S L O 



S L O 



SLOANEA, in Botany, fo named by Plumier, m honour 

 of his celebrated predeceflbr in the botanical inveftigation of 

 the Weft Indies, Sir Hans Sloane. (See that article.) — 

 Linn. Gen. 265. Schreb. 353. Willd. Sp. PI. v. 2. 115J. 

 Mart. Mill. Di(ft. v. 4. Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 3. 296. 

 Swartz Obf. 212. JufT. 291. Lamarck lUuftr. t. 469. 

 (Sloana; Plum. Gen. 48. t. 15.) — Clafs and order, Poly- 

 andria Monogynta. Nat. Ord. Amentacea:? Linn. Tiliacea, 

 JufT. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, in five, 

 or more, acute, rather unequal, fegments. Cor. none. 

 Stam. Filaments very numerous, above 100, fhort, inferted 

 into the downy, flefliy receptacle ; anthers oblong, of two 

 cells, attached lengthwife to the filaments. P'lfl. Germen 

 fuperior, roundifh, angular; ftyle fimple, awl-fhaped, 

 longer than the ilamens ; ftigma nearly fimple. Feric. 

 Capfule large, roundilh, prickly, of from three to fix 

 valves, and as many cells, burfting at the top, the partitions 

 from the middle of each valve. Sends two or three in each 

 cell, oblong, obtufe, involved in a pulpy tunic. 



Ed'. Ch. Corolla none. Calyx of one leaf, inferior, in 

 five or more fegments. Anthers attached longitudinally to 

 the filaments. Capfule prickly, of from three to fix valves, 

 and as many cells. Seeds two, with a pulpy tunic. 



Obf. Linnsus feem<; to have been led by the very er- 

 roneous opinion of Miller, (who referred this genus to 

 Caftanea or Faults,) to confider it as probably of his amen- 

 taceous order. Juflieu has far more correAly ranged it with 

 Ills own genuine Tiliacea, near Sparrmannia. Three fpecies 

 are now known ; fine South American, or Welt Indian, 

 trees, of which Linnius was acquainted with the firft only. 

 His S. emarghiata, Sp. PI. 731, taken up from Catefby's 

 work, without the infpedlion of any fpecimen, is, as Will- 

 denow remark?, no other than Achras Sapota. Concerning 

 the reft, great confufion, originating with Aublet, is per- 

 petuated by no lefs authority than that of Swartz, followed 

 by Willdenow and Aiton. JufTieu alfo errs in fuppofing 

 the Linnaean Sloanea to be Aubletia, or Apnha. Such may 

 indeed be the plant of the Horlus Ciifforlianus, but that of 

 Sp. PI. is certainly Plumier's. We (liall attempt a cor- 

 reftcd view of the Ipecics and thejr fynonyms, from authentic 

 fpecimen-. 



I. S. dtntata. Chefnut-leaved Sloanea. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 730. Ait. n. I. (S. Mafloni; Swartz Ind. Occ. 938. 

 Willd. n. 2. Sloana amplis caftanese foliis, fruttu echinato ; 

 Plum. Ic. 240. t. 244. f. 1.) — Leaves toothed; hcart- 

 (haped at the bale. Stipulas Imear, ferrated. Calyx 

 deeply divided. — Native of South America and the Weft 

 Indies. Our fpecimens were gathered by Matlon in the 

 ifland of St. Kitt's. Miller is faid to have cultivated this 

 plant in tiie ftove at Chelfea, but it has not been known to 

 blolTom in Europe. In its native country this is a lofty 

 tree, with round leafy branches, finely downy when young. 

 Leaves alternate, (talked, a foot or more in length, and half 

 as broad, fmooth, with one rib and many ilrong tranfverfe 

 veins, rather coriaceous ; more or lei's heart-fiiaped at the 

 bafe ; the margin diilantly and rather (lightly toothed. 

 FootJIalks downy, two or three inches long. Stipulas near 

 an inch in length, narrow, deeply toothed, almoll pinnatifid, 

 iituated in pairs at the bale of each footttalk. Cliijlers axil- 

 lary, towards the ends of the branches, compound, many- 

 flowered, drooping, not half fo long as the leaves. Floivers 

 green, about three-quarters of an inch wide, confpicuous 

 for their numerous \.wki;A Jlamens. Anthers, as well ?i^ ger- 

 men, hairy. Capfule woody, above an inch in diameter, 

 clothed with very long, rigid bridles, fpreading in all di- 

 reiiions. 



2. S. grandiflora. Large-flowered Sloanea. (S. den- 

 tata; Swartz Obf. 213. Willd. n. i, excluding the (y- 

 nonyms,' except the following. S. Plumierii ; Aubl. Gutan. 

 v. I. 536.) — Leaves toothed ; tapering at the bafe. Sti- 

 pulas triangular-heart-ftiaped, ferrated. Calyx with (hallow 

 fegments. — Gathered in the foreits of Guiana by Aublet, 

 whofe fpecimen is before us. He found it bearing flowers 

 and fruit in November. The trunk is forty or fifty feet 

 high, and two in diameter. Leaves pointed at each end. 

 Stipulas very broad at the bafe, and more (lightly ferrated 

 or toothed. Flowers almolt twice as large as thofc of the 

 preceding ; the calyx remarkably and elfentially different, 

 having a broad, hemifpherical, cup-like bafe, and very wide 

 (hallow fegments in the border ; whereas the dentatu has a 

 calyx divided nearly to the bafe, into lanceolate, or fome- 

 what ovate, taper-pointed lobes. Capfule of from three to 

 five cells. Seeds one, two, or three in each cell, enfolded 

 in a red fucculent tunic. The fpecific charafter and de- 

 fcription given by profefTor Swartz, cannot be midaken ; 

 but it is remarkable that he fhould not have detefted 

 Aublet's mifapphcation of Plumier's fynonym. This error 

 is indeed the more pardonable in Aublet, as he was ac- 

 quainted with but one of thefe two fpecies, and took it, of 

 courfe, for what Plumier had figured. 



3. S. Aubletii. Small-flowered Sloanea. Swartz Ind. 

 Occ. 940. (S. finemarienfis ; Aubl. Guian. v. I. 534. 

 t. 212. Willd. n. 3.) — Leaves roundilh, abrupt, entire. 

 Calyx in five deep ovate fegments. — Gathered by Aublet in 

 the forefts of Guiana about the river Sinemari, 30 leagues 

 above its mouth, bearing flowers and fruit in November. 

 Swartz fays it was found by Maffon in St. Kilt's. The 

 trunt is defcribed as forty or fifty feet high, with a reddifh, 

 cracked, and wrinkled bark. Branches fiender, finely 

 downy when young. Leaves in Aublet's fpecimen near a 

 foot long, on (talks about one-third that length, coriaceous, 

 fmooth, Itrongly veined. He defcribes thcjlipulas as being 

 long, broad, and pointed. Thefe we have not (een, any 

 more than the powers, which grow in diort, fimple, axil- 

 lary clujlers, and are much fmaller than either of the pre- 

 ceding. The flyle in Aublet's plate, as well as his own 

 French defcription, is reprcfented divided into four or five 

 deep flender fegments. The capfule is oblong, an incli in 

 length, with four or five cells and as many angles, clothed 

 with long, flender, afcending filaments or bridles. We fliould 

 gladly have given the name oi parvi/hra to this fpecies, but 

 we have taken the leaft exceptionable of thofe that already 

 exilt. The Gaiibis call this tree Oulouqua-Pulou, but no- 

 thing is recorded of their applying it to any ule. 



SLOATH, or Sloth, in Zoology, the name of an animal 

 remarkable tor its flow motion. Of this animal there are 

 two fpecies. See Bradypus. 



The three-toed floth has a blunt black nofe, a little length- 

 ened ; very (mall external ears ; fmall, black, and heavy 

 eyes, with a dufliy line from the corner of each ; tho colour 

 of the face and throat a dirty white ; hair on the limbs and 

 body long, and very uneven, of a cinereous brown colour, 

 with a black line along the middle of the back ; each fide, 

 about the (boulders, is daflied with rud colour ; the rell of 

 the back and limbi (potted irregularly with black ; the tail 

 Ihort ; legs thick, long, and aukwardly placed ; the f.ice 

 naked ; and three very long claws on each foot. lVnn.int. 



This creature, which grows to the bulk of a middle-fized 

 fox, is fo very tedious in all its motions, that it will be three 

 or four days in climbing up, and coming down a tree, and 

 does not go the length of fifty paces upon even ground in a 

 day. It never ilirs till compelled by hunger : its food is 

 fruit, or the leaves of trees, its inutioii is altcndsd with a 

 12 very 



