C E R 



C E R 



They arc afterwards to be managed as oilier 

 greenhouse plants. 



CERCIS, a genus containing hardy deciduous 

 trees of the flowering kind. 



It belongs to the chus and order Dccandriii 

 Monos;ijiua, and ranks in the natural order ot" 

 Ij)ineiUacccE. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a onc- 

 lealed perianthiuiu, very short, beil-shaped, gib- 

 bous below, nielliterous; mouth live-toothed, 

 erect and obtuse: the corolla is pentapetalous, 

 inserted into the caivx, resembling a papilio- 

 naceous corolla: winirs: petals two, bent up- 

 wards, affixed by long claws : standard : petal 

 one, roundish, clawed beneath the wings, and 

 €horter than the wings : keel : petals two, con- 

 verging into a cordate figure, including the 

 organs of generation, atlixed by claws: the 

 nectary is a style-shaped gland, below the germ : 

 the stamina consist of ten, distinct, subulate 

 filaments, bent downwards, of which four arc 

 longer than the rest, and covered : the anthers 

 oblong, incumbent, rising upwards : the pis- 

 tilluni is a linear-lanceolate, pediceiled germ : 

 Style of the length and situation of the stamens : 

 stigma obt\ise, ascending: the pericarpium is 

 an oblong legume, obliquely acuminate, uni- 

 locular: the seeds some, roundish, connected 

 to the superior suture. 



The species are : 1 . C. sUiquastrum, Common 

 Judas-tree; 2. C. Canademis, Canada Judas- 

 tree, or Red Bud-tree. 



The first rises with an upright trunk to the 

 height of tw-enty feet, covered with a dark 

 brown bark, dividing upwards into many irre- 

 gular branches, with leaves placed irregularly on 

 the branches, on long foot-stalks; they are of 

 a pale green on their upper, and of a grayish 

 colour on their under side, and fall off in 

 autumn. The flowers come out in the spring 

 with the leaves on every side the branches, and 

 many times from the stem of the tree in large 

 clusters, arising from the same point, on short 

 peduncles, and arc of a verv bright purple 

 colour, being in full bcautv before the leaves 

 have attained half their size. When the flowers 

 fall off, the germ becomes a long fiat pod, con- 

 taining a row of roundish seeds, a little com- 

 pressed. 



The wood is verv beautifully veined with 

 black and green, taking a fine polish. It is a 

 native of the Levant, kc. 



There arc varieties with white flowers; with 

 flesh-coloured flowers, but without the beauty 

 of the first; also with broader pods. 



The second sort grows to a middling stature 

 in the places where it is a native, but in ihis 

 climate rarely rises with a stem more tli^n 



tv.-elvc feet high, but branches out near the root. 

 The branches of this arc weaker than those of 

 the first sori; the leaves are downy, ami ter- 

 minate in points; whereas those of the first are 

 smooth, and round at the end, where they are 

 indented. The flowers are also smaller; but 

 the trees are equally hardy, thriving in the open 

 air. It is a native of North America, where it 

 is known bv the title of Red Bud, from the ap- 

 pearance of the flower-buds in spring before the 

 leaves come out. 



The wood is of the same colour and texture 

 as the first. 



Culture. — ^This is effected by sowing the seeds 

 in the spring season, as about March, in beds 

 of commo.i ground, to the depth of half an 

 inch. As soon as the plants appear, they should 

 be kept clean, and occasionally watered, and 

 when of sufficient growth be removed into the 

 nursery, planting them in rows at the distance 

 of one foot, and two feet between the rows. 

 Having remained in this situation for two or 

 three years, they become proper for planting out 

 in the shrubber)'. 



They may be raised by layers and cuttings; 

 but thev seldom succeed so well in this way. 



These are hiffhly ornamental when planted 

 out in the clumps, borders, and other quarters, 

 amons hardy, flowering, deciduous trees of 

 other kinds. 



CERr:US. See Cactus. 



CKRIXTHE, a genus which furnishes plant* 

 of the hardy, ornamental, flowering, annual 

 kind. The Honeywort. 



It belongs to the class and order Pcnlandr'm 

 Monogyv'in, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Asperifol'tce. 



The characters are: that the calyx is a five- 

 parted pcrianthiuin ; divisions oblong, equal, per- 

 manent: the corolla is monopetalous and bell- 

 form: tube short, thick: border tube-bellied, 

 rather thicker than the tube : mouth (Ive-ckft ; 

 throat naked, pervious: the stamina consist of 

 five, subulate filaments, very short; anlhcri 

 acute, erect : the pistillum is a four-parted germ : 

 style filiform, length of the stamens: stigma 

 obtuse: there is "no pericarpium: calyx un- 

 changed; the seeds two, bonv, glossy, sub- 

 ovate^ outwardlv gibbous, and bilocular. 



The species ciiltivated is C. major. Great Ho- 

 neywort. 



It rises w ith stems eighteen inches high .ind 

 m<;re, round, smooth, branching, and leafy : 

 the leaves are glaucous, becoming blue by age, 

 smooth, w ithout prickles, but ciliated about the 

 cdsre, and dotted with white : the branches arc 

 Icaly and nodding ; with flowers among the 

 leaves, hantrins on long peduncles : the tube of 

 2 K 2 



