Flora Medica

STERCULIACEJE.THEOBROMA.Calyx 5-sepaled. Petals 5, vaulted at the base, ligulate andstrap-shaped above. Stamens 15, connected into an urceolusat the base ; sterile filaments 5, alternate with the petals, linear,subulate, elongated ; fertile ones short, united into 5 filaments,each opposite to a petal and bearing 2 anthers. Style 5-cleftat the apex : stigmas simple. Fruit indehiscent, between coriaceousand woody, ovate-oblong, 5-celled. Seeds imbedded ina buttery pulp (arillus?). Albumen none. Cotyledons thick,wrinkled, full of oil. Small trees. Leaves large,entire. Pedunclesaxillary,lateral after the fall of the leaves ; sometimessimple, 1 -flowered, and fascicled, sometimes branched and manyflowered.W. and A.275. T. Cacao Linn. sp. pi 1100. DC. prodr.Cacao Sloane, ii. 15. t. 160. West Indies and Continent ofAmerica.i. 484.A small upright tree. Leaves lanceolate oblong, bright green, entire,stalked. Flowers clustered, axillary, reddish, scentless. Fruit clusteredon the old branches, smooth, yellow, or red, oval, about 3 incheslong, with a fleshy rind nearly half an inch thick ; filled with a whitishpulp, of the consistence of butter (an aril ?), sweet, and subacid. Seedsabout 25 in each fruit, flesh-coloured. The torrefied seeds rubbeddown with arnotto, vanilla and other ingredients form chocolate, thenutritive restorative properties of which are well known.ERIODENDRON.Calyx without bracteoles, irregularly 5-lobed ;lobes usually inpairs. Petals 5, united at the base with each other, and withthe column of stamens. Filaments joined together into a shorttube at the base, but divided upwards into 5 filiform bundleseach bearing 2-3 linear or serpentinely bent (anfractuose) anthers,the latter combined and resembling a simple anther.Style crowned by a 5-6-cleft stigma. W. and A.276. E. anfractuosum DC. prodr.i. 479. W. and A. i. 61.Bombax pentandrum Linn, sp.pl. 959. Cav. diss.v. t. 151.(Rumf. i. t. 80. Eheede. iii. t. 49-51.) East Indies, both onthe continent and islands.A very large tree. Trunk prickly at the base. Leaves palmate ;leaflets 5-8, quite entire, or serrulated towards the point, lanceolate,mucronate, glaucousbeneath. Flowers large, woolly, yellowish. Anthersversatile, anfractuose. Trunk yields a gum which is given inconjunction with spices in certain stages of bowel complaints.HELICTERES.Ainslie.Calyx tubular, somewhat 5-cleft. Petals 5, ligulate-unguiculate,slightly toothed at the apex. Stamens 5-10-15, united into a138