700 



CEDRUS 



or prostrate if not supported. G.W. 14, p. 413. Var. 

 fastigiata, Carr. Of columnar habit. Var. verticillata, 

 Rehd. (var. verticillata glaiica, Tutenberg). A com- 

 pact form with the Ivs. whorled at the base of the 

 shoots: foliage bluish white: the hardiest form of the 

 species. G.W. 11, p. 89. Var. viridis, Knight. Lvs. 



852. Ceiba Casearia, the great silk-cotton tree at Nassau. 



CELASTRUS 



oblong-obtuse, hairy outside: caps. 4-8 in. long, 5- 

 valved, bearing many woolly seeds. Tropics of Asia, 

 Afr., and Amer. B.M. 3360. One of the character- 

 istic and well-known trees of tropical countries. The 

 wings of some of the old trees run far in all directions, 

 sometimes being prominent 30 ft. or more; note the 

 picture (Fig. 852) of the 

 well-known tree at Nassau 

 on the island of New Provi- 

 dence. The wood is used to 

 some extent in interior con- 

 struction, but is soft, white 

 and brittle. The cotton-like 

 material in the pods is used 

 in beds and pillows and for 

 stufnnglif e-buoys, butitcan- 

 not be spun into threads; it 

 is the "kapok." of commerce. 

 Offered in S. Calif, and Fla., 

 as a tree of rapid growth. 

 grandiflSra, Rose. Tree, 

 15-20 ft., 8-12 in. diam., 

 the branches with short 

 prickles: petioles 2-4 in. 

 long; Ifts. 3-5, glabrous, 

 oblong, cuneate at base, 

 entire or slightly ser- 

 rulate, 2-3 K in. long: petals 

 white, silky, 4-5 in. long, 

 strap-shaped ; stamens 5, 

 the filaments 3^ in. long 

 and each with 2 anthers: 

 caps, oblong, 4^2 in. long. 

 Trop. W. Mex The fls. 

 are fleshy; they change to 

 brown. Listed in S. Calif. 

 L. H. B. 



bright green. Var. argentea, Carr. Foliage of silvery 

 hue. Var. nivea, Annesley. Young growth white. 

 G.C. III. 25:399. Var. albo-spica, Annesley (var. dlbo- 

 spicata, Beissn.). Young growth green, becoming later 

 white at the tips. G.W. 11, p. 89. Var. aftrea, Beissn. 

 Foliage golden yellow. G.W. 11, p. 87. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



CEIBA (aboriginal name). Bombacacese. SILK- 

 COTTON. KAPOK. CEIBA. Trees, one of which is 

 widely known in the tropics for its great size as a 

 shade tree, and for the "cotton" of its seed-pods. 

 Eriodendron is a more recent name. 



Leaves digitate, with 5-7 entire Ifts.: fls. medium to 

 large, rose or white, on 1-fld. peduncles, solitary or 

 fascicled; calyx cup-shaped, truncate or irregularly 

 3-5-lobed; petals oblong, pubescent or woolly; staminal 

 tube divided at the apex into 5 or 10 parts, each part 

 bearing a stamen; ovary 5-celled: fr. a coriaceous caps., 

 pubescent within and bearing obovoid seeds embedded 

 in a wool-like or cotton-like fiber. Allied to Bombax 

 and Adansonia, from which it differs in having 5 parts 

 in the staminal body or column, rather than a much 

 more divided column bearing many stamens on each 

 division. Ten or more species, mostly in Trop. Amer., 

 extending to Asia and Afr. 



Casearia, Medic. (C . pentdndra, Gaertn. Bombax 

 pentdndrum, Linn. B. guineense, Schum. & Thoun. 

 Eriodendron anfractudsum, DC. E. occidentdle, Don. 

 E. orientdle, Kostel. Xylon pentdndrum, O. Kunze.). 

 SILK-COTTON TREE. CEIBA. POCHOTE. Figs. 852, 853. 

 Great tree, reaching 100 ft. and more, and having 

 immense horizontal far-spreading branches and wide- 

 flung thin buttresses or flanges: trunk spiny when 

 young; branches verticillate: Ifts. 7, arising from a 

 nearly circular plate or disk at the top of the petiole, 

 lanceolate-acuminate, undulate, smooth, each 4-6 in. 

 long: fls. white or rose, the corolla 2-3 in. long; petals 



CELASTRUS (Kelastros, ancient Greek name). Cel- 

 astrdcese. Woody plants grown chiefly for their brightly 

 colored fruit; some also for their handsome foliage. 



Shrubs, usually climbing, with alternate, petioled, 

 usually deciduous and serrate glabrous Ivs. : fls. polyg- 

 amous, 5-merous, inconspicuous, greenish white, in 

 axillary or terminal panicles or racemes; calyx 5-parted; 

 petals small, oblong-ovate; disk 'entire or crenate; sta- 

 mens short; ovary superior; style short with 3-lobed 



853. Leaves and fruits of Ceiba Casearia, 

 the silk-cotton tree. ( X H) 



