THE SILK COTTON FAMILY. 



487 



hurnifolia, D. amelia, and D. opalifolia, splendid flowering 

 trees, natives of Mauritius and Madagascar, have been grown 

 and flowered in the Palm House at Kew, some having attained 

 the height of 20 feet, being conspicuous for their large 

 leaves and heads of flowers. The Australian section of the 

 family is represented in the greenhouse by species of the 

 genus Lasiopetalum, and the South African section by species 

 of Hermannia and Mahernia. 



The Silk Cotton Family. 



(BOMBACEiE.) 



Magnificent trees or shrubs. Leaves alternate, entire, 

 lobed or digitate, with deciduous stipules. Flowers terminal 

 or sessile on the stem and branches, small or very large and 

 showy, some unisexual. Sepals 5, more or less united. 

 Petals 5, or none. Stamens numerous, united, forming a 

 longer or shorter tube. Fruit capsular, with the seeds in - 

 volved in silky, wool-like hairs, or a follicle with numerous 

 seeds, or indehiscent and gourd-like, with the seeds imbedded 

 in pulp. 



About 130 species are enumerated of this remarkable 

 order of gouty trees, which are principally natives of 

 tropical climates. 



Baobob or Monkey Bread, also called Sour Gourd {Adan- 

 sonia digitata). A native of Tropical Africa, extending 

 from east to west. It is a remarkable tree, growing to the 

 height of 40 feet, but its girth is entirely out of proportion 

 to its height, some trees being 30 feet in diameter, becoming 

 contracted towards the top. Humboldt speaks of it as the 

 " oldest organic monument of our planet," and Adanson, a 

 botanical traveller, in 1794 made a calculation that one of 

 these trees, 30 feet in diameter, must have been at least 

 5150 years old. The wood is soft and the negroes cut out 

 chambers in the trees, which they use as places of inter- 

 ment. It produces a large oblong, woody, indehiscent, 

 capsular fruit, from 8 to 12 inches or more long, shaped like 



