284 EXTRACTS FROM 



100. Passiflora suberosa, L. 



The passiflora suberosa is a creeping small slip, growing in 

 fences ; the leaves are shining, and of a deep green colour ; 

 the blossoms yellow, and small ; the berries oblong, black, 

 and shining ; the juice is sweet, and stains linen black. 



The seeds are small and numerous. The use of the plant 

 is unknown. 



101. Passiflora perfoliata. 



This p ant is found in logwood-thickets ; the leaves are 

 shining ; the flowers beautifully purple, tubular, and an inch 

 long ; the fruit is of the size of a gooseberry, has a sweet 

 purple juice, and many small seeds. 



We know nothing of its use. 



102. Bombax pentandruMj L. — Silk Cotton-Tree. 



The cotton-tree grows quickly to a great height and thick- 

 ness ; like your stately oak it has branches large and spreading. 

 The trunk is straight, smooth, and grey. The wood is soft, 

 and is hollowed into canoes. 



The gum is of an amber colour, but indissoluble. 



Cotton-trees are amongst the few trees that shew the ap- 

 proach of winter, in these latitudes, by shedding their leaves 

 in November and December. In February, there appear an 

 immense quantity of flowers, of a reddish-white colour. The 

 petals are five, and are covered with a shining silken down. 

 The stamina are five, and the stile is pretty large. The pods 

 are larger than a pear, containing a kind of fur, and many 

 seeds. They dry and split on the tree, the down expands, 

 and each seed flies off with the breeze, with a portion of 

 down in a globular form. 



