OBDBB 26. TILIACEJ3. 271 



3 A. Collinsidna. Lvs. pedatefy 5-parted, segm. linear-oblanceolate, coarsely 

 toothed, acuminate, the lowest obtusely 5-lobed; ped. short, involucel 10 to 12- 

 leared. Fla., rare. Plant thinly hirsute or hispid. Lvs. 6 to 8' broad. Fls. 

 much as in No. 2. (Hibiscus, N,utt.) 



13. GOSSYPIUM, L. COTTON PLANT. Fig. 252. (Name said to 

 be from the Arabic, goz, a silky substance.) Calyx obtusely 5-toothed, 

 surrounded by an involucel of 3 cordate leaves, deeply and incisely 

 toothed ; stamens very numerous, lateral ; stigmas 3, rarely 5, clavate ; 

 seeds oo, involved in cotton. Fls. yellow. 



G. herbaceum L. Corrox PLANT. Lvs. 3 to 5-lobed, with a single gland 

 below, lobes mucronate ; seeds brownish, cotton white. (j) The species com- 

 monly cultivated in the Southern States, and often growing spontaneously. It is 

 an herbaceous plant, about 5f high, sown in early spring and harvested in 

 autumn. Sts. hirsute above. Upper Ivs. often but 2 or 3-lobed. lobes commonly 

 acuminate, tipped with a mucro. Petioles about as long as the Ivs., peduncles 

 shorter. Fls. handsome, 3' broad, light yellow, with a purple eye, changing to 

 reddish brown. E. India. 



/3 ? BARBADESSE. Sea Island Cotton. Glands on the back of the leaf (mid- 

 vein) 3 ; sds. black, cotton white. Sown in Sept. and Oct. Cotton long, 

 with a silk-like texture, f W. India. Chiefly cultivated near the southern 

 coasts. (G. Barbadense L.) 



G. arbdreum is the Tree Cotton of E. India, with red flowers, and G. Peru- 

 vianum, the Brazil Cotton. The Nankin Cotton is another variety of G. herba- 

 ceum. Plants so extensively cultivated as the cotton are liable to much varia- 

 tion. Of the thirteen species described by De Candolle, only the threo above 

 named are now regarded as genuine the others considered as varieties. 

 The microscope shows the fiber of cotton to consist of a lengthened and generally 

 flattened cell, thus readily distinguished from the fiber of silk, which is terete and 

 solid, or wool, which is imbricate-scaly. 



ORDER XXV. STERCULIACE^E. SILK COTTONS. 



Large trees or shrubs with simple or compound leaves, with flowers similar to 

 those of the Mallow, except that the anthers are 2-celled and turned outwards. 

 Fruit capsular, of 3, rarely 5 carpels. 



Genera 24, species 130, all native of tropical regions. Here belong the huge Adansonia (Bao- 

 bab) of Africa, and the Boinbax (silk-cotton trees) of S. America, etc. 



STERCULIA, L. (Sterculius was the name of a detestable Roman 

 god ; alluding to the bad odor of some species.) Calyx 5-lobed, sub- 

 coriaceous ; stamens monadelphous, united into a short, sessile cup ; 

 anth. adnate, 10, 15, or 20; carpels 5, distinct, follicular, 1 -celled, 

 1 co -seeded. Trees with axillary panicles or racemes. 



S. platanifolia L. Lvs. cordate at base, palmately 3 5-lobed, smooth ; calyx 

 rotate, reflexed. Tree from China and Japan, cultivated at Savannah (Feay). A 

 beautiful tree, with branching, axillary clusters of green fls. and leaves resembling 

 those of the Sycamore. Jl. (Firmiana, Mars.) 



ORDER XXVI. TILIACE^E. LINDENBLOOMS. 



Trees or shrubs (rarely herbs) with simple, stipulate, alternate, dentate Ivs., with 

 fls. axillary, hypogynous, usually perfect and polyadelphous ; with the sepals 4 or 5, 

 deciduous, valvate in aestivation, the petals 4 or 5, imbricated; stamens GO, with. 2- 

 celled, versatile anthers. Ovary cf 2 to 10 united carpels, a compound style, and 



