sion to the viscid moisture of its stalks, under the flowers of 

 this plant, by which flies of the smaller kind are entrapped: 

 a curious contrivance of Nature, to prevent various insects 

 from plundering the honey, or devouring the seed. The 

 word Silenc, probably derived from the Greek <r>\ov; Latin, 

 saliva. De Theis deduces it more directly from the drunk- 

 en god Silenus, whose name he supposes to have a similar 

 origin : 



The fell Silene, and her Bisters fair, 



Skill'd in destruction, spread the viscous snare. 



,.'."'.' 



Haste, glittering nations, tenants of the air, 

 Oh, steer from hence your viewless course afar! 

 If with soft words * * * * 

 The three dread syrens lure you to their toils, 

 Limed by their art, in vain you point your stings, 

 In vain the efforts of your whirring wings ! 



Darwin. 



The general character of this genus is, a calyx of one 

 leaf, swelling; petals five; with erect, narrow claws, the 

 length of the calyx; bordered with a membrane, capsule su- 

 perior, imperfectly three celled, bursting at the top; seeds 

 numerous, kidney-shaped, attached to a central receptacle. 



There are varieties of pink white, purple, and variegat- 

 ed flowers. They are hardy, herbaceous, annual and peren- 

 nial plants. 



CEDAR. 



Juniperus. 



Juniperus, an ancient Latin name; of whose meaning 

 or derivation, no account is given. 



The Juniperus Virginiana, Virginian Juniper, or Red 

 Cedar native of North America, the West India islands, 

 and Japan. The wood of this tree is celebrated for its pow- 

 erful fragrance, and for resisting the attacks of insects; being 

 the well known red cedar used in lead pencils, &tc. It is the 

 most common of its genus in the United States. The foliage 

 is evergreen, numerously subdivided, and composed of small 

 sharp scales, enchased in one another. The flowers are small 

 and inconspicuous: no corolla, only a calyx. The seeds are 

 small, ovate berries, bluish when ripe, and covered with a 

 white exudation. From these berries the spirituous Gin is 

 prepared. 



CHINA ASTER; or, STARWORT. 



Jlster Chinensis. 



(For Jlster, see American Starwort.) 

 The China Jlster has the largest and handsomest flow- 

 ers of any of this genus. Flowers, single and double, white, 

 blue, purple, red, and variegated, blue and white. Height 

 from eighteen inches to two feet; a well known annual 

 plant. Leaves ovate, angular, toothed, petioled; calyx ex- 

 panding, leafy, terminal; disk yellow, floscules of the ray, 

 broad and long; seeds ripened in autumn. 



CHINESE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



Chrysanthemum Indicum. 

 Chrysanthemum, from Chrusos, the Greek for gold, 



and Jlnthos, a flower a generic name given to these plants, 

 because the species most familiar to the Greeks produced 

 flowers of a gold colour. This shows the error of forming 

 the generic name of plants from the colour, when the same 

 species may present all the colours of the rainbow. 



The Indian, or Chinese Chrysanthemum, was introduced 

 into Europe as early as 1764. There are already thirty vari- 

 eties of it. It may now be considered a hardy perennial 

 plant. The varieties differ in the shape of their leaves; some 

 having their serratures much deeper cut than others. The 

 greater number have an odour resembling that of the chamo- 

 mile flower. Stem somewhat woody, two or three feet high, 

 much branched: leaves alternate, and serrated; upper sur- 

 face deep green; lower, soft to the touch, and clothed with a 

 slight down: Jlowers large, solitary, terminating the branch- 

 es: calyx common, hemispherical, imbricated: corolla com- 

 pound, radiated: receptacle naked. 



CLOVER RED. 



Trifolium. 



Trifolium, the Triphullon of the Greeks Trefle of the 

 French; from which last is more immediately derived our 

 Trefoil: names, all expressive of the same idea, of three 

 leaves, or leaflets, growing on one stalk. 



Clover, E. more properly claver. Dutch klaver. The 

 word is no doubt from the Saxon word clozfcr, to cleave, from 

 the appearance of the cloven leaves. Johnson. 



Clover-grass Saxon clsefer-wyrt, clover-wort. Dutch 

 klaver. The D. word signifies a club. The name signifies 

 club-grass, club-wort. Latin clava, a club, from its flower. 



Webster. 



The desert with sweet claver fills, 



And richly shades the joyful hills. 



Sandys, see Johnson. 



The different species of Trefoil always contract their 

 leaves at the approach of a storm : hence these plants have 

 been termed the husbandman's barometer. 



To live in clover, is to live luxuriously, or in abund- 

 ance. 



The purple or red Trefoil, or Clover T. Pratense, with 

 terminal spikes of numerous flowers, their petals united at 

 the base, and combined with the filaments : calyx hairy, ten- 

 ribbed, much shorter than the corolla; a sweet but faint 

 scent; blooms all the summer through, from May to Septem- 

 ber: affording an abundant return of profit to those who have 

 the industry to attend properly to its cultivation. It is a 

 well known biennial, perennial plant, of the artificial grass 

 kind, whose roots are apt to decay after they have perfected 

 their seed; it is, therefore, necessary to be diligent in crop- 

 ping, or mowing it, when it begins to flower: the roots then 

 send up new shoots, whereby the plant is continued longer 

 than it would naturally do. One acre of red or broad clover 

 will go as far in feeding cattle, as three or four of natural grass. 

 The best clover-seed is that where the purple colour chiefly 

 prevails. 



Pliny designates clover as the sweet and honeyed Lotus. 

 "The field clover that grew in Campagne, about Rome, the 

 bees, you know, are very fond of it." 



