Gossypium.] XXII. MALVACE.<E. l8g 



shrubs, or almost trees. Leaves 3 to 9-lobed, or rarely entire. Flowers large, 

 yellow or purple. Bracteoles entire, toothed or cut, usually, as well as the calyx 

 and cotyledons, marked with black dots. 



The genus, besides the Australian species, which is endemic, comprises the cultivated Cotton, 

 whose various forms, described as species, races, or varieties, are distributed either as indigenous 

 or introduced plants over the warmer regions both of the New and the Old World, but not 

 hitherto found in a wild state in Australia. — Benth. 



1. G. Sturtii (after Captain C. Sturt), F. v. M. Fragni. iii. 6 ; Benth. Fl. 

 Austr. 1. 222. A shrub of several feet, glabrous and more or less marked with 

 black dots. Leaves on rather long petioles, broadly ovate, entire, 1 to 2in. long, 

 rather coriaceous and glaucous. Flowers large, purple with a dark centre, on 

 short pedicels in the upper axils. Bracteoles cordate, entire, f to lin. long, 

 many-nerved and black-dotted. Calyx not half so long, broad, truncate with 

 minute or narrow-linear teeth, copiously black-dotted. Petals fully 2in. long. 

 Capsule ovoid, shortly acuminate, much longer than the calyx, usually 4-celled, 

 glabrous but copiously black-dotted. Seeds very sparingly and shortly woolly. — 

 Sturtia gossypioides, R. Br. App. Sturt. Bxped. 6. 



Hab.: In the interior. 



15. BOMBAX, Linn. 



(From the Greek bombyx, raw silk.) 



(Salmalia, Schott.) 



Calyx cup-shaped, truncate, or splitting into 3 to 5 lobes. Staminal column 



divided into numerous filaments, of which the inner ones, or nearly all, are more 



or less connected in pairs and united at the base into 5 or more bundles. Ovary 



5-celled, with several ovules in each cell ; style club-shaped or shortly 5-lobed at 



the top. Capsule woody or coriaceous,, opening loculicidally in 5 valves, the cells 



densely wooUy inside. Seeds obovoid or globular, enveloped in the wool of the 



pericarp ; albumen thin ; cotyledons much folded round the radicle. — Trees. 



Leaves digitate, with leaflets usually entire. Peduncles 1 -flowered, axillary or 



terminal. Flowers white or red. 



The species are chiefly South American, with one from tropical Africa, and another from 

 tropical Asia extending also into Australia. — Benth. 



1. B. malabaricum (of Malabar), DC. Prod. i. 479 ; Benth. Fl. Austr. i. 

 223. . Silk-cotton tree. A large tree, the trunk covered with short conical 

 prickles. Leaves on long petioles, deciduous ; leaflets 5 to 7, petiolulate, elliptical- 

 oblong, acuminate, 4 to 6in. long, coriaceous, entire, glabrous. Flowers large, 

 red, on short pedicels, clustered towards the ends of the branches, which are then 

 destitute of leaves. Calyx above lin. long, thick and coriaceous, glabrous outside, 

 silky-hairy inside, dividing into short, broad, obtuse lobes. Petals fully 3in. long, 

 oblong, tomentose outside, nearly glabrous within. Staminal column short, 

 filaments much longer, but shorter than the petals, 5 innermost forked at the 

 top, each branch bearing an anther, about 10 intermediate ones simple, and the 

 numerous outer ones shortly united in 5 clusters. Capsule large, oblong, and 

 woody. — Salmalia malabarica, Schott, Meletem. 35 ; Bomhaa- heptaphylla, Cav.; 

 Roxb. PI. Corom. iii. 43, t. 247 ; Wight, 111. t. 29. 



Hab.; This tree is of frequent occurrence on the borders of northern river scrubs, and there 

 are probably two varieties if not species, but the specimens hitherto received do not allow of 

 their determination. 



In India the wood is not considered durable except under water. The cotton which 

 surrounds the seeds is used for stuffing pillows, &o. Dr. Dymock Says that according te 

 Mahometan writers the young roots have restorative, astringent, and alterative properties. 



Analysis of gum : Water 17-3, arabin 20-5, metarabin 16-4, impurities 12-3, tannin 33-5. — 

 Lauterer. 



Wood light, coarse-grained, and soit.—Bdiley't: Cat. Ql. Wooda No. 22. 



