bombacea:. 
89 
1. Helicteres Jamaicensis. Jamaica Screw-tree. 
Decandrous, leaves cordate serrated pubescent above 
velutino-tomentose beneath, flowers axillary subter- 
minal few corymbose, fruit ovate densely tomentose. 
Abutilo affinis arbor, eujus fructus est styli apex acutus qua- 
tuor s. quinque siliquis hirsutis, funis ad instar in spirara con- 
volutis, Sloane, I. — Helicteres villosa et fructicosa, 
Broione , 330. — H. Jamaicensis, Sioartz, FI. Ind. Occ. 1156. 
HAB. Lime-stone districts. Not rare. 
FL. June — December. 
Stem arborescent, 10-12 feet in height : branches spreading, 
compressed towards their extremities, farinoso-tomentose with 
stellated hairs. Leaves cordate, ovate, serrated, triply-nerved, 
green and slightly stellato-pubescent above, pale and densely 
stellato-tomentose beneath, 6 inches long, and the same broad : 
petiole about 2 inches long, terete. Stipules subulate. Pe- 
duncle axillary, shorter than the leaf, about 3-flowered, terete, 
farinoso-tomentose: flowers white, not showy, pedicelled. 
Calyx bell-shaped, compressed, externally farinoso-tomentose 
with stellated hairs, 2-lipped ; upper lip longer than the lower, 
and bifid ; lower lip 3-fid. Petals 5, longer than the calyx, un- 
equal, deciduous ; the 2 upper ones broader, oblong, concave ; 
the 3 lower narrower. Column of the filaments about 3 inches 
long, terete, curved. Fertile stamens 10, very short ; sterile, 
5. Ovary hirsute: style subulate: stigmata 5-fid. Carpels 
5, twisted into a spire, externally densely farinoso-tomentose 
with stellated hairs, which, when ripe, are easily abraded, free 
for a few lines at the apex and dehiscent internally : seeds nu- 
merous, oval, compressed, angulated. 
A decoction or infusion of the leaves and fruit, may be used 
as a substitute for a similar preparation of the Marsh-mallow, 
and given as a drink in fevers, consumption, cough, &c. A 
decoction of the roots of one species, H. sacauolha, is consid- 
ered, in Brazil, as anti-syphilitic. 
II. Ad ANSON IA. 
Calyx naked, deciduous, o-partite. Petals 5, united 
as far as the middle. Urceole of the stamens dilatato- 
expanded at the upper part. Style very long : stig- 
mata many. Capsule indehiscent, woody, 10-celled ; 
cells many-seeded, filled with a farinaceous pulp around 
the seeds. 
Named , in honour of Michael Adanson, a celebrated French 
Botanist, author of a Voyage to Senegal, Families des Plantes, 
and other works. 
