CEltA 



CERATOXIA. 



oborato-lancooUta, often cuspidate, somewhat doubly serrated, with 

 or without two glands at the base, slightly rugose. Segments of the 

 calyx toothed. Xmtive of th northern states of the North American 

 Union, and extending into Canada and Newfoundland. It forms 

 rather a handsome tree, with its loose umbeU of pinkish flowers. 

 Tho fruit is as large as a moderately-ailed cherry. 



'. Prntuylraxica, Pennsylvanian Cherry. Flowers in senile 

 umbels, appearing along with the leaves. Leaves orate or oval, sharp- 

 pointed, smooth, and rather shining, with minute unequal toothings. 

 Segment* of the calyx toothless. A native of the more northern part* 

 of North America, especially in Canada, where it is common. It forms 

 a small tree, very like C. niyra in some respects, but differing from 

 that species in its much smaller colourless flower and smooth rather 

 shining leaves, which never acquire the obovate figure so common in 

 C. Hiyra. The fruit is that of a bird-cherry, and is said to be sweet 

 C. borealu is considered by Sir William Hooker as being identical 

 with this. It is represented in the southern states of the American 

 Union by C. umbfllata, which appears to differ chiefly in having 

 spinoua branches, more finely serrated leaves, and downy calyxes. 



6. C. temUata, the Fine-Toothed Cherry. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, 

 obtuse at the base, tapering to the point, bordered with fine brittle- 

 pointed teeth, thin, and not shining. A native of China, and only 

 known in our gardens with double flowers. These are exceedingly 

 delicate and beautiful, but they appear at so early a season as to be 

 liable to injury from the spring frosts. 



I. C. pttudoceratm, the Chinese Cherry. Flowers in hairy loose 

 corymbs, appearing before the leaves, with a long hairy tube to the 

 calyx. Leaves ovate or obovate, cuspidate, doubly serrated, slightly 

 downy on the veins. A Chinese species, probably from the northern 

 provinces of that great empire. It bears a small pale-red sweet fruit, 

 which is more readily forced than that of the Common Cherry. 



8. C. depreua, the Sand-Cherry. Flowers appearing a little earlier 

 than the leaves, or about the same time, in small compact umbels. 

 Leaves oborate-lanceolate, serrated, glaucous on the under side, bluish- 

 green and somewhat shining on the upper. Fruit mucronate. A 

 small bush resembling a dwarf almond, covered with profusion of 

 small white flowers in May, and afterwords with small, black, bitter, 

 shining, sharp-pointed fruit It is found in Canada and the northern 

 part of the United States. 



9. C. protlrata, the Spreading Cherry. Flowers solitary, or few in 

 a cluster, appearing along with the leaves, than which they aro shorter. 

 Leaves roundish-ovate, loosely hairy beneath, deeply and simply ser- 

 rated. Calyx-tube oblong, segments downy inside. A small prostrate 

 bush, found on the sea-coast of Condio, and on the mountains of Dal- 

 matia and Asia Minor. 



10. C. Japonica, the Dwarf-Almond. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, very 

 much tapering to the point, finely serrated, slightly downy beneath, 

 very rugose. Flowers appearing a little before the leaves in small 

 dense clusters. Calyx smooth, bell-shaped, with the segments as long 

 as the tube. A native of Japan, and long known in our gardens as 

 the Double Dwarf-Almond, one of the most beautiful objects that 

 appear in the month of March. 



Section II. Bird-Cherries. Flowers growing in long Racemes, 

 appearing with or later than the Leaves. Leaves deciduous. 



II. C. MahaUb, the Perfumed Cherry. Leaves roundish ovate, 

 deciduous, glaucous on the underside, simply serrated. Flowers in 

 somewhat corymbose racemes not much longer than the leaves. A 

 shrub or small tree, remarkable for the powerful and agreeable odour 

 of its flowers. It is a native of rocks in the Tyrol, Dalmatia, Car- 

 niolia, and Hungary, spreading into Asia till it acquires iU most 

 eastern limits in the woods and hedges of the southern ports of the 

 Crimea. It is not a particularly ornamental plant, and though per- 

 fectly hardy is seldom seen in our gardens. The fruit is block, and 

 nauseously bitter. 



12. C. Padut (Prunut Padut, Linn.), the Common Bird-Cherry. 

 Learoi oblong, cuspidate, rugose, simply serrated, deciduous. Flowers 

 in racemes much longer than the leaves. A common species, wild in 

 the wood* and hedges of the middle parts of Europe, less common in 

 the south, and occurring on the mountains of Caucasus and the Altai. 

 It is readily known by it* deciduous rugose leaves, long racemes of 

 white flowers, and round bitter fruit, which is however agreeable 

 enough to bird*. It is a native of Great Britain. 



18. C. Virginiana. the Choke-Clicrry. Leaves ovate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, serrated, flat, very smooth, shining, deciduous. 

 Racemes long, cylindrical, lateral. In all systematic books ore named 

 two American Bird-Cherries, C. Viryiniana and C. tcrotitia, to each 

 of which ore assigned characters that comprehend so little of a dis- 

 criminative nature that we find it impracticable to ascertain whether 

 two species have really been before the writers on these subjects, or 

 whether thcv have not distinguish") under different names specimens 

 of one and the same species. C. Virrfiniana with the above characters 

 forms a large tree, according to Michaux. in the southern states, 

 attaining from 80 to 1*0 f<-. I. It is the Tawquoy-Meen- 



ahtik uf the Croes, accenting in Sir John Itii-liariUnn, rising mi the 

 sandy plains of the Saskatchewan to 20 feet, but extending as far 

 north as the Oreat .Slave Lake (62 X. lot), where it attains the height 

 of 5 feet only. IU fruit is not very edible in a recent state, but when 



dried and bruised it forms an esteemed addition to pemmican. Kllintt 

 odds that iU timber is among the best in the United States for cahinrt- 

 makera' work. In this country it forms rather a graceful H 

 roundish headed tree from 20 to SO feet high, and iU shining UI..ML-U 

 deciduous leaves give it almost the appearance of an evergreen. 



14. C.KTOtia, the Late Bird-Cherry. Leave* obovate-lonooolote, 

 acute, serrated, channeled, very shining, deciduous. Racemes long, 

 cylindrical, lateral. What is thus designated in this place is a plant 

 with something of the aspect of a Portugal Laurel, and as it flowers 

 later than the hut its fruit is not usually ri|" in ! in this climate. It it 

 principally distinguished by ite leaves being more obovate, never flat, 

 but always half-folded up, and with a more shining surface. 



15. C. Capollim, Mexican Bird-Cherry. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, serrated, flat, shining, deciduous. Racemes terminal. A 

 native of the mountains of Mexico. 



Section III. Laurel-Cherries. Flowers growing in long Racemes, 

 appearing with the Leaves. Leaves evergreen. 



16. C. Caroliniana, the Carolina Laurel-Cherry. Leaves oblong- 

 lanceolate, acute, serrated, and entire, evergreen. Racemes lateral, 

 much shorter than the leaves. It is a native of Carolina, and a very 

 uncommon species in the collections of this country. It is said to be 

 one of the most ornamental of the trees of Carolina. Its leaves are 

 very poisonous. 



17. C. lauro-eenutu, the Common or Broad-Leaved Laurel (cherry). 

 Leaves oblong-lanceolate, remotely serrated, somewhat convex, pole 

 green, evergreen. Racemes shorter than the leaves. This valuable 

 and common evergreen, which now gives half their richness to the 

 varied pleasure-grounds of Great Britain ; which is so hardy that no 

 frost seems to affect it; which is equally capable of resisting the 

 greatest heat and drought of summer, and which will Honrish either 

 in the most exposed or the most shaded situations ; is a native of the 

 country near Trebizond in Asia Minor, and was sent from Constanti- 

 nople to Ecluse in the year 1570 by the iui|terial ambassador Ungnod. 

 Ecluse gives on interesting account of the difficulty he had in establish- 

 ing the first plant, which must have been transmitted at no small 

 charge ; for it is stated to have been six feet high, with a stem as thick 

 as a man's arm. (Clausii, ' Historia Plantarum,' p. 5.) A variegated 

 and a barren-leaved variety are known in gardens, but the original 

 kind is the only one worth cultivating as an object of ornament It 

 is multiplied in the nurseries by layering, cuttings, and seeds. This 

 species is remarkable for the abundance of hydrocyanic acid secreted 

 in its leaves. 



18. C. Ltuitanica, the Portugal Laurel (cherry). Leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate, acuminate, concave, dork green, glondless, shining, ever- 

 green. Racemes lateral, longer than the leaves. A native of Portugal, 

 and also found in the Canaries, where it is called llivi, acquiring a 

 height of 60 or 70 feet According to some the Hixa is a distinct, 

 species ; Mr. Barker Webb found that plant on the Serra de Gercz in 

 Portugal of the height just stated, while the true C. Ltuilanica was 

 not above 18 or 20 feet high. This is less hardy than the preceding ; 

 it is less easy to transplant, and will not grow so well under other 

 trees ; nevertheless it is one of the most useful of our naturalised 

 evergreens. It produces fruit in abundance in England, from which 

 it is readily propagated. 



CERA'TINA, a genus of Hymenopterous Insects of the section 

 Mellifera and family Apidtr. It has the following characters: 

 Exterior palpi 6-jointed, interior 2-jointcd ; antenna: inserted in a little 

 fossula, and terminated almost in an elongated club ; mandibles 

 sulcated, and tridentate at the apex ; abdomen somewhat ovate, 

 elongate, narrower towards the base, and destitute of a ventral scopa. 



This genus is included in the section Api* (xx. d. 2 a.) of Kirby's 

 ' Monographia Aptim Angliic.' 



C. ctfruUea (Apu cyanea, Kir.), a little bee, which is very uncommon 

 in this country, and found during the autumn in the flowers of the 

 Jacobair, will serve as an illustration of this genus. It is alnnit a 

 quarter of an inch in length, of a bluish-green colour, and very 

 smooth and shining ; the fore part of the head in the male is white. 



Spin. .la states that the female Ccratina selects the dead branches 

 of the bramble and likewise those of the sweet briar, and with 

 her mandibles excavates the pith, till a cylindrical burrow of 

 considerable length is formed ; this is then divided generally into 

 eight or nine cells, by partitions formed of the pith which was 

 dislodged, mixed with a glutinous secretion. In each cell, as it is 

 formed, an egg is deposited; it is then furnished with a portion of 

 honey, which nerves for the food of the larva when disclosed. 

 The account is given under the name of Ccratina atbiiabrit, which i* 

 said to be synonymous with the one above mentioned. He also says 

 that the insect is common in the south of Europe. 



(Annairi du Muifttm cTHittoirc Naiurtlle, vol. x.) 



('KKATITKS. n subdivision of the Amoutntiida, as proposed by 

 Haiin. It is peculiar to the Muschelkalk. [GONIATITES.] 



( ' I '. 1 1 A T< > ' X 1 A , a genus of Apetalous plants belonging to thojintnr.il 

 order Ltyuminour. C. Siltf/ua, St John's Bread, or the Carob-Tree, 

 U a remarkable plant, found wild in all the countries skirting the 

 Mediterranean, especially in tin- Levant. At Malta it is almost the 

 only tree that grows, relieving the irksomcncas of tin- white stone 

 iuclosures by ite dark foliage. The pods contain a sweet nutritious 



