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Bombacaceae (from the genus Bombax, from the Latin meaning silk or cotton). Bombax Family. Fig. 37. Trees: leaves mostly alternate, entire or digitate, often with slime-cells and stellate hairs: flowers bisexual, regular or slightly irregular; involucre often present; sepals 5, separate or connate, valvate; petals 5, twisted in the bud; stamens 5 to many, separate or monadelphous; anther cells 1-2 or more; pollen smooth; staminodia often present; ovary superior, 2-5-celled; ovules 2 to many; style 1; stigmas 1-5: fruit dry or fleshy, dehiscent or indehiscent.
There are 20 genera and about 100 species, of tropical distribution, mostly in America. The family is closely related to the Malvaceae and often united with that family. It is distinguished most easily by the smooth pollen and the often several-celled anthers.
Many Bombacaceae are very large trees. The trunk of the baobab tree, or monkey's bread tree (Adansonia digitata) of tropical Africa is often 100 feet in circumference. The wool produced in the fruit is of little value. The fruit of Durio zibethinus contains a cream-like substance and is eaten. The seeds of the green fruit of Matisia cordata of the Andes is edible. The sour cucumber tree or cream of tartar tree is Adansonia Gregorii. The fruit contains tartaric acid.
Five or 6 genera are in cultivation in this country in the South and in greenhouses: Adansonia (Boabab Tree, Monkey's Bread); Bombax (Silk Cotton Tree); Chorisia (Floss-silk Tree); Eriodendron; Pachira.
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