Boiulxl.t:] 



XIX. MALVACEAE 







4. BOMBAX, Linn.; 

 El. Brit. Ind. i. 349. 



Deciduous trees with 

 digitate glabrous leaves. 

 Peduncles axillary, 1- 

 flowered, congregated 

 at the ends of branch- 

 lets. Calyx leathery, 

 cup-shaped, splitting 

 irregularly. Staminal 

 tube short, divided into 

 numerous filaments, 

 longer than tube, each 

 bearing a 1-celled an- 

 ther. Ovary 5-celled, 

 ovules numerous. Cap- 

 sule 1 o c u 1 i c i d a 1 , 5 - 

 valved, inside thickly 

 clothed with longsilky 

 hairs, in which the 

 seeds are embedded in 

 dense wool. Cotyledons 

 much folded, enclosing 

 the radicle, albumen 

 thin. Species 40-50, 

 chiefly in Central and 

 South America, a few 

 in Africa. 



1. B. malabari- 

 cum, DC; Wight 111, 

 t. 29; Bedd. Fl. Sylv. 

 t. 82.— Syn. 11. Ixepta- 

 phyllum, < lav. : Roxb. 

 Cor. pi. t. 247. The 

 < 'otton tree. Vern. 

 Siiiml, shembal, II ind. : 

 Tdel, K"l : Sayar, Mar. : 

 fliirlft, smiri, Kan. : 

 Rnvt/lid, litirat/n, Tel. : 

 Illava, Tarn. Mai.; 

 lietpan, Bvrrm. 



A very hug' 1 tree, Stem generally with large buttresses at the base, wood 

 white, very soft, turning dink on exposure Branches in whorls of 5 7. 

 spreading nearly horizontally, the stem of young trees covered with sharp 

 conical prickles. Leaflets 6 or 7, Lanceolate, l 8 in. Long, common petiole as 



Long as or longer than leaflets. I'M. appearing before the leaves, large, scarlet, 



occasionally while, calyx inside silky tomentose. Petals 2-3 in. long, stellate 

 tomentose on both faces. Filaments about 7<>, much longer than stamina] 

 column, the 5 inner stent, forked at the top, each branch bearing an anther, 

 some intermediate ones simple, the numerous outer ones af the base united in 



5 clusters. Anthers long, afterwards twisted. Capsule oblong, hard, w I\ 



4-5 in. long. Seeds glabrous, embedded in silky wool. 



Subhimalaynn tract, from Hi" [ndus eastward, ascending t.. :i.t>ih> ft. Common in 

 i". th peninsulas and often cultivated. Leafless from December until April. Fl. 

 February, March. Fruit April, May. AI-. in Cej Ion, Java, Sumatra, Queensland nn.l 

 \<.ii li Aust ralia. 



2. B. ineigne, Wall. PL As. Rar. t. 79, so. Burma, Andaman . M '■■ Peninsula, 

 Western Glints, Kanora. Trunk » it bout prickles, branches armed » it li prickles or mi- 



Eriodendron anfractuosum, DC. 



