C E R 



C E R 



Cuttings may likewise be made in the autumn 

 or spring:, and planted out in a railier moist 

 shady siuiation, cart; beinsr taken to keep them 

 free from weeds. Wlien they have become well 

 , rooted, they may be removed Into the places 

 where they are to remain. 



This shrub affords an agreeable variety when 

 in assemblage with others, either in the open 

 ground or other collections. 



CERASTIUM, a genus containing plants 

 of the low herbaceous kind. Mouse-ear Chick- 

 weed. 



It helonn;s to the class and order Decaiuliia 

 Tentagyn'm, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Caryophillei. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a five- 

 leaved perlanthlum; leaflets ovate-lanecolate, 

 acute, spreading and permanent : the corolla has 

 five petals, bifid, obtuse, erect-expanding, length 

 of the calyx: the stamina consist of ten fila- 

 ments, filiform, shorter than the corolla ; the 

 alternate ones shorter: anthers roundish: the 

 pistillum is an ovate germ : styles five, capillary, 

 erect, length of the stamens: stigmas obtuse: 

 the pericarpium is an ovate-cylindric or glo- 

 bular capsule, obtuse, unilocular, gaping with 

 a five-toothed tip : the seeds are very many and 

 roundish. 



The species cultivated are; 1. C. perfoUatum , 

 Perfoliate Mouse-ear; 2. C. repens. Creeping 

 Mouse-ear or Sea Pink. 



There are other species that may be culti- 

 vated. 



The first is an annual plant, which rises with 

 an upright stalk a foot high; the lower leaves 

 have much resemblance to those of Lobel's 

 Catchfly : the stem-leaves are of the same shape, 

 but smaller, placed by pairs, and embracing the 

 stalks: the flowers come out at the top of the 

 stalks, and also from the wings of the leaves 

 on the upper part of the stalks; they are white, 

 and shaped like those of chickweed; appearing 

 in May and June, and succeeded by beaked 

 capsules, containing many seeds of a roundish 

 form. It is a native of Greece. 



The second species sends out many weak 

 stalks which trail upon the ground, and put out 

 roots at their joints : the leaves are about two 

 inches long, and little more than half an inch 

 broad, very hoary; those next the root are 

 much smaller than the upper ones : the flowers 

 come out from the side of the stalks upon 

 slender peduncles, v^hich branch out into se- 

 veral smaller, each supporting a white flower. 

 It was formerly cultivated in gardens, under the 

 title of Sea Pink, as an edging. It is a native 

 of France, &c. 



Culture, — The propagation in these plants is 



readily effected either by seeds, slips from the 

 rootintr branches, or parting the roots, each of 

 which inav be performed cither in the autumn 

 or pprino; season, placing them in proper situa- 

 tions in the open ground. The trailing branches 

 root as thcv extend themselves, at each joint, 

 by which thev easily multiplv. 



Being of spreading growth, they are highly 

 useful for covering naked banks, and running 

 over artificial rock-work«, ruins, grottos, and 

 other similar parts of pleasure-grounds. 



CERASUS, the Cherry-tree. See PnuNUS. 

 CERATONIA, a genus containing a plant of 

 the evergreen exotic shrubby kind. The Carob- 

 tree, or St. John's Bread. 



It belongs to the clans and order Pohjgam'ia 

 Trioecia and ranks in the natural order of Lo- 

 mentacecE, 



The characters are: that in the male the 

 calyx is a five-parted pcrianthium, very large: 

 there is no corolla: the stamina consist of five 

 subulate filaments, very long, spreading: the 

 anthers large, t\\ in : in the female the calyx is 

 a one-leafed pcrianthium, divided by five tuber- 

 cles : there is no corolla : the pistillum is a 

 germ Iving concealed within a fleshy receptacle: 

 stylfe long, filiform : stigma headed : the pe- 

 ricarpium is a legume, very large, obtuse, com- 

 pressed, coriaceous, with a great many trans- 

 verse partitions, the interstices filled with pulp; 

 the seed solitary, roundish, compressed, hard, 

 glossy : hermaphrodite flowers on a distinct 

 tree. 



The species cultivated is C. siliqua, the Carob- 

 tree . 



It rises with an upright thick woodv stem to 

 the height of fifteen or twenty feet in its native 

 situation : the head divided into many branches: 

 the leaves are pinnate, leaflets roundish entire, 

 thick, rigid, of a darkish green colour, three 

 inches in breadth, and rather more in length : 

 the flowers are small, of a dark purple: these 

 are ^icceeded by large fleshy compressed seed- 

 pods, containing many seeds in a soft pulp. 

 It is a native of Syria, &c. 



Culture. — It is propagated by s6\^•ing the 

 seeds procured from its native situation, in pots 

 of light earth in the spring, plunging them in 

 a moderate hot-bed, and, after the plants have 

 attained suflicient growth, removing them into 

 separate pots, shade, water, and fresh air being 

 ocsasionally given, and the pots continued in 

 the hot-bed. When the weather becomes fine 

 in the summer, they should be gradually hard- 

 ened by exposure to the free air, and ])laced 

 out till the approach of autumn, when the 

 protection of the greenhouse will be neces- 

 sary. 



