PACHIRA (native Guiana name). Bombacacese. A 

 group of .tropical American trees of variable size, some 

 of which are known to be deciduous, all with striking 

 showy flowers and exceptionally large fruits. 



Calyx almost tubulose, mostly short, truncate; 

 staminal column long, divided at the top into 5 short 

 branches, each of which in its turn ends more or less 

 regularly in 3 bundles of about 15 stamens, with 

 unequal slender filaments: caps, dehiscent, rounded- 

 depressed to elongate-oblong, 5-celled, each cell con- 

 taining several seeds coated in fleshy tissue. Allied 

 genera are Bombax and Adansonia; the 

 first one differs in having the small seeds 

 imbedded in the woolly inside lining of 

 the caps, (whence their name of silk 

 cotton trees), the latter 

 (the African baobab) in 

 its 5-lobed calyx. In 

 Bombax, the arrange- 

 ment of the stamens is 

 distinct and their num- 

 ber much greater. Over 

 30 species of Pacbira 

 have been listed, of 

 which at least 3 belong 

 to Bombax, 4 are syno- \\ 

 nyms, and among 

 the remainder sev- 

 eral are likely to 

 be dropped on one 

 account or an- 

 other. Botanically 

 speaking, only 7 

 species are well 

 known, all of v 

 which may be dis- 

 tributed into 3 

 main groups. The 

 fls. may reach 13 

 in. long with a 

 spread of 9 in. 

 in certain species; 

 the petals are nar- 

 row and grace- 

 fully recurved in 

 some cases, ob- 

 ovate and some- 

 what stiff in 

 others. The color 

 varies from a rich 

 pink to white or 

 pale brownish yel- 

 low, distinct shades occurring in every species. The 

 digitate foliage also contributes to give the trees their 

 peculiar appearance. As to distribution, P. aquatica is 

 found all over Trop. Amer., 3 species are restricted 

 to Cent. Amer., 2 to the W. Indies, and the others are 

 natives of S. Amer. They are easily cult, under glass 

 and prop, either by seeds or cuttings, but, on account 

 of their large size, most species are hardly desirable 

 for conservatories. One species, P. insignis, has edible 

 seeds, alike in size and flavor to the chestnut and on 

 which account it is sometimes cult, in Venezuela and 

 some of the Lesser W. Indies. The seeds of P. macro- 

 carpa are sometimes used as a cacao substitute; it is 

 probably the xiloxochitl of the Aztecs, being still called 

 by that name (jelinjoche) in Nicoya (Costa Rica). 



A. Cops, globose-depressed, i.e., its diam. greater than 

 its length. (Brachy corpse.) 



insignis, Savigny (Carolinea princeps, Linn. f.). A 

 small tree : Ivs. 5-7-foliolate, the If ts. glabrous, subsessile, 

 oblong, 8-24 in. long: fls. 7 in. long, erect; calyx cup- 

 like, short and broad; petals oboyate, long-cuneate, 

 crimson or dark purple, covered without with a thick 

 brownish down; staminal tube short, the stamens not 

 reaching the end of the corolla: caps, about 5 in. long 

 by 7 in. diam. Trinidad and Lesser W. Indies; also in 

 Venezuela. J.F. 3:295. 



AA. Caps, ovate-rounded, its diam. 

 more than half the length. 

 (Mesocarpse.) 



B. Calyx covered with large, 

 crater-like glands: fls. 

 sessile. 



pustulifera, 

 Pittier. A small 

 tree: Ivs. 7-f olio- 

 late; Ifts. briefly 

 petiolulate, o b - 

 ovate, 43^-9 in. 

 long, minutely to- 

 mentose beneath: 

 fl. about 7 in. 

 long; calyx stipi- 

 tate, truncate, 

 pubescent within 

 and irregularly 

 covered with large 

 glands without; 

 petals laciniate, 

 pinkish, yellowish 

 pubescent with- 

 out ; staminal tube 

 short, pubescent, 

 the stamens much 

 shorter than 

 petals: caps. 10 

 in. long by 8 in. 

 diam. Costa Rica. 



BB. Calyx smooth 

 or with only a 

 few glands at 

 the base: fls. 

 pedunculate. 



macrocarpa, 

 Schlecht. (P.fas- 

 tudsa, Decne. P. 

 longifolia, Hort.). Fig. 2694. A small or medium-sized 

 tree: Ivs. 5-7-foliolate; Ifts. subsessile or briefly petiolu- 

 late, oblong or oboyate, 2J^-8 in. long, glabrous: fls. up 

 to 9 in . long ; calyx stipitate, cuplike, smooth or nearly so ; 

 petals laciniate or linear, brownish to greenish pubescent 

 without, pink to white or pale yellow within; staminal 

 tube glabrous, the stamens about as long as the petals: 

 caps, ovoid, 9 in. long by 8 in. diam. Cent. Amer., 

 from Mex. to Costa Rica. B.M. 4595. G.C. III. 54: 

 325. J.F. 2:109, 110. 



villosula, Pittier. A tree reaching 90 ft. : Ivs. 5-7- 

 foliolate; Ifts. petiolulate, obovate or elliptic-lanceolate, 

 2-7 in. long, villous beneath: fl. up to 10 in. long; calyx 

 funnel-shaped, truncate, ferruginose-pubescent outside; 

 petals laciniate, pubescent on both faces, pinkish 



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