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Webster 1913 Edition
Sterculiaceous
Ster-cuˊli-a′ceous
,Adj.
[NL.
Sterculia
, the typical genus, fr. L. Sterculius
the deity that presided over manuring, from stercus
dung. So called because one of the original species is fetid.] (Bot.)
Of or pertaining to a natural order (
Sterculiaceae
) of polypetalous exogenous plants, mostly tropical. The cacao (Theobroma Cacao
) is the most useful plant of the order.