230 



CAM 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



CAM 



Cambogia ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Mono- 

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

 leaflets roundish, concave, deciduous. Corolla: petals four, 

 roundish-oblong, concave, with oblong claws. Stamina .- 

 filanienta very many, short: antherae roundish. Pistil: 

 germen roundish, striated ; style none ; stigma four-cleft, 

 obtuse, permanent. Pericarp: pome roundish, eight-angled, 

 eight-celled. Seeds: solitary, renifonn, oblong, slightly 

 compressed. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla : four-pe- 

 talled. Calix : four-leaved. Pome: eight-celled. Seeds: 

 solitary. The only species known is, 



1. Cambogia Gutta. This is a tall tree, with a trunk 

 sometimes as thick as two men can compass, with spreading 

 opposite branches. Flowers in whorls, sessile, saffron-co- 

 loured, the fruit is first green, then yellowish, and when ripe 

 whitish. Native of the East Indies, and of the woods in 

 China and Cochin-china ; very abundant in Siam and Cam- 

 bodia, where incisions are made in the bark, and a great 

 quantity of gummi gutttz, or gamboge, is extracted, and ex- 

 ported into foreign countries. This concrete is a gum-resin, 

 in part inflammable, compact, dry, yellow, inclining to 

 orange colour, without smell, and almost without taste ; pro- 

 ducing, however, a slight sensation of acrimony in the throat. 

 A greater quantity of it is dissolved in spirits of wine than in 

 water, to which it imparts a lemon-colour: it is used medi- 

 cinally in the East Indies, as a purgative, hydragogue, and 

 emetic, particularly in dropsies and worm cases ; it is said to 

 lose the latter quality, when macerated in vinegar. The 

 principal use, however, of gamboge, is in painting in minia- 

 ture and water colours. The fruit is eaten at meals in the 

 East Indies ; and being much esteemed for provoking the 

 appetite, is a frequent ingredient in their sauces. 



Camellia ; a genus of the class Monadelphia, order Poly- 

 andria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth many-leaved, 

 roundish, imbricate; the scales roundish, very blunt, the 

 inner ones gradually larger, concave, deciduous. Corolla : 

 petals five, obovate, coalescing at the base. Stamina: fila- 

 nienta numerous, erect, coalescing below into a crown, larger 

 than the style ; above unconnected, shorter than the corolla; 

 antherae simple. Pistil : germen roundish ; style subulate, 

 length of the stamina ; stigma acute, reflex. Pericarp: cap- 

 sule turbinate, woody, marked with some furrows. Seeds: 

 kernels equal in number to the streaks of the capsule, round- 

 ish, often filled with smaller seeds. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix: imbricate, many-leaved ; the inner leaflets larger. 

 The species are, 



1. Camellia Japonica ; Japan Rose. Leaves acutely ser- 

 rate, acuminate ; bark ash-coloured ; branches round and 

 smooth ; leaves alternate, ovate, shining on both sides, thick 

 and stiff, paler green beneath, on short petioles; peduncles 

 terminating, very short, commonly solitary, with thebranches 

 lenthened out beyond them. It is a vast and lofty tree, in 

 high esteem with the Japanese, for the elegance of its large 

 flowers, which exhibit a great variety of colours, but have no 

 scent, and for its evergreen leaves : it is very common every 

 where in their groves and gardens, flowering from October 

 to April. It varies with single and double flowers, white, red, 

 and purple. It is a native also of China, and occurs very 

 frequently in Chinese paintings. Having been hitherto 

 scarce, and kept up to a high price, it has been generally 

 treated as a stove plant, though it has been sometimes 

 placed in the green-house. When it shall hereafter be- 

 come more common among us, it may perhaps be treated 

 in the same manner as the Magnolia : it is propagated by 

 layers ; it may also be propagated by cuttings, in the same 

 ."nanner as directed for Gardenia. 



2. Camellia Sasanqua. Leaves obtusely serrate, emargi- 

 nate. A tree of a middling size, differing from the first spe- 

 cies, in having thinner and narrow leaves, obscurely ser- 

 rate ; flowers much smaller, with oblong emarginate petals, 

 and a much smaller and more slender stem ; the flowers are 

 borne singly at the end of the branches ; the callx is five- 

 leaved, sometimes six-leaved ; the petals are five in number, 

 sometimes six or seven, snow-white, deciduous. The leaves, 

 dried in the shade, have a sweet smell ; a decoction of them 

 is used by the women to wash their hair with. The petals 

 are mixed with tea, to give it a grateful odour. It yields, 

 says Sir G. Staunton, a nut, from which is expressed an es- 

 culent oil, equal to the best from Florence ; and on this 

 account is cultivated in vast abundance, growing in a soil 

 consisting of little more than fragments of stone. Native 

 of Japan ; flowering in November. 



3. Camellia Drupifera. Leaves ovate-oblong, slightly 

 crenate; flowers two or three together, terminating; drupes 

 four-celled. This is a middle-sized tree, with spreading 

 branches ; leaves smooth, hard, small, alternate, petioled ; 

 flowers white, terminating, two or three peduncles toge- 

 ther, one on each ; petals eight, oblong, emarginate ; style 

 quadrifid, equal to the stamina; drupe roundish, with a 

 grooved four-celled nut, and roundish kernels. The fruit is 

 equal in size to the walnut, and not much unlike it ; it is not 

 however, esculent. It is both wild and cultivated in Cochin- 

 china. The oil expressed from the nut is used by the na- 

 tives to anoint their hair, and for various medical purposes , 

 it has a pleasant odour, and does not easily become rancid. 



Camel's Hay. See Andropogon. 



Cameraria ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth five-cleft, 

 acute, converging, very small. Corolla : monopetalous, 

 funnel-form ; tube cylindric, long, bellied out at the base 

 and tip; border five-parted, flat; divisions lanceolate, ob- 

 lique. Stamina: filamenta five, very small from the middle 

 of the tube; antherae converging. Pistil : germen two, 

 with lateral appendages ; style hardly any ; stigmas obscure. 

 Pericarp : follicles two, horizontally reflected, oblong, ob- 

 tuse at both ends, and sending forth a lobe each way near 

 the sides of the base, one-celled, one-valved. Seeds: nu- 

 merous, ovate, inserted on the larger ovate membrane at the 

 base, imbricate. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Contorted. Fol- 

 licles: two, horizontal. Seeds: inserted into their proper 

 membrane. These plants are propagated by seeds, which 

 must be procured from the places of their growth ; they 

 may also be increased by cuttings, planted in a hot-bed 

 during the summer months. They must have a bark-stove, 

 for they are very tender ; but in warm weather they must 

 have plenty of air. The species are, 



1. Cameraria Latifolia ; Bastard Manganeel, Leaves 

 ovate, acute at both ends, transverse, striated. This is a tall 

 elegant tree, about thirty feet in height, the whole abound- 

 ing with an acrid milky juice. Leaves somewhat resem- 

 bling those of Myrtle. Native of Cuba, Jamaica, and St. 

 Domingo : the flowers, which are white, appear in August, 

 but never produce any seed in England. 



2. Cameraria Angustifolia. Leaves linear ; stem irregu- 

 larly branching, shrubby ; leaves opposite, quite entire, the 

 middle nerve decurrent; flower and fruit much smaller than 

 in the foregoing species, as is the whole plant. It grows about 

 eight feet high : the flowers are produced scatteringly at the 

 ends of the branches : like the other species, it abounds with 

 an acrid milky juice. It grows naturally in Jamaica. 



Cammock. See Ononis. 

 Camomile. See Anthemis, 



