142 MANN, 



less black-dotted. Calyx somewhat truncated, much dotted. Petals 

 yellow, obovate, pubescent on the uncovered part outside, l' long. 

 Capsule three-valved, the valves pointed. Seeds with a fine ochra- 

 ceous tomentum, and a wool (cotton) of the same color |' long. 

 Rather common In dry parts near the coast. Also, in the Vltl Islands. 



ORDER XIV. STERCULIACE^. 



Nearly allied to the last Order, from which it is distinguished by 

 its usually definite and nearly free stamens, and the two-celled anthers 

 with smooth pollen. Chocolate is made of the seeds of Theobroma 

 Cacao, a South American tree of this Order. 



1. WALTHERIA Linn. 



Calyx 5-lobed. Petals oblong-spatulate, flat. Stamens 5, oppo- 

 site the petals, shortly united at the base. Anthers terminal, with 2 

 parallel cells. Ovary sessile, of a single carpel, with 2 erect ovules. 

 Style eccentrical ; the stigma usually fringed. Capsule usually open- 

 ing on the back in 2 valves. Seed usually solitary, with albumen. 

 Herbs, undershrubs, or trees, with a stellate tomentum often mixed 

 with soft hairs or pubescence. Leaves toothed. Stipules narrow. 

 Flowers clustered. 



A considerable genus in tropical America, with one species spread all over the warmer 

 regions of the globe. 



1. W. AMERICANA Linn. (Enum. No. 56.) An undershrub, l-2 

 or more high, densely tomentose or softly villous in every part. Leaves 

 short-petioled, oval-oblong, 1' - li' long, obtuse, toothed, soft and pli- 

 cately veined. Flowers small, yellow, in dense heads, almost sessile 

 in the axils of the leaves, or the upper ones clustered on a short spike. 

 Bracts narrow. Calyx li" long. Petals nearly twice as long, narrow- 

 oblong. W. Indica, Linn. 



In open and sterile or sandy soil, common. A common weed within the tropics in 

 both the New and Old World. 



2. W. PYROLJEFOLIA Gray. (Enum. No. 57.) A branched under- 

 shrub, about 3 high ; branches and petioles canescently villous-tomen- 

 tose. Leaves coriaceous, roundish, usually somewhat retuse at both 

 base and apex, 8" - 15" in diameter, finely toothed, glabrous (or slightly 

 puberulent when young) above, below canescent with a fine and close 

 pubescence, becoming glabrate with age. Petioles 3" - 6" long. Stip- 

 ules setaceous, deciduous. Flowers crowded in subsessile axillary 

 heads, or rarely on a short peduncle. Bracts lanceolate, silky villous, 

 like the calyx, which is of equal length, 3" long, and 5-cleffc scarcely to 



