276 
SPANISH-TOWN. 
‘‘ I am glad you have asked me to explain the 
occurrence of the unleafed Eriodendron in the month 
of July, because it enables me to detail some 
peculiarities in the economy of that magnificent 
tree, not usually noticed by naturalists. 
“ The Eriodendron, or Silk-Cotton tree, is charac- 
terised by the remarkable property of producing 
leaves and flowers in alternate years. When seen 
with its seed pods at the terminal twigs, dotting its 
immense mass of stems and branches all over, it has 
not yet expanded into leaf ; the foliage is still 
enclosed in the leaf-hud. At this time it is much 
more an emblem of Hope, than Moore’s Almond- 
tree in Lalla Rookh ; it not alone blossoms, hut 
matures fruit upon a leafless stem. 
“ The Eriodendron, or Ceiba, as the Indians called 
the tree, exhibits a growth by concentric layers of 
wood, of more or less regulated thickness, only in 
the early period of its life. It is observed soon to 
become ventricose at a short height in the trunk, 
being thicker about the middle than lower down 
towards the root. Up to this time the bark is armed 
with strong spines, which are obliterated when the 
ventricose character disappears. After this state of 
progression, it commences throwing out buttresses 
from the trunk to the large radiated roots, which now 
show themselves on the surface of the soil. When 
the growth has advanced to this condition, the wood 
is no longer deposited in the lower part of the tree 
in concentric lines of regulated thickness, for the 
sap, both in ascending and descending, instead of 
being equally distributed under the bark, is now 
