CAT 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



CAT 



267 



SENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Calix: of the ament. Co- 

 rolla : scalelets two-parted. Female. Calix : of the ament. 

 Corolla : none. Sty le : bifid. Strobile: The species are, 



1. Casuarina Equisetifolia ; Horsetail Casuarina. Monoe- 

 cous : whorls of the stamina approximating. A very large, 

 spreading, and lofty tree. The leaves, or rather branchlets, 

 so called, hanging down in bunches from twelve to eighteen 

 inches in length, like a long head of hair, or a horse's tail, 

 all jointed from top to bottom, like the Equiseta or Horse's- 

 tails, is a very remarkable character of this singular tree. 

 It is a native of the East Indies, and the South Sea islands ; 

 and flowers in October and November. 



2. Casuarina Nodillora. Monoscous : whorls of the sta- 

 mina remote. A lofty tree ; the branches and branchlets 

 more deeply striated. Native of the East Indies and New 

 Caledonia. 



3. Casuarina tricta ; Upright Casuarina. Dioecous : 

 branchlets erect ; scales of the strobiles unarmed, smoothish; 

 male sheaths multifid, smooth. Native of New South Wales. 



4. Casuarina Torulosa; Cork-barked Casuarina. Dioe- 

 cous : branchlets flaccid ; scales of the strobiles villose, 

 roughened with tubercles ; male sheaths quadrifid. Native 

 of New South Wales 



5. Casuarina Africana. Fronds filiform, swelling at the 

 tip, and floriferous ; strobiles roundish, axillary. This is a 

 tree above the middle size, with few, long, diffused branches, 

 and leaf-bearing reclining branchlets ; the wood is very 

 hard and heavy. Native of the sandy east coast of Africa. 



Catananche ; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order Poly- 

 gamia ^Equalis. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: common 

 imbricate, turbinate ; leaflets very many, loosely incumbent, 

 acute, scariose ; the squamule ovate-acuminate, concave, lax, 

 glossy, permanent. Corolla : compound generally imbricate, 

 uniform j corolla hermaphrodite, very many, the exterior 

 ones longer; proper monopetalous, ligulate, linear, truncate, 

 five-toothed. Stamina : filamenta five, capillary, very short ; 

 .intherx cylindric, tubular. Pistil : germen oblong ; style 

 filiform length of the stamina ; stigma bifid, .reflex. Peri- 

 carp : none. Calix : unchanged. Seeds: solitary, turbinate- 

 ovate; down from afive-awned calicle. Receptacle: chaffy. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Receptacle : chaffy. Calix : im- 

 bricate. Down : awned from a five-bristled calicle. The 



species are, 



1. Catananche Ccerulea. The lower scales of the calix 

 ovate. This sends out narrow hairy leaves, which are jagged 

 on their edges like those of Buckthorn Plantain, lying flat on 

 the ground, with their points turned upward : between the 

 leaves come out the flower-stalks ; these stalks rise nearly two 

 feet high, dividing into many small branches upwards, with 

 leaves like those below, but smaller ; each of the peduncles is 

 terminated with single heads of flowers, having a dry, silvery, 

 scaly calix, in which are included three or four florets, whose 

 petals are broad, fliit, and indented at their ends ; these are of 

 a fine blue colour, having a dark spot at bottom in each of 

 the stamina, and with their yellow summits standing a little 

 above the petal, make a pretty appearance. It is perennial; 

 a native of the south of Europe ; and flowers from July till 

 October. It may be propagated by heads taken off the 

 mother plant, either in spring or autumn ; but those plants 

 which are raised from seeds are much stronger than those 

 wliicli are raised from slips : they are commonly planted in 

 jiqts filled with light sandy soil, in order to shelter them in 

 the winter from severe frosts ; but if they are planted in 

 warm borders, near walls, pales, or hedges, in a moderately 

 dry soil, they will endure abroad very well. It may also be 

 propagated by seeds sown in March. 



2. Catananche Lutea. The lower scales of the calix lance- 

 olate. The flowers are yellow, and small ; the leaves green, 

 flexile, and three-nerved, smaller, smoother, and less jagged 

 on their edges, than the first sort : the later flowers are ses- 

 sile at the root, hardly unfolded, but more fertile. Native 

 of the island of Candia ; it flowers in June and July. It is 

 an annual plant, and therefore only propagated by seeds. 

 Sow them early in March, in beds or borders of light earth ; 

 they will come up in a month or five weeks' time, and require 

 no other care but to keep them clean from weeds, and thin 

 them when they grow too close together. 



3. Catananche Graeca. Leaves gashed. Native of the 

 south of France, Spain, Italy, and Candia, from whence it 

 derived the title of Candia Lion's foot. 



Catclifly. See Lychnis. 



Caterpillars. See Scorpiurus. 



Catesb(ca ; a genus of the class Tetandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth four- 

 toothed, superior, very small, acute, permanent. Corolla : 

 monopetalous, funnel-form ; tube extremely long, straight, 

 gradually widening upwards ; border seiniquadrifid, broad, 

 erect, flat. Stamina: filamenta four, growing within the 

 neck of the tube ; antherae oblong, erect, almost longer 

 than the corolla. Pistil . germen roundish, inferior ; style 

 filiform, length of the corolla ; stigma simple. Pericarp : 

 berry oval, crowned, unilocular. Seeds: many, angulate. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla : monopetalous, funnel- 

 form, extremely long, superior. Stamina: within the mouth. 



Berry .- polyspermous. The species are, 



. 1. Catesbree Spinosa ; Lily Thorn. Tube of the corolla 

 very long ; berries oval. Discovered near Nassau Town in 

 Providence, one of the Bahama islands. Mr. Catesby says, 

 that the largest of the trees which he saw was about four 

 inches thick, and twelve or fourteen in height ; the bark 

 smooth, of a greenish russet colour, and the wood seemingly 

 tough and hard ; the leaves like those of Box, but smaller, 

 growing in clusters at intervals of about an inch ; from every 

 cluster two sharp pliant spines shooting out : the flowers are 

 about six inches long, of an orange colour, in form of a 

 Roman trumpet, except that they are divided at the verge into 

 four deep segments, usually reflex ; the fruit is the size of a 

 pullet's egg; the pulp like that of a ripe apple, with an 

 agreeable tartness, and a smooth yellow skin. This shrub is 

 propagated by seeds, which must be procured from the 

 country where it naturally grows ; if the entire fruit be brought 

 over in sand, the seeds will be better preserved ; and must 

 be sown in small pots filled with light sandy earth, and plunged 

 into a moderate hot-bed of tanner's bark, and now and then 

 moderately watered ; if the seeds be good, the plant will 

 appear in about six weeks after sowing, when, if the heat of 

 the bed declines, the tan should be turned over to the bottom, 

 and, if necessary, some fresh added to renew the heat, for 

 these plants make but little progress the first year. As these 

 plants grow slowly, they will not require to be removed out 

 of the seed-pots the first year : in the autumn the pots should 

 be removed into the stove, and plunged into the tan-bed ; 

 they must be watered with great caution during the winter, 

 and should be carefully taken up in spring, and separately 

 planted in a small pot filled with light sandy earth, and 

 plunged into a fresh hot-bed of tanner's bark, where they 

 should be shaded until they have taken fresh root, and gently 

 refreshed with water as they may require it : in warm weather 

 a considerable share of fresh air should be admitted to them, 

 but in autumn they must be removed into the stove, where 

 they should constantly remain, and must be treated after- 

 wards in the same manner as other tender exotic plants. 



