^MBAx.l MALVACE^, 97 



interest also in pointing to the probability of its representing the nearest 

 approach to what may be considered an indigenous species of India. It 

 has been found growing apparently quite wild as a climber in the forests 

 ■west of Bar in Merwara, also in the Ajmir District, as well as in Eaj- 

 putana and the Punjab. 



The attempts made to acclimatize various kinds of American cotton in 

 India have hitherto resulted in failure. Stray specimens may occasionally 

 be observed in fields sown with the ordinary Indian varieties, but the 

 influence of hybridization has invariably produced degeneration. 



14. KYDIA, Roxb.; Fl. Brit. Ind. i. 348. 



Trees with stellate pabescence. Leaves palminerved, usually 

 'lobed. Flowers panicled, polygamous. JBracteoles 4-6, leafy, con- 

 nate at the baee, accrescent and spreading in fruit. Sepals 5, con- 

 nate below the middle. Petals 5, obcordate, oblique, longer than 

 -the calyx, adnate to the tube of the stamens. 8taminal-iVih& dXmdiedL 

 about the middle into 5 divisions, each bearing 3 reniform anthers 

 which are imperfect in the fern, flowers. Ovary 2-3- celled ; style 

 3-cleft ; stigmas 3, peltate, imperfect in the male 6ower ; ovules 2 

 in each cell, ascending. Capsule subglobose, muticous, loculieidally 

 ^-valved. Seeds 3, reniform, furrowed.— /S'^ecies 2, both found in 

 India. 



K. calycina, Roxb. Hort Beng. 50 ; Fl. Ind. Hi, 118; W. ^ A. Prod, 



70; F.B. I. i, 348; Brand. For. Fl. 29; Watt E. D. K. fraterna, Roxh. I. c. 



189. Yevn. Pula, puli, %>ulu, pattra and p aldo (Bijnov) . 



A small! tree, youn? parts stellately tomentose. Leaves 4-6 in. long, 



rounded, cordate, palmately7-nerved, more or less lobed, glabrous above 



or with thinly scattered hairs, tomentose beneath ; petioles 2-3-in. Jn- 



florescence much branched, many-flowered. Bracteoles oblong-spathulate, 



nearly as long as the calyx, ultimately spreading, d^wny. Flowers white 



or pink, in axillary or terminal panicles. Sepals ovate, acute. Staminal- 



tube shorter than the petals. The size and proportion of the parts of the 



flower vary according to sex. 



Forests of Dehra Dun and Saharanpur, and along the base of the 

 Himalaya from the Jumna eastwards Distbib. : Punjab, W. Ghats, 

 Burma, Leafless from February to April. Flowers July to October. 

 The fibre of the inner bark is used for coarse ropes, the leaves are medi- 

 cinal, and the mucilaginous bark is employed for clarifying sugar. 



15. BOMBAX, Linn.i Fl. Brit. Ind. i. 349. 



Trees. Leaves digitate, deciduous. Peduncles axillary or sub- 

 terminal, solitary or clustered. 1-flowered. Foowers appearing before 

 ihe leaves. Bracteoles O. Calyx leathery, cup-shaped> truncate or 



