792 CONTEIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



3. Ceiba acuminata (S. Wats.) Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 8: 320. 1905. 

 Eriodendron acuminatum S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 21: 418. 1886. 

 Eriodendron tomentosum Robinson, Proc. Amer. Acad. 29: 314. 1894. 

 Ceiba tomentosa Britt. & Baker, Journ. Bot. Brit. & For. 34: 175. 1896. 

 Baja California and Sonora to Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas, and 



probably southward to Oaxaca and Chiapas; type from Hacienda San Miguel, 

 Chihuahua. 



Large or medium-sized tree, the greenish trunk covered with large conic 

 spines ; leaflets usually 7, lance-elliptic or oblanceolate, 7 to 15 cm. long, cuspi- 

 date-acuminate, thin, sharply serrate; calyx 3 to 4 cm. long, tomentose or 

 glabrous; petals 10 to 14 cm. long, densely covered outside with yellow hairs; 

 fruit very thick and hard, 15 to 18 cm. long, the " cotton " brownish or nearly 

 white. "Ceiba" (Tamaulipas); "pochote" (Sinaloa, Chihuahua). 



A flowering specimen from Chiapas, which probably belongs here, is accom- 

 panied by the vernacular name " mosmote." The cotton is used for stuffing 

 pillows and for candlewicks. Hartman reports that the fleshy roots are eaten. 



Eriodendron tomentosum is a form with tomentose calyx, but this character 

 appears to be variable and to be merely a matter of degree. 



4. Ceiba aesculifolia (H. B. K.) Britt. & Baker, Journ. Bot. Brit. & For. 34: 



175. 1896. 



Bomhax aesculifoUum H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 5: 298. 1821. 



Eriodendron aesculifoUum DC. Prodr. 1: 479. 1824. 



Ceiba grandiflora Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 1: 308. 1895. 



Ceiba schottU Britt. & Baker, Journ. Bot. Brit. & For. 34: 173. 1896. 



Ceiba pallida Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 8: 320. 1905. 



Sinaloa and Jalisco to Oaxaca, YucatAn, and Querfitaro ; type from Campeche. 

 Guatemala. 



Large or medium-sized tree, the trunk armed with stout conic spines ; leaflets 

 5 to 7, elliptic, obovate, or oblanceolate, 5 to 15 cm. long, acuminate or cus- 

 pidate-acuminate, serrate or rarely entire, usually glaucescent beneath ; calyx 

 2 to 4 cm. long, glabrous, often glaucous; petals 10 to 16 cm. long, yellow- 

 hairy outside ; fruit ellipsoid-oblong, 12 to 18 cm. long, the " cotton " brownish 

 or white. "Pochote" (Oaxaca, Yucatan, Morelos, Colima, Guerrero, Sinaloa) ; 

 "pochotl" (Nahuatl) ; "piim," "yaxch6" (Yucatan, Maya) ; "ceiba," " ceibo " 

 (Morelos, Yucatan, Guatemala, etc., a name probably of Carib origin). 



The flowers are white at first but turn brown in age. The species is slightly 

 variable, but none of the forms appear worthy of specific rank; indeed, 

 it is rather doubtful whether C. acuminata is really a distinct species. 



5. PACHIRA Aubl. PI. Guian. 725. 1775. 



Large trees ; leaves digitate, the leaflets 3 to 9, entire ; peduncles axillary, 

 1-flowered; calyx truncate; petals linear or linear-oblong, more than 15 cm. 

 long; stamen tube 4.5 to 10 cm. long, the fascicles of stamens repeatedly 

 branched ; fruit large and woody, 5-valvate, naked within ; seeds 1.5 cm. or 

 more in diameter. 



Petals 18 to 19 cm. long; stamen tube 4.5 cm. long 1. P. macrocarpa. 



Petals 23 to 30 cm. long; stamen tube 6 to 10 cm. long 2. P. aquatica. 



1. Pachira macrocarpa (Schlecht. & Cham.) Walp. Repert. Bot. 1: 329. 1842. 



Carolinea macrocarpa Schlecht. & Cham. Linnaea 6: 423. 1831. 



Pachira longifolia Hook, in Curtis's Bot. Mag. 76: pi. JtSI/O. 1850. 



Veracruz and Oaxaca ; reported from Tabasco ; type from Papantla and Te- 

 colutla, Veracruz. Central America. 



