r 8 
Forest Flora of Portuguese East Africa. 
The “Wild Cotton” common throughout the Province as a creeper does not belong to this Family, but is Ipomaea albivenia, which has not yet been turned 
to account for textile purposes. 
FAMILY X.— STERCULIACEiC. 
Flowers regular, hermaphrodite or unisexual. Calyx gamosepalous, 5-lobed or 5-fid ; petals absent, or 5, free, contorted in aestivation, more or less attached to the 
base of the staminal column. Stamens with filaments united into a column or connate at the base, either with or without staminodia. Ovary free, 2-5 celled or of 2-5 more or 
less free carpels; cells several-ovuled. Fruit various. Leaves usually alternate and stipulate; pubescence often stellate; inflorescence usually axillary, either solitary, racemose 
or paniculate. A large Family, widely distributed. The larger trees have usually soft, white timber; cocoa, chocolate, cola and gum tragacanth are products; several yield 
valuable fibre barks, and in horticulture Brachychiton, Sterculia, Dombeya, Hermannia, and others are floral favourites. 
31. STERCULIA. Flowers unisexual; calyx cup-shaped, 5-fid or 5-lobed ; petals absent; staminal column bearing many extrorse anthers, crowded without arrangement; 
ovary of 5 partly coherent carpels, with several ovules in each ; ripe carpels separate, coriaceous, dehiscent, 1 or several seeded ; seeds albuminous, albumen 
adherent to the cotyledons, so liable to be overlooked. Leaves alternate, simple or lobed or digitate ; inflorescence in axillary or terminal panicles. A large 
tropical and sub-tropical genus of trees and shrubs, usually with glaucous bark. 
S. Triphaca, R. Br. A large tree with roundish or 3-lobed cordate petiolate leaves, 10-13 c.m. long, nearly glabrous on both surfaces , and with the lobes acuminate and 
entire, the central lobe largest. Inflorescence a much-branched axillary panicle, 5-6 c.m. long with the flowers on short jointed pedicels. Calyx 1 c.m. long, 
5-lobed, canescent outside, pink and glabrous within. Column shorter than the calyx; follicles 3-5 spreading, ovate-acuminate, downy. Seeds arillate on a villose 
placenta. Zambesi (Dr. Kirk), Senna (Peters). 
S. tomentosa, Guill. Vern. name — 10, M’lola, which name is applied to several fibre-producing trees. A medium-sized tree with smooth glaucous bark. Leaf 7-10 
c.m. wide, nearly as long, cordate at the base, palmately 5-7 veined, and with 3 rounded lobes and 5 c.m. petiole; both surfaces tomentose with stellate hairs, or the 
upper surface ultimately glabrescent or rough ; the lower surface closely reticulated. Flowers and fruit not seen by me, but described as being in much-branched 
axillary panicles; calyx 1-5 c.m. long, cup-shaped, 5-fid, downy; carpels 3-5, sessile, densely tomentose, with numerous purplish seeds and yellow homy arils. 
This species occurs in other parts of Tropical Africa but is not previously recorded from here, and I am not sure that my specimens, which are from large trees in 
the forests of Magenja da Costa, belong to it, which has the lobes described as acuminate; if not they appear to be an undescribed species, but as they are leaf- 
specimens only, the material is too imperfect for further description. Sim 5978. 
Plate VII. B. 1, Leaf; 2 , Stellate pubescence. 
S. quinqueloba. (New species.) 1 Vern. name — 10, Gampheba. A large tree with smooth glaucous or nearly white decorticating bark, which is red when cut. Leaves 
17-30 c.m. 7 vide and long, 5-lobed from a cordate base , 5-veined from the base, softly pubescent or at length glabrescent above, the under side densely set with 
permanent soft whitish stellate pubescence mixed on the veins with longer hairs; lobes acute; petiole 15-45 c.m. long, hairy. Leaves more or less crowded toward 
the end of the branch, with inflorescence in axillary panicles in the upper axils. Panicles 10-20 c.m. long, often much branched, main rachis hairy, pedicels buds 
and flowers pubescent; calyx bell-shaped 5 m.m. long, 5-lobed; anthers about 15 crowded on top of the column; carpels about 5, 8 c.m. long, spreading, oblanceo- 
late, acute, opening at maturity, densely grey-velvety outside, and with white pubescence inside. Seeds 1 c.m. long, purplish-black. I think this is not Cola 
quinqueloba, Garcke; at least this is a Sterculia with crowded stamens and albuminous seeds. Differs from S. tomentosa and S. cinerea as described in size and 
outline of leaf, size of flower, &c. Frequent in alluvial soil in Magenja da Costa and Nhamacurra (Tropical). Timber white, hard, not used. Sim 998. 
Plate VI. 1, Small leaf and inflorescence ; 2, Flower, X5; 3, Same, perianth opened out, x 5 ; 4, Carpels; 5, Tree (reduced). 
'Sterculia quinqueloba. (Sp. nov. ) Arbor magna, cortice levi glauco ant albido ; foliis 17-30 c.m. longis et latis, cordato 5-lobis, 5-nerviis, pagina superiore pubescentia molli tecta vel denique glabrescente, 
pagina infenore pubescenua albida molli stellata dense vest ua supra vcnas pilis longioribus intermixtis, lobis acutis ; petiole 15-45 c.m. longo, hirsute ; inflorescentiis paniculatis in axillis foliorum superiorum, 
10-20 c.m. longis, saepe ramosissimis, rachi h.rsuto ; pedicclhs, ge.nm.s et floribus pubescentibus ; calyce campanulas, 5 c.m. longo, 5-lobo, columna staminea apice antheras circa 15 congestas gerente ; carpellis 
Magenja dC It’ Nh ’ ° blanc< j? at,s ’ aCUt ’ S ’ maturis d ^*«ntibus, extus pubescentia cana velutina densa, intus pubescenlia alba vestitis ; seminibus 1 c.m. longis atro-purpureis, albuminosis. Frequens in 
