658 



BYTTNER1ACE.E. 



having from five to ten teeth; anthers twinned, 

 seated on the top of the tube ; styles short ; stigma 

 five-cleft ; capsule five-beiried, somewhat prickly, in 

 each berry one seed. 



BYTTNERIACEvE, or BUTTNERIACE.E. 

 A natural order of dicotyledonous plants containing 

 thirty-five genera, and upwards of two hundred spe- 

 cies. It sometimes receives the name of Stcrculiacece, 

 or Hcrmanniaccfe. It is nearly allied to the Malvaccce, 

 TiliacecE, and Elceocarpcce. From the first of these 

 orders it is distinguished by its two-celled anthers, 

 and from the two last by its stamens being united 

 into one bundle by their filaments. 



Its essential characters are, calyx consisting of five 

 divisions or sepals, more or less united at the base 

 with a valvate aestivation, sometimes furnished with 

 bracteae ; petals five, alternate with the sepals ; 

 stamens five or indefinite, monadelphous ; anthers 

 two-celled, opening behind ; pistil consisting of five, 

 rarely three carpels, distinct or combined into one 

 ovary ; styles equal in number to the capsules ; seeds 

 often winged. 



The plants included in this order are exotic trees 

 or shrubs with alternate leaves, and a starlike pube- 

 scence, and are propagated by cuttings and seeds. 



The order is divided into several sections. 



I. The true Byttneriacece, including the genera 

 Byttneria, Thcobromn, Abroma, Guazuma, Commersonia, 

 Glossostemon, Ai/enia, and Kleiiihovia, natives of South 

 America the East and West Indies, and New Hol- 

 land. 



II. The Stcrculiacc<, comprehending the genera 

 Sterculia, Heriliera, Triphaca, and Reevcsia, found 

 chiefly in Africa and India. 



III. LasiopetalcfE, including Lasiopetalum, Lcringia, 

 Guichenotia, Thomasia, and Kerandrenia, which are 

 solely New Holland genera. 



IV. HermnnniacetB, comprehending Hermannia, 

 Melochia, Mahcrnia, Waltheria, Altheria, and Riedleia, 

 genera chiefly found native at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. 



V. Dombeyacece, to which belong the genera Dom- 

 beya, Pcntapetes, Astrapcea, Ruizia, Assonia, Melhania, 

 Trochetia, Pterospermum, Kydia, and Gluta, natives 

 of Africa and the East Indies. 



VI. Wallichiece, including the genera Wallichia, 

 Eriokena, and Gcethea, which are found native in 

 India and South America. 



The general properties of the order are mucilagi- 

 nous and emollient, and it contains some plants which 

 are highly important in an economical point of view. 



One of the most important genera is Thcobroma, 

 a name derived from two Greek words signifying 

 " the food of the gods." Thcobroma cacao, smooth- 

 leaved chocolate tree, is found native in South Ame- 

 rica, and grows in abundance on the banks of rivers 

 in that country. It is also cultivated extensively in 



the West Indies. It is a tree about the size of a 

 middling apple-tree, attaining a height of fifteen or 

 sixteen feet, with bright green leaves, and small red- 

 dish inodorous flowers. Its fruit is about three inches 

 in diameter, and has some resemblance to a cucumber. 

 It is smooth, of a yellow or red colour, and is fur- 

 nished with a fleshy rind nearly half an inch thick, 

 which encloses a whitish pulp of a buttery consistence. 

 The pulp separates from the rind when ripe, adhering 

 to it only by a few filaments. Hence the seeds are 

 ascertained to be ripe by the rattling of the seed- 

 vessel. The pulp has a sweetish, slightly acid taste, 

 and is eaten by the natives of America. The tree 

 has a very beautiful appearance when laden with ripe 

 fruit. The seeds, after being separated from the pulp, 

 and dried in the air, are sold under the name of cacao 

 beans or nuts. They must not be confounded with 

 cocoa-nuts, which are the produce of a totally different 

 tree. Cacao-beans resemble almonds in shape, and, 

 when fresh, have a flesh-colour and a sharp bitter 

 taste. They were formerly used as money in Ame- 

 rica. Each capsule contains about twenty-five seeds, 

 and a cacao-tree yields three or four pounds of beans 

 annually. The unripe seeds are sometimes eaten 

 when preserved in sugar. 



From the kernel of the cacao-tree the well known 

 paste called chocolate is prepared. This has been 

 used from time immemorial by the Indians, and was 

 first introduced into Europe by the Spaniards from 

 their American colonies. The French did not culti- 

 vate the tree in their colonies till the middle of the 

 seventeenth century. Large cacao plantations now 

 exist in America and the West Indies, whence the 

 beans are exported in considerable quantities. These 

 plantations are generally formed near the banks of 

 rivers, in order that a copious supply of water may 

 be procured in dry seasons. The trees are generally 

 planted in straight lines, about fifteen or sixteen feet 

 asunder, and they are screened as much as possible 

 from the direct rays of the sun by plantains and other 

 large trees. They thrive best in a moist atmosphere 

 and cloudy sky, and under a mean temperature not 

 below 73 of Fahrenheit. The trees do not acquire 

 their full visrour for seven or eight years, and they 

 are very apt to be attacked by insects and parasitic 

 plants. Two crops are gathered from them in the 

 year, one in June and another in December. The 

 kernels, after being freed from the shells and well 

 dried, so as to prevent them from becoming mouldy, 

 form the basis of chocolate, which is prepared in -the 

 following way. The kernels are first roasted at the 

 fire in an iron pan full of holes, they are then pounded 

 in a mortar and freed from any impurities, afterwards 

 they are ground on a warm marble slab and made 

 into a sort of oily paste, sugar being at the same time 

 added in greater or less quantity. This paste is then 

 mixed with vanilla and various spices, such as canella 

 and cinnamon, in order to make it easy of digestion, 

 and some colouring matter, as arnotto, is added. It 

 is then put into polished iron moulds and made into 

 cakes or rolls, which must be kept in a box perfectly 

 dry. In France, chocolate is manufactured in various 

 forms, and a stranger is not a little astonished at the 

 curious figures made of chocolate, which are exhibited 

 in the shops in Paris. When chocolate is prepared 

 plain, without any spices, it is called, in France, Chocolat 

 dc Sante. Chocolate as manufactured by Spaniards, 

 besides cacao, sugar, and vanilla, sometimes contains 

 pepper, cloves, cinnamon, anise, achiotte, and even 



