BOMBACEJE. IX. CAROLINEA. X. BOMBAX. 



511 



smooth and reddish within on the lower part, but silky and 

 whitish on the upper part. Filaments in pairs. This species 

 comes near C. insignis. 



Large-flowered Carolinea. Tree 20 to 30 feet. 



9 C. MINOR (Sims, bot. mag. t. 1412.) leaflets 7, elliptical- 

 oblong, acute at both ends ; calyx truncate ; petals erect. J? . S. 

 Native of Mexico and Guiana. C. pompalis, Moc. et Sesse, fl. 

 mex. icon. ined. B6mbax Carolinioid.es, Donn, cant. 156. Petals 

 green. Filaments red. Anthers yellow. Pedicels longer than 

 the calyx, but in the figure of the fl. mex. much shorter than 

 that in the bot. mag. 



Smaller Carolinea. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1798. Shrub 10 ft. 



10 C. CAMPE'STRIS (Mart. fl. bras. l.p. 8G.) leaflets .3-5, ob- 

 ovate-oblong, bluntish, smooth on both surfaces ; peduncles 

 equal in length to the calyx, with many glands at the base ; tube 

 of stamens shorter than the calyx ; anthers erect, kidney-shaped ; 

 style smooth. Tj . S. Native of Brazil in the province of Minas 

 Geraes, in woods between Tapanhoacanga and Villa do Prin- 

 cipe. Corolla reddish or olive-green outside, but greenish-white 

 within. Calyx surrounded by a whorl of glands at the base. 



Field Carolinea. Fl. May. Shrub 6 to 10 feet. 



11 C. MARGINA'TA ; leaflets 7, inarticulated, obovate-lanceo- 

 late, obtusely acuminated, marginated, reticulately veined be- 

 neath and tomentose ; flowers nearly a foot and a half; tube of 

 stamens an inch and a half, woolly ; anthers oblong, kidney- 

 shaped. Tj . S. Native of Brazil in the province of Minas 

 Geraes, where it is called Painera do Campo by the inhabitants. 

 Pachira marginata, St. Hil. fl. bras. 1. p. 6. t. 51. Peduncles 

 terminal under the leaf-bud, 1-flowered. Calyx cup-shaped, trun- 

 cately entire, with many glands at the base. Petals clothed with 

 brownish down on the outside, and with white wool on the inside. 

 Filaments red, simple, or forked, in 5 bundles. Seeds covered 

 with silky wool. 



Marginate-lenved Carolinea. Fl. March. Shrub 8 feet. 



12 C. A'LBA (Lodd. bot. cab. t. 752.) I? . S. Native of Brazil. 

 A magnificent tree, with digitate leaves and strong-scented white 

 flowers at the tops of the branches. Calyx flowing with honey. 

 Filaments innumerable, 2-forked, joined into a tube at the base. 



JF/iite-flowered Carolinea. Fl. July, Aug. Clt. 1817. Tree 

 20 feet. 



Cult. A genus of magnificent shrubs or trees, with splendid 

 leaves and shewy flowers, well adapted for stove conservatories ; 

 therefore they deserve to be generally cultivated. They thrive 

 best in a rich loamy soil, and large cuttings taken off at a joint, 

 not deprived of their leaves, will root in sand under a hand-glass, 

 in heat. 



X. BO'MBAX (from /3o/u/3u, bombyx, one of the Greek 

 names for cotton ; the pods are filled with a fine silky substance 

 like cotton, but it is impossible to spin this substance into thread 

 in consequence of the edges being perfectly smooth. See Gos- 

 sypium.) Lin. gen. no. 835. exclusive of many species. D. C. 

 prod. 1. p. 478. 



LIN. SYST. Monadelphia, Polyandria. Calyx naked, cam- 

 panulate, unequally 2-5-lobed, or truncately 5-toothed. Petals 

 5, joined together, and somewhat connected at the base with the 

 column of the stamens . Stamens numerous, monadelphous at the 

 base, but free at the apex. Anthers inserted by the middle, kid- 

 ney-shaped or oblong, opening above by a transverse chink. Cap- 

 sules large, 5-celled, 5 -valved, woody ; cells many-seeded. Seeds 

 albuminous, enwrapped in silky cotton. Large trees with soft 

 spongy wood, commonly used for making canoes, palmate 

 leaves, and large scarlet or white flowers usually rising laterally 

 from the trunk or branches, either singly or in clusters. 



1 B. CEIBA (Lin. spec. 959.) trunk prickly ; leaves palmate, 

 with 5 leaflets ; fruit turbinate, concave at the apex, \ . S. 



Native of South America, Jamaica, &c. &c. B. quinatum, 

 Jacq. amer. 192. 1. 176. f. 1. Flowers large, pale-red. This is 

 a very large tree ; it is called Ceiba in some parts of South 

 America. The wood is very light, and not much valued except 

 for making canoes. Their trunks are so large, as when hol- 

 lowed to make very large ones. In Columbus's first voyage it 

 was related, that a canoe was seen at the island of Cuba made of 

 one of these trees, which was 95 palms long, of a proportionable 

 width, and capable of containing 150 men ; and some writers 

 have affirmed that there are trees of the silk-cotton growing in 

 the West Indies, so large as not to be fathomed by 16 men, and 

 so tall that an arrow cannot be shot to their tops. The canoes 

 now made in the West Indies from this tree frequently carry 

 from 15 to 20 hogsheads of sugar from six to twelve hundred 

 weight each, the average about twenty-five tons burden. When 

 sawn into boards and then well saturated with lime-water, the 

 wood bears exposure to the weather many years ; it is also 

 formed into laths for roofs, curing pots, and hogshead heading. 

 When the tree decays it becomes a nest for the Macaea beetle, 

 the caterpillar which, when gutted and fried, is esteemed by 

 many persons one of the greatest delicacies. The down which 

 is enclosed in the seed-vessels is very soft and silky ; it is sel- 

 dom used except by the poorer inhabitants to stuff pillows or 

 chairs ; and it is generally thought unwholesome to lie upon. 

 The same may be said of most of the species of Bombax and 

 Ertodendron. 



Ceiba,or Common Silk-cotton Tree. Clt. 1692. Tree 100 ft. 



2 B. MALABA'RICUM (D. C. prod. 1. p. 479.) trunk prickly ; 

 leaves palmate, with 5 or 7 oblong, entire, acuminated leaflets ; 

 fruit oblong, blunt. ^ . S. Native of Malabar and Bengal ; 

 also of Java. B. heptaphyllum, Cav. diss. 5. p. 296. Roxb. 

 cor. 3. t. 247. Rheed. mal. 3. t. 52. Flowers in fascicles near 

 the extremities of the branches, scarlet or red on the inside, but 

 pale on the outside. Calyx irregularly 2 or 3-lobed, or 5-6- 

 cleft. The wool in the pods is used in India to stuff pillows and 

 beds. There is also a variety of this tree with white flowers. 



Malabar Silk-cotton Tree. Tree 80 feet. 



3 B. INSI'GNE (Wall. pi. rar. asiat. 1. p. 74. t. 79 and 80.) 

 trunk unarmed ; leaflets 9, obovate, short-acuminated, glaucous 

 beneath, as well as the petioles ; corolla 4-times longer than the 

 2-lobed calyx ; stamens shorter than the corolla ; petals villous 

 on the outside ; capsule very long. Tj . S. Native of the Bur- 

 man empire near Yenangheun. Flowers large, red, very showy, 

 solitary on the naked branches. Stamens monadelphous at the 

 base, but separating into 4-5 bundles at the top. Anthers kid- 

 ney-shaped, fixed by the middle, yellow. 



Shervy Silk-cotton Tree. Tree 20 to 30 feet. 



4 B. SEPTENA'TUM (Jacq. amer. 193. exclusive of the sy- 

 nonymes,) trunk unarmed, corky ; leaves palmate, with 7 entire 

 leaflets. Jj . S. Native of Carthagena. B. heptophyllum, 

 Lin. spec. 960. Flowers crimson. Fruit like that of Erioden- 

 dron anfractubsum. 



Seven-\eaved Silk-cotton Tree. Clt. 1699. Tree 66 feet. 



5 B. BUONOPOZE'NSE (Beauv. fl. d. ow. et de ben. 2. p. 42. t. 

 83.) trunk unarmed. >? . S. Native of Guinea in the king- 

 dom of Waree near Buonopozo. Calyx quite entire, capsule 

 formed with a small circle on the margin. Flowers red, woolly 

 on the outside. 



Buonopozo Silk-cotton Tree. Tree 100 feet. 



6 B. GLOBOSUM (Aubl. guian. 2. p. 701. t. 281.) trunk un- 

 armed ; leaves palmate, with 5 oval, blunt, entire, emarginate 

 leaflets ; calyx bluntly 5-lobed ; fruit globose, fj . S. Native 

 of Guiana and Cayenne. Cav. diss. 5. p. 297. t. 155. Flowers 

 disposed in axillary and terminal racemes. Pedicels 1-flowered. 

 Calyxes smooth. Petals oblong, woolly on the outside, pale 

 on the inside. Stamens shorter than the petals. 



