/sterr kyooh"lee euh/ , n.
any of various tropical trees of the genus Sterculia, of which some species are grown as ornamentals and some are the source of commercially valuable wood.
[ 1765-75; Stercul ( us ) a Roman deity supposed to have invented manuring (deriv. of stercus manure, excrement) + ia -IA; from the fetid odor of the blossoms of certain species ]