B O L E T O B I U S B O M B A C E JE. 



541 



exhibits another mark of inferiority in its pale colour- 

 ing, which is generally, amongst insects, regarded as 

 a mark of immaturity, The genus in question is 

 widely distributed, being found in every quarter of 

 the globe. Dejean enumerates sixteen species. 



BOLETOBIUS (Leach). A genus of coleopte- 

 rous insects belonging to the family of the rove- 

 beetles, Staphylinus, Linnaeus, and to the sub-family 

 Tacky porides. Its head is elongate, the antennae 

 slender, the palpi rather long and filiform. The 

 species are prettily marked with blue-back, varied 

 with red or yellow. They are of small size, not 

 exceeding a quarter of an inch in length, but are 

 extremely serviceable in the economy of nature, from 

 their habits of feeding upon decaying boleti and 

 fungi, whence the generic name. They form a portion 

 of the genus Tachimis of Gravenhorst's work upon 

 this family. Mr. Stephens enumerates eighteen spe- 

 cies, of which the Staphi/linus lunulatus of Linnseus 

 is the type. It is a pretty insect of a red colour, with 

 the head, breast, and base of the abdomen black, the 

 elytra blue-black, with the base and margin of the 

 tips red. It is a common species in various parts of 

 England. 



BOLETOPHAGUS (Fabricius ; Eledona, La- 

 treille). A genus of heteromerous beetles, belonging 

 to the family Diapcridcc, of which it forms a separate 

 section. The body is ovoid, very unequal above, 

 and deeply striated in the elytra ; the margins of 

 the thorax are toothed ; the antennae are terminated 

 by a perfoliated mass of three or five joints, and the 

 inner side of the preceding joints is acutely produced. 

 The head of the males is often armed with horns. 

 The species reside in fungi, Boleti, &c., in a decaying 

 state. Dejean enumerates six species in his Catalogue, 

 first edition, of which one only is found in England, 

 namely, the Sol. agricola (or rather agaricola, from 

 feeding upon agarics). It is of small size, being only 

 one-eighth of an inch in length, and of an obscure 

 black colour. Another of Dejean's species, Spinosulus, 

 Latr., has only three joints in the club of the antennae, 

 and forms the genus Coxelus of Zcigler. 



BOLETUS. A family of fungi very often seen 

 growing out of the decayed parts of trees. The 

 boletus is distinguished i'rom the mushroom by a very 

 striking difference : the under side of the first is 

 crowded with circular cells, that of the latter by 

 diverging gills. The boletus grows to an immense 

 size in the humid woods of the tropical countries ; 

 assuming the most fantastic and frightful forms, but 

 of no known use. One of the family, the B. ignarius, 

 is manufactured into a substance which serves for 

 tinder. 



BOLTONIA (L'Heritier). A genus of two 

 species herbaceous perennials, from North America. 

 They are syngenesous plants, and consequently in 

 the natural order Compositce. They are both occa- 

 sionally met with in flower borders. 



BOMBACE^. Cotton-tree family. A natural 

 order of dicotyledonous plants, containing fourteen or 

 fifteen genera, and about fifty species. It is closely 

 allied to the Malvacees or mallow tribe, and by some 

 authors is considered merely as a section of that 

 order. It differs however, from the malvaceae, in the 

 calyx not being truly valvate, and in the tube of the 

 stamens being divided into five bundles. The order 

 bears a strong affinity to the Byltneriacece and 

 Chlcnacece, 



The essential botanical characters of the bornbaceae 



are : sepals five, cohering in a truncated or irregu- 

 larly-cleft tube, so'metimes provided with bracteae ; 

 petals five, regular, occasionally wanting, and then 

 the inside of the calyx is coloured ; stamens five, ten, 

 fifteen, or more ; filaments united at the base into a 

 tube, which is adnate with the base of the petals, di- 

 viding at the apex into five bundles, each of which 

 has one or more one-celled linear anthers ; ovarv of 

 five carpels, either distinct or united ; styles equal in 

 number to the carpels ; fruit variable, capsular or 

 indehiscent, provided with five valves, bearing the 

 dissepiments in the middle ; seeds often enveloped 

 in wool or pulp. 



The plants belonging to this order are shrubs or 

 large trees, with showy flowers, found in hot tropical 

 regions. They are natives of South America, the 

 East and West Indies, and Africa. 



The wood which they furnish is generally light 

 and soft, and they are propagated by cuttings and 

 seeds. 



Like the mallows they are mucilaginous, and do 

 not possess any deleterious properties. 



Boinbax is the genus whence the name of the order 

 is derived. B. pentandrium or Eriodendron anfrac- 

 tiiosum, the cotton tree, is a large tree which occa- 

 sionally attains the height of one hundred feet. It 

 yields a kind of gum which, when combined with 

 spices, is used in India in bowel complaints. The 

 fruit is oval and larger than a swan's egg, having a 

 thick woody covering, and containing a quantity of 

 short dark cotton, inclosing many roundish seeds the 

 size of peas. These seeds are eaten by the inhabi- 

 tants of the Celebes islands. B. ceiba has a spiny 

 trunk and is one of the tallest trees in both Indies. 



Bombax. 



Its wood is used <for making canoes. When the 

 trunk decays it becomes the nest of the Macaca bee- 

 tle, the caterpillar of which, when properly prepared 

 and dressed, is esteemed by some people a great 

 delicacy. 



The Durion of the Indian Archipelago is a most 

 delicious fruit, the product of one of the plants be- 

 longing to this order. This fruit is at first disagree- 

 able from its fetid odour, whence the plant gets the 

 name of civet riurio, but it soon becomes a favourite 

 article of dessert. 



To this order belongs the Adansonia dlgitata, 



