Obdee 26.— TILIACEiE. 271 



3 A. Collinsi^a. Lvs. pedalely 5-paried, segm. linear-oblanceolate, coarsely 

 toothed, acuminate, the lowest obtuselj 5-lobed; pad. short, involwxl 10 to 12- 

 leaved. — Fla.; rare. Plant thinly hirsute or hispid. Lvs. 6 to 8' broad. Fla. 

 much as in No. 2. (Hibiscus, Nutt.) 



13. GOSSVPIUM, L. Coiton Plant. Fig. 252. (Name said to 

 be from the Arabic, goz, a silky substance.) Calyx obtusely 5-toothed, 

 surrounded by an involuccl of 3 cordate leaves, deeply and incisely 

 toothed ; stamens very numerous, lateral ; stigmas 3, rarely 5, clavate ; 

 seeds CO, involved in cotton. — Fls. yellow. 



G. herb^ceum L. Cotton Plant. Lvs. 3 to 5-lobed, with a smgle gland 

 below, lobes mucronatoj seeds brownish, cotton white. — ij) The species com- 

 monly cultivated in the Southern States, and often growing spontaneously. It ia 

 an herbaceous plant, about 5f high, sown in early spring and harvested in 

 autfimn. Sts. hirsuta above. Upper lvs. often but 2 or 3-lobed, lobes commonly 

 acuminate, tipped with a mucro. Petioles about as long as the lvs., peduncles 

 shoi-ter. Fls. handsome, 3' broad, light yeUow, with a purple eye, changing to 

 reddish brown. § E. India. 

 ji 1 Babbadbnse. Sea Island Cotton. Glands on the back of the leaf (mid- 

 vein) 3 ; sds. black, cotton white. — ® Sown in Sept. and Oct. Cotton long, 

 with a silk-like texture, f "W". India. Chiefly cultivated near the southern 

 coasts. (G. Barbadense L.) 

 G. arbdreum is the Tree Cotton of E. India, with red flowers, and G. Peru- 

 vianum, the Brazil Cotton. The Nankin Cotton is another variety of G. herba- 

 cBum. Plants so extensively cultivated as the cotton are liable to nduch varia- 

 tion. Of the tliirteeu species described by De Candolle, only the three above 

 named are now regarded as genuine — the others considered as varieties. 

 The microscope shows the fiber of cotton to consist of a lengthened and generally 

 flattened cell, thus readily distinguished from the fiber of sil£, which is terete and 

 solid, or wool, which is irabrioate-scaly. 



Order XXV. STERCULIACEJi;. Silk Cottons. 



Largo trees or shrubs with simple or compound loaves, with flowers similar to 

 tjiose of the Mallow, except that the anthers are 2-celled and turned outwards, 

 fruit capsular, of 3, rarely 5 carpels. 



p Genera 24, species 180, all native of tropical regions. Here belong thcliugo Adansonia (Bao- 

 l>ab) of Africa, .ind tlio Bombax (silk-cotton trees) of S. America, etc. 



STERCULIA, L. (StercuUus was tlie name of a detestable Roman 

 god ; alluding to the bad odor of some species.) Calyx 5-lobed, sub- 

 coriaceous ; stamens monadelphous, united into a short, sessile cup •, 

 anth. adnate, 10, 15, or 20 ; carpels 5, distinct, follicular, 1-celled, 

 1 — CO -seeded. — Trees -with axillary panicles or racemes. 



S. platanifolia L. Lvs. cordate at base, palmately 3 — 5-lobed, snSooth ; calyx 

 rotate, reflexed. — Tree from China and Japan, cultivated at Savannah (Feay). A 

 beautiful tree, with branching, axillary clusters of green fls. and leaves resembling 

 tlioso of the Sycamore. Jl. (Firmiana, Mars.) 



Order XXVI. TILIACE^ Lindenblooms. 



Trees or shrubs (rarely Jierbs) with simple, stipulate, alternate, dentate lvs., with 

 Jls. axillary, hy pogynous, usually perfect and polyadelphous ; with the s^als 4 or 5, 

 deciduous, valvate in sestivation, the petals 4 or 5, imbricated; stamens Oo, with 2- 

 celled, versatile anthers. Ovary of 2 to 10 united carpels, a compound style, and 



