STERCULIACE^E. 



THEOBROMA. 



Calyx 5-sepaled. Petals 5, vaulted at the base, ligulate and 

 strap-shaped above. Stamens 15, connected into an urceolus 

 at the base ; sterile filaments 5, alternate with the petals, linear, 

 subulate, elongated ; fertile ones short, united into 5 filaments, 

 each opposite to a petal and bearing 2 anthers. Style 5- cleft 

 at the apex : stigmas simple. Fruit indehiscent, between cori- 

 aceous and woody, ovate-oblong, 5-celled. Seeds imbedded in 

 a buttery pulp (arillus?). Albumen none. Cotyledons thick, 

 wrinkled, full of oil. Small trees. Leaves large, entire. Pe- 

 duncles axillary, lateral after the fall of the leaves ; sometimes 

 simple, 1 -flowered, and fascicled, sometimes branched and many- 

 flowered. W. and A. 



275. T. Cacao Linn. sp. pi 1100. DC. prodr. i. 4.84.- 

 Cacao Sloane, ii. 15. t. 160. West Indies and Continent of 

 America. 



A small upright tree. Leaves lanceolate oblong, bright green, entire, 

 stalked. Flowers clustered, axillary, reddish, scentless. Fruit clus- 

 tered on the old branches, smooth, yellow, or red, oval, about 3 inches 

 long, with a fleshy rind nearly half an inch thick ; filled with a whitish 

 pulp, of the consistence of butter (an aril ?), sweet, and subacid. Seeds 

 about 25 in each fruit, flesh-coloured. The torrefied seeds rubbed 

 down with arnotto, vanilla and other ingredients form chocolate, the 

 nutritive restorative properties of which are well known. 



ERIODENDRON. 



Calyx without bracteoles, irregularly 5-lobed ; lobes usually in 

 pairs. Petals 5, united at the base with each other, and with 

 the column of stamens. Filaments joined together into a short 

 tube at the base, but divided upwards into 5 filiform bundles 

 each bearing 2-3 linear or serpentinely bent (anfractuose) an- 

 thers, the latter combined and resembling a simple anther. 

 Style crowned by a 5-6-cleft stigma. W. and A. 



276. E. anfractuosum DC. prodr. i. 479. W. and A. i. 61. 

 Bombax pentandrum Linn. sp. pi. 959. Cav. diss. v. t. 151. 

 (Rumf. i. t. 80. Rheede. iii. t. 4-9-51.) East Indies, both on 

 the continent and islands. 



A very large tree. Trunk prickly at the base. Leaves palmate; 

 leaflets 5-8, quite entire, or serrulated towards the point, lanceolate, 

 mucronate, glaucous beneath. Flowers large, woolly, yellowish. An- 

 thers versatile, anfractuose. Trunk yields a gum which is given in 

 conjunction with spices in certain stages of bowel complaints. Ainslie. 



HELICTERES. 



Calyx tubular, somewhat 5-cleft. Petals 5, ligulate-unguiculate, 

 slightly toothed at the apex. Stamens 5-10-15, united into a 



138 



