xxvi. MALVACEJE. (Maxwell T. Masters.) 349 



16. BOMBAX, Linn. 



Trees. Leaves digitate, deciduous. Peduncles axillary or subterminal, 

 solitary or clustered, 1-nowered. Flowers appearing before the leaves. 

 Bracteoles 0. Calyx leathery, cup-shaped, truncate or 'JrT-lobed. Petals 

 obovate. Stamens pentadelphous, bundles opposite the petals, and divided 

 above into numerous filaments ; anthers reniform, 1-celled. Ovary 5-celled ; 

 style clavate, stigmas 5 ; ovules many in each cell. Capsule loculicidally 

 5-valved, valves leathery, woolly within. Seeds woolly, testa thin, albumen 

 scanty; cotyledons contortuplicate. DISTRIB. A genus of about 10 species, 

 mostly tropical American, one is tropical African. 



1. B. malabaricum, DC. Prodr. i. 479; trunk and branches prickly, 

 leaflets 5-7 quite entire cuspidate, base tapering, filaments ligulate half the 

 length of the petals, capsule oblong obtuse. Wight III. t. 29; W. & A. 

 Prodr. i. 61 ; Wall. Cat. 1840 ; Beddome Fl. Sylvat. t. 82. Salmalia malabarica. 

 Schott. Meletem, 35 ; Thwaites Enum. 28 ; Dalz. & Gibs. Bomb. Fl. 22 ; 

 Miq. Fl. Ind. Bat. i. pt. 2, 166. Bombax heptaphylla, Cav. Diss. v. p. 296 ; 

 Jioxb. Hort. Beng. 50 ; Cor. PL iii. t. 247 ; FL Ind, iii. 167. B. Ceiba, Barm. 

 FL Ind. 145 excl. syn. Gossampinus rubra, Ham. in Trans. Linn. Soc. xv. 

 \2%.Rheede Hort. Mai. iii. t. 52. 



Tropical EASTERN HIMALAYA, and throughout the hotter forest regions of India, to 

 BIIIMA and CEYLON. DISTRIB. Java, Sumatra. 



A large tree, covered with stout hard conical prickles ; branches spreading. 

 Leaflets 6-12 in., glabrous ; petiole longer than the leaflets, secondary petioles 1 in. 

 Stipules small, caducous. Flowers numerous, fascicled at or near the ends of the 

 branches. Calyx L in., cup-shaped, smooth externally, silky within, margin slightly 

 lobed, ultimately irregularly cleft, deciduous with the corolla and stamens. Corolla 

 6-7 in., red or white. Petals 5, oblong, recurved, fleshy, twice the lengtli of the stamens. 

 Staminal-tube short, filaments numerous, pluri seriate, 5 innermost forked at the top, 

 each with an anther, 10 intermediate shorter, outer very numerous. Style longer than 

 the stamens. Capsule 6-7 in., ovoid, downy, 5-valved, valves silky within. Seeds 

 numerous, obovate, smooth. Cotton tree. 



2. B. insig-ne, Watt. PL Asiat. Ear. i. 71, t. 79, 80 ; Cat. 1841 ; Karz. 

 in Journ. As. Hoc. Beng. 1873, ii. 61 ; trunk without prickles, leaflets 7-9 

 obovate cuspidate acuminate glaucous beneath, filaments slender two-thirds 

 the length of the petals. 



BIRMA, PEGU, and the Andaman islands. 



A tree, 20-30 ft. ; trunk marked with large leaf-scars. Leaflets 5 in. Flowers 

 solitary, large, scattered on leafless branches. Peduncles ^ in., thick, club-shaped, 

 jointed at the top. Floicers 10 in. diam. ; buds globose. Calyx 1^ in., urceolate- 

 globose, truncate or slightly two-lobed. Petals 5-"6 in., linear-oblong, recurved, downy, 

 scarlet within. Stamens many. Ovary ovoid. Stigma 5-lobed. Capsule 10 by 1 iii., 

 elongated, curved at the apex, glabrous. 



17. ERIODENDRON, DC. 



Trees. Leaves digitate, deciduous. Flowers appearing before the leaves, 

 tufted at the ends of the branches, or axillary, large white or rose coloured. 

 BracteoksO. Calyx cup-shaped, truncate, or 3-5-fid. Petals oblong. Staminal 

 bundles 5, opposite the petals connate at the base each bearing 2-3 sinuous 

 or linear anthers. Ovary ovoid, 5-celled; style cylindrical, dilated, stigma 

 obscurely 5-lobed. Capsule oblong, coriaceous or woody, 5-celled, 5-valved, 

 valves densely silky within. Seeds globose or obovoid. testa crustaceous, 

 smooth with silky hairs, albumen scanty; cotyledons coutortuplicate. 



