CHAP. XIX. 



•L'ERliSTROMIA'CE^E. MALACHODe'ndRON. 377 



Malachode'ndron Cav. Calyx attended by a single bractea. Petals 

 5 — 6, with the limb finely notched. Ovary markeil with 5 furrows. Styles 

 5, free, separate to the base. Stigmas capitate. Carpels capsular, 5, 

 connected, 1-seeded. (Do7i's Mill., i. p. 564.) 



Stua'rt/^. Sepals 5, connected almost to the middle, bibracteate. 

 Petals 5. Style crowned by a 5-lobed stigma. Capsule woody, 5-celled, 

 5-vaIved. Cells 1 — 2-seeded. Seeds wingless. (Don's Mill., i. p. 564.) 



GoRDO^N/^. Sepals 5, coriaceous. Petals 5, adhering to the tube of the 

 stamens, and connected together at the base. Style crowned by 5 stigmas. 

 Capsule 5-celled, 5-valved ; cells 2 — 5-seeded. Seeds ending in a leafy wing. 

 (Don's Mill., i. p. 564.) 



Genus I. 



i MALACHODE'NDRON Cav. The Malachodendron. Li7i. Si/st. 

 Monadelphia Polyandria. 



Identification. Cav. Diss., 5. p. 502. ; Juss. Gen., 275. ; Mitch. Gen., 16. p. 38. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 528. : 



and Don's Mill., 1. p. 572. 

 Synonymes. Stu6.rt/a L'Herit. ; Stewartia L. 



Derivation. From malakos, soft, and dendron, a tree; in allusion, perhaps, to the quality of the 

 timber : or, possibly, from the flowers resembling those of the mallow, the Greek, name for which 

 is malaclie. 



Gen. Char., Sfc. Calyx 5-cleft, furnished with two bracteas at the base. 

 Petals 5, with a crenulate limb. Ovary 5-furrowed. Styles 5, unconnected. 

 Stigmas capitate. Carpels 5, capsular, connected, 1-seeded. Seeds un- 

 known. (Bon's Mill., i. p. 572.) A deciduous low tree, with large white 

 flowers. 



X 1. Malachode'ndron ova^tum Cav. The ovate-leaved Malachodendron. 



Identification. Cav., 1. c. ; Lindl. Bot. Keg. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 272. 



Synonymes. Stuartw pentagynia L'Herit; Stewarts Malachodendron Mill.; Stewartia & cinq 

 Styles, Fr. 



Engravings. Smith's Exot. Bot., 1. 101. ; Michx. t. 58. ; Bot. Reg., 1. 1104. ; and our fig. 91. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Leaves ovate, acuminated. Flowers axil- 91 

 lary, solitary, almost sessile. Petals waved, cut, of a pale 

 cream-colour. (Don's Mill., i. p. 572.) A deciduous tree, 

 attaining, in its native country, tlie height of 20 ft. ; but, 

 in England, generally seen as a bush, and seldom above 

 10 ft. or 12 ft. high. It is a native of Virginia, Carolina, 

 and Georgia, on mountains ; and it was introduced into 

 England in 1795, producing its large white flowers in 

 August and September. It has been, since the period of 

 its introduction, in frequent cultivation among other American or peat- 

 earth plants. The largest specimens which we have seen in England are 

 at Dropmore and White Knights: the former are between 10ft. and 12ft. 

 high, and form wide-spreading bushes, flowering freely every year. Their 

 flowers are very large (2| in. or more across), and slightly fragrant. There 

 are a great many trees nearly equally large at White Knights, which flower 

 magnificently every year, and make a fine appearance during the months of 

 August and September, when they are in full bloom. The plant would 

 have a much better effect if trained up with a single stem, so as to form a 

 small tree. For this purpose, after a plant has been two or three years 

 established, it may be advisable to cut it down to the ground ; and, from the 

 shoots that it will throw up, to select one, and train it as the stem of the 

 future tree. The soil in which it is generally grown is a mixture of loam 

 and peat, in which the latter prevails ; but, in the Mile End Nursery, it 

 shoots vigorously, and flowers freely, in deep sandy loam. The situation 



