presence of an 

 astringentmatter, hence they have been found serviceable in diarrhoea, &c. The 

 bark is said to be febrifugal, and its fibres are employed by certain African 

 tribes living where the tree is common, in the manufacture of va.ious articles 

 of dress, cordage, &c. The Baobab-tree is also remarkable for its enormous 

 size, and the great age to which it attains, in some cases reputed to be many 

 thousand years. One tree of this species has been found to have a trunk from 

 SO to 100 feet in circumference. Their height, however, does not bear the 

 usual proportion to their thickness, as that is generally but little more than their 

 diameter. Their hollowed trunks, are used by the natives in some districts 

 of Africa, as burial-places for such of their dead as are believed to have com- 

 munion with evil spirits. 



Chorisia speciosa has its seeds covered with silky hairs, which are used for 

 stuffing cushions, &c. It is termed Vegetable Silk. 



Eriodtndron Samatima, a native of South America, is remarkable for its 

 great height. Its trunk frequently overtops all the surrounding trees before 

 it gives off a single branch. The hairy covering of the seeds of various species 

 oi Eriodendron is employed for stuffing cushions and similar purposes. 



Bombax Ceiba, the Silk-Cotton Tree of South America, and B. pentandrum , 

 the Silk-Cotton-tree of India, are also remarkable for their size and height. 

 The seeds of these plants are covered by long silky hairs; henct- their common 

 names. These hairs cannot be used like those of ordinary cotton for manufac- 

 turing purposes, chiefly on account of the smoothness and want of adhesion 

 between their sides. They are used, however, in many parts of the world for 

 stuffing cushions, &c. The bark of ^. pentandrum is reported to be emetic. 



Sahnalia. —The bark of some species of this genus is said to be emetic, 

 and honey obtained from the flowers of S. malabarica is commonly regarded 

 as both emetic and purgative. 



Durio zibethinus — This tree, which is about the size of the ordinary pear- 

 tree, yields the fruit called Durian, which is highly esteemed in the south, 

 eastern parts of Asia, being accounted next in value to the Mangosteen. It 

 has, however, a strong smeil, which renders it disagreeable at first to those un- 

 accustomed to it, but this quality is soon forgotten after the palate has become 

 familiar with it. 



Ochroma Lagoptis, a West Indian tree, has an antisyphilitic bark, and a 

 spongy wood, which is sometimes used as a sulistitute for cork. 



Cheirostemon platanoides is the Hand-plant of Mexico. It derives its com- 

 mon name from the remarkable appearance of its flowers, the anthers and 

 style of which are so arranged as to resemble a hand furnished with long 



ClrtWS. 



Sterculia acuminata. — The seeds of this plant, as well as those of S. tonien- 

 ^J,osa, contain a good deal of mucilage. They constitute the Kola-nuts, which 

 are used in Africa to sweeten water which has become more or less putrid. 

 The seeds of several species of Sterculia are eaten in different parts of the 

 gloce. This is the case with S. Chicha, and S lasiantha in Brazil, and 

 S. nobilis in Asia. Sterculia Tragacantha, a native of Sierra Leone, receives 

 its specific name from yielding a gum resembling flaky Tragacanth. S. urem, 

 H H 3 



