228 



C A L 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL 



C A L 



flowers sessile in the axils ; the upper ones male, the lower 

 female ; petals small, white, thick, flat, crescent-form ; when 

 magnified, they appear to be a collection of air-vessels, to 

 enable the flower to float. It is an annual plant, very com- 

 mon in ditches and standing waters, flowering from April to 

 June. There is a variety of this species ; but the difference 

 is probably owing to its situation, in places where water has 

 stood in the winter, or in ditches and marshes dried up. 



2. Callitriche Autumnalis ; Autumnal Starwort. All the 

 leaves linear, bifid at the end ; flowers hermaprodite. This 

 differs from the first species in having all the leaves linear, 

 and cleft at the end ; to which Withering adds, that the co- 

 rolla is yellowish white ; and Linneus, that it flowers in Sep- 

 tember. It is sometimes so thickly matted together on deep 

 marshes, that a person may walk upon it without sinking. 



Calodendrum ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mo- 

 nogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, permanent, five-parted ; parts ovate, acute, thickish, 

 villose-muricate on the outside, with the edges slightly revo- 

 lute. Corolla: petals five, lanceolate, blunt, spreading, 

 channelled, keeled, waved villose, three times the length of 

 the calix ; nectaries five, shaped like the petals, inserted 

 into the receptacle within them, linear-lanceolate, subulate at 

 the tip, terminated by a gland, smooth, silvery-glandular, 

 narrower than the corolla, but of the same length. Stamina : 

 filamenta five, equal, the length of the corolla, four of which 

 have antherae, one being usually barren : antherse ovate-cor- 

 date, grooved, inserted into the back. Pistil ; germen pedi- 

 celled, capitate, muricate, superior ; style inserted into one 

 side of the germen, filiform, the length of the stamina ; 

 stigma simple, blunt. Pericarp: capsule peduncled, ovate, 

 bluntly five-cornered, five-grooved, muricate, five-celled, 

 five-valved. Seeds : in pairs, triangular, convex at the back, 

 smooth. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: spreading, five- 



petalled. Nectary: five-leaved. Capsule: five-celled. 



The only species hitherto known is. 



1. Calodendrum Capense. A tree, with branches oppo- 

 site, or three together ; leaves entire, evergreen ; flowers in 

 terminating panicles, on opposite one-flowered peduncles. 

 Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 



Calftphyllum ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Mo- 

 nogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth four-leaved ; 

 leaflets ovate, concave, coloured, deciduous ; the two outer 

 ones shorter. Corolla : petals four, oblong, concave, spread- 

 ing. Stamina : filamenta many, filiform, short ; nnthene 

 erect, oblong. Pistil: germen roundish ; style filiform, the 

 length of the stamina; stigma headed, obtuse. Pericarp: 

 drupe globular. Seed .- nut globular, gubacuminate, very large. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. C.alix : four-leaved, coloured. Co- 

 rolla : four-petalled. Drupe : globular. The species are, 



1. Calophylluin Inophyllum. Leaves oval; calix the size 

 of the petals ; flowers more racemed ; leaves a span long, 

 and a hand broad, marked with transverse distant streaks. 

 The root exudes a whitish clear gum, without scent. Flowers 

 eight-petalled, snow-white, sweet-smelling, growing in ra- 

 cemes ; fruit the size of a walnut, under a fleshy bark, and a 

 woody shell, having a very oily nut, which is bitter, and yields 

 a yellow resinous juice. It is a tree of great size, ninety feet 

 in height, and twelve in thickness ; bark of the branches 

 smooth, at first green, afterwards reddish ; of the trunk thick, 

 scaly, blackish and purple within, which, when wounded, 

 exudes a yellowish viscid juice, frequently hardening to a 

 gum ; lea ves like those of the Water-lily ; fruit smooth , sh i ni 111^, 

 green, when ripe reddish ; the nut is at first sweet, but after- 

 wards very bitter. It is common in Malabar, in sandy soils, 

 bearing fruit twice a year, in March and September, fre- 

 quently to the age of three hundred years. An oil i ex- 



pressed from the nuts to burn in lamps, to assuage pains, and 

 to make ointments ; the bark and gum is also used for medi- 

 cinal purposes. The inhabitants of Java 'plant this tree 

 about the'ir houses, for the elegance of the shade, and the 

 sweetness of the flowers. 



2. Calophyllum Calaba. Leaves ovate, obtuse. This is 

 also a lofty tree, putting out branches from very near the 

 ground* so that it is well adapted for hedges and walks. 

 The leaves are shining, coriaceous, firm, with parallel trans- 

 verse streaks, on short petioles, opposite, four inches long ; 

 the flowers on axillary, simple, loose racemes, usually seven 

 together, white, and smelling sweet ; the fruit green, with 

 a little pulp, and that hard ish, involving a smooth yellowish 

 ash-coloured nut, in which is a white solid kernel ; it is not 

 eaten, but the Caribbees express an oil from it for domestic 

 uses. Brown informs us, that this tree is pretty good tim- 

 ber, but does not bear the weather well, although it is fre- 

 quently used for staves and heading. 



Caltha; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Polygynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: none. Corolla: petals 

 five, ovate, flat, spreading, deciduous, large. Stamina: fila- 

 menta numerous, filiform, shorter than the corolla ; antherae 

 compressed, obtuse, erect. Pistil: germen superior, five to 

 ten, oblong, compressed, erect ; styles none ; stigmas simple. 

 Pericarp : capsules many, one-celled, two-keeled, gaping in 

 the superior suture. Seeds: very many, (fifteen,) ovate, or 

 ovate-oblong, smooth, affixed to the superior suture in a 

 double row. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: none. Petals: 

 five. Nectary: none. Capsule: several, many-seeded. 

 The only species discovered is, 



1. Caltha Palustris ; Marsh Marigold, (Souci de Marais.J 

 Root perennial ; stem several, almost upright, about a foot 

 high, hollow, nearly round, smooth, branched, purple at 

 bottom ; radical leaves on long petioles, cordate-reniform, 

 smooth, shining, and notched or crenated, sometimes scal- 

 loped, sometimes entire ; stem-leaves nearly sessile, more 

 pointed at top, and sharply crenated ; stipules brown, mem- 

 branous, and withering ; branches dichotomous ; peduncles 

 one-flowered, upright, grooved ; corolla of five petals, some- 

 what concave, large, without any gloss an the upper side ; 

 antherse oblong, flat, bending inward, yellow ; the inner row 

 of filamenta with broad anther, the outer twice as long, 

 club-shaped, with compressed antherse ; seeds beautiful, 

 at the bottom of an olive, and at top of a reddish colour. 

 It is found in wet meadows, and by the sides of rivers, 

 making a noble appearance in March and April, and some- 

 times so early as February. The flowers, gathered before- 

 they expand, are said to be a good substitute for capers. 

 The juice of the petals, boiled with alum, stains paper yellow. 

 Cows will not eat it, unless compelled by extreme hunger ; 

 it is a vulgar notion, therefore, and wholly unfounded, that 

 the yellowness of butter in the spring is caused by this plant : 

 where a high colour is not given by art, it is the effect of 

 abundance of rich pasture. Boerhaave says, that when cow?, 

 eat this plant, it occasions such an inflammation that they 

 generally die. On May-day, the country people strew the 

 flowers before their doors ; the garlands are also ornamented 

 with it on that day. The leaves seldom appear to be eaten ; 

 but the flowers are often destroyed by a species of chry- 

 somela. This is the first flower that announces the spring 

 in Lapland, where it begins to blow towards the end of May. 

 Miller insists that the greater and smaller Marsh Marigolds 

 never vary, either in their natural places of growth, or when 

 cultivated in a garden. There is a variety with many 

 double flowers, which is preserved in gardens for its 

 beauty. Caltha propagated by parting the roots in 

 autumn ; it should be planted in a moist soil and shady 



