A flora of Manila - Rainforestation

BOMBACACEAE 325
*2. C, BRASILIENSE Macfad. Bulac-castila (Tag.); Algodon (Sp.) ; Cotton.
An erect branched shrub 1 to 3 m high, the .stems purplish, glandular.
Leaves 10 to 25 cm long, stellate-tomentose beneath when young, becoming
glabrous or nearly so, 3- to 5-lobed, the lobes ovate to oblong, acuminate,
base cordate. Flowers large, yellow. Bracteoles green, glabrous, ovate,
cordate, deeply laciniate, 5 to 7 cm long. Corolla pale-yellow, campanulate,
scarlet or purple at the base inside, exceeding the bracts in length. Capsule
oblong-ovoid, 4 to 5 cm long, acuminate. Seeds conglomerate, with
abundant wool but no fuzz.
Occasionally cultivated for ornamental purposes in Manila, fl. most of
the year; widely distributed in the Philippines, cultivated and as an escape.
A native of Brazil, now cultivated and wild in many tropical countries.
85. BOMBACACEAE (BoMBAX OR Boboy Family)
Trees with alternate, stipulate, digitately compound, deciduous leaves.
Inflorescence axillary or terminal. Flowers regular, perfect, medium or
large. Calyx cup-shaped, truncate or irregularly 3- to 5-lobed. Petals 5,
imbricate. Stamens pentadelphous, opposite the petals, divided above into
few or numerous filaments. Ovary 5-celled, superior, free; stigmas 5,
or 1 and obscurely 5-lobed; ovules many in each cell. Fruit a loculicidally
5-valved capsule. Seeds with woolly or silky hairs.
Genera about 20, species more than 100, widely distributed in the tropics,
4 genera and 4 species known from the Philippines.
Ultimate filaments very many, each with a single reniform anther; flowers
very large, red; very large trees 1. Bombax
Ultimate filaments few, each with 2 or 3 linear or sinuate anthers; flowers
of medium size, white or yellowish; small trees 2. Ceiba
1. BOMBAX Linnaeus
Large trees with digitate, deciduous leaves. Peduncles axillary or subterminal,
solitary or clustered, 1-flowered. Flowers large, red, appearing
before the leaves. Calyx leathery, cup-shaped, truncate or irregularly
lobed. Petals obovate. Stamens pentadelphous, the bundles opposite the
petals, divided above into numerous filaments; anthers reniform, 1-celled.
Ovary 5-celled; style clavate; stigmas 5; ovules many in each cell. Capsule
loculicidally 5-valved, the valves leathery, woolly within. Seeds
woolly. (From the Greek name for silkworm or silk.)
Species about 50, chiefly in tropical America, one in the Philippines.
1. B. ceiba L. (B. vialabarica DC). Buboy-gubat, Malabulac (Tag.).
A large tree, 25 m high or more, the trunk with few or many, very
large, pyramidal spines. Leaves deciduous; leaflets 5 to 7, oblong to oblonglanceolate,
acuminate, 10 to 20 cm long, glabrous, the petioles longer than
the leaflets. Flowers large, red, 8 to 10 cm long, appearing before the
leaves, fascicled at or near the ends of the branches. Petals more or less
stellate-pubescent on both surfaces. Capsule about 15 cm long, the valves
silky within. Seeds numerous, obovate. (Fl. Filip. pi. 226.)
A single tree known to me in our area, and that in the old Botanical
Garden, fl. Feb.-March; rather widely distributed in the Philippines at
low altitudes. India to Malaya.