Bornbax.] XII. MALVACEAE. 31 



at the top into numerous filaments, each bearing a terminal anther. Ovary 

 5-celled, ovules numerous. Capsule ligneous or coriaceous, opening locu- 

 licidally in 5 valves ; the seeds embedded in a woolly substance. Seeds 

 obovoid or subglobose, cotyledons very much folded, enclosing the radicle ; 

 albumen thin. 



l. B. malabaricum, DC. ; Wight 111. t. 29 j Bedd. Fl. Sylv. t. 82 ; 

 W. & A. Prodr. 61. Syn. Bornbax heptaphyllum, Cav.; Eoxb. Cor. PI. t. 

 247; Eoxb. Fl. Ind. 167. Salmalia Malabarica, Schott. The Cotton 

 Tree. Sans. Salmali. Yern. Simal, eemul, shembal, semur, sam, samul, 

 simmal. Local : Wallaiki, Gonds, C.P. ; Letpan, Burm. 



Glabrous, young stem and branches covered with conical prickles, 

 J in. long, with a black point, surrounded at the base by concentric 

 scaly layers of cork. Common petiole as long as, or longer than 

 leaflets ; leaflets 5 or 7, petiolulate, lanceolate, acuminate, generally 

 from 4-8 in. long. Flowers large, scarlet, occasionally white, appear- 

 ing before the leaves, on short thick pedicels, clustered towards the 

 ends of branches. Calyx cup-shaped, coriaceous, irregularly cleft into 

 short obtuse lobes, outside smooth, inside white-silky. Petals oblong, 

 obtuse, 3-6 in. long, stellate, tomentose outside, pubescent or nearly 

 glabrous inside. Staminal column short, filaments much longer, but 

 shorter than petals, 5 innermost forked at the top, each branch bearing 

 an anther, about 10 intermediate ones simple, and the numerous outer 

 ones shortly united in 5 clusters ; anthers long, reniform, afterwards con- 

 torted. Style longer than stamens, 5-lobed at the top. Fruit on short 

 peduncle, a hard, "oblong, obtuse, ligneous capsule, 4-5 in. long. Seeds 

 numerous, smooth, enveloped in much fine silky fibre. 



Indigenous throughout India and Burma, and often cultivated. In the sub- 

 Himalayan tract extends to the Indus, ascending to 3500 ft. in the N.W. Hima- 

 laya, and cultivated as high as 6000 ft. Leafless from Nov. Dec. until April. 

 Covered with the large scarlet flowers in Feb. March ; the fruit ripens in April, 

 May. A very large tree, of rapid growth, attaining a height of 150 ft. and a 

 girth of 40 ft. in Burma and Southern India, and nearly the same dimensions 

 in the moist and hot valleys of the outer Himalaya. The trunk is straight, the 

 upper part cylindrical, at the base generally with large buttresses, running up 

 the trunk to some distance, and often 5 to 6 ft. deep near the ground. Similar 

 buttresses are formed by many trees in India (Vitex, Antiaris, Lagerstroemia, 

 Hymenodictyon, Nauclea, and others) and in other tropical countries. The 

 branches are in whorls of 5 to 7, spreading nearly horizontally, and forming a 

 broad conical symmetrical head. The branches and stem of young trees are 

 covered with sharp thick-set prickles. Bark of trunk and older branches grey, 

 ash-coloured, corky, even between deep longitudinal and cross-cracks. 



Wood greyish white, with darker streaks, light, coarse-grained and porous. 

 No distinct heartwood. Weight 23-34 lb. per cub. ft. (seasoned), and 58J lb. 

 (green). Value of P. between 642 and 697 (Cunningham). Not durable, except 

 under water. Used for planking, packing-cases, toys, scabbards, fishing-floats, 

 and for the lining of wells. Often rafted with heavier timber to make it float. 

 In Burma canoes are made of it, said to last 3-4 years. A light-brown trans- 

 parent gum exudes from wounds in the bark, which is employed in native 

 medicine. The calyx of the flower-bud is eaten as a vegetable. The fruit is 

 collected before it opens, and the cotton with which it is filled is used to stuff 

 quilts and pillows. 



