XIV. MALVACEAE 
61 
narrow, tapering. Flowers few, 4-5 in. diam., pale yellow with 
dark purple centre. Calyx an ovate, folded spathe, tip obscurely 
5-toothed. Bracteoles numerous, linear, 1^ in., bristly, curved, the 
tips meeting over the top of the buds. 
Simla, Syree ; July, August. — Throughout India, ascending to 6000 ft. — 
Burmah. 
4. BOMBAX. From the Greek bombyx, silk, referring to the 
fine silky wool enveloping the seeds. — Most tropical regions. 
Bombax malabaricum, De Gand . ; FI. Br. Ind. i. 349. A tall 
tree, the lower part of the trunk usually buttressed ; branches 
whorled, spreading horizontally ; young stem covered with conical 
prickles. Leaves glabrous, digitately compound ; leaflets 5-7, 
shortly stalked, lanceolate, 4-8 in., entire, long-pointed. Flowers 
large, red, occasionally white, in the axils of fallen leaves, crowded 
towards the end of branches, appearing before the young leaves. 
Calyx falling off with the corolla, cup-shaped, thick, leathery, 
irregularly lobed, silky white inside. Bracteoles none. Petals 
thick, oblong, 3-6 in., tomentose outside, pubescent or glabrous 
within. Stamens numerous, in three series about half as long as 
the petals ; outer ones united near the base in 5 bundles, 10 inter- 
mediate shorter, 5 innermost forked near the top. Ovary 5-celled ; 
styles united to near the top, stigmatic along their free ends. 
Capsule woody, oblong, 4-5 in., splitting by 5 valves from the top. 
Seeds numerous, enveloped in fine silky wool. 
Simla ; February, March. — Throughout India, ascending to 6000 ft. — Java, 
Sumatra, Australia. 
The Semel or Cotton tree. The calyces of the flower-buds are eaten ; and 
the silky wool of the seeds is used to stuff pillows and quilts. 
XV. TILIACE^E 
Tbees, shrubs or herbs. Leaves alternate, simple, sometimes 
lobed, crenate or sharply toothed ; stipules free. Flowers regular, 
2-sexual, yellow or orange, in cymes or small clusters, rarely 
solitary. Sepals usually 5, free, valvate in bud. Petals usually 
5, free, base glandular or naked. Eeceptacle more or less elevated, 
bearing the sepals and petals at its base, the stamens and ovary at 
its top. Stamens numerous or about 10, free, anthers 2-celled. 
Ovary sessile, 2-5-celled ; ovules few or many in each cell ; style 
columnar, tip lobed or toothed. Fruit a globose drupe or a 
capsule either globose and covered with hooked spines or long, 
narrow and glabrous. Seeds few or many, usually pendulous. — 
