BOMBACF.Ai. 93 
approaching to woody, caducous : seed many, subrotund, brown : 
wool very abundant. 
The specific designation anfractuosum, is derived from 
am and frango, and means the winding or bending of a road 
or path, in and out , or backwards and forwards. 
The leaves are deciduous and fall off early in January. Soon 
after, the flowers are produced at the end of the branchlets, 
followed by the fruit ; after which the young leaves make their 
appearance. 
This is a tree of a rapid growth, and is readily propagated from 
stakes or posts planted in the ground. A superb row of these 
trees, at Belvidere pastures, St Thomas in the East, was 
established from posts fixed in the earth, in making a com- 
mon rail fence. Perhaps no tree in the world has a more lofty 
and imposing appearance, whether overtopping its humbler 
companions in some woody district, or rising in solitary gran- 
deur in some open plain. Even the untutored children of 
Africa are so struck with the majesty of its appearance, that 
they designate it the God-tree, and account it sacrilege to injure 
it with the axe; so that, not unfrequently, not even the fear of 
punishment will induce them to cut it down. Even in a state 
of decay, it is an object of their superstitious fears: they re- 
gard it as consecrated to evil spirits, whose favour they seek 
to conciliate by offerings placed at its base. 
The large stems of this tree are hollowed out to form canoes. 
The wood is soft and subject to the attack of insects : but if 
steeped in strong lime water, it will last for several years, even 
when made into hoards or shingles, and in situations exposed to 
the influence of the weather. The young leaves are sometimes 
dressed by the Negroes as a substitute for okras. The wool 
has been employed in stuffing mattresses ; and is said to answer 
the purpose equally well as feathers, hut to he rather warm. 
The caterpillar of the Macaca beetle, considered by some, when 
gutted and fried, as a very great delicacy, is to he found in 
abundance in the decayed stems of this tree. 
V. OcHROMA. 
Calyx at the base tubulose subinfundibuliform 
scarcely 5-cleft, with 3 of the lobes rounded, and c 2 
somewhat acute. Petals 5 longer than the calyx. 
Anthers anfractuose. Stigmata 5. Capsules valvu- 
lar clothed within with a silky wool. Seeds oblong. 
Name, supposed to be derived from w yjoi yellow, the flowers 
being of that colour. 
