C E L 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



C E L 



273 



form, somewhat acute; spikes globular, lateral. There are 

 two varieties ; the one comes from Sumatra, and the other 

 from Malabar. It flowers in July and August. 



11. Celosia Procumbens ; Procumbent Celosia. Stems 

 decumbent ; peduncles very long, leafless ; spikes ovate, ap- 

 proximating; capsules compressed, crested, winged. Stems 

 two feet high. Native of St. Domingo. 



12. Celosia Monsoniae ; Downy Celosia. Spikes compact, 

 cylindric ; branches brachiate ; leaves subulate. Stems 

 prostrate, branching. Native of the East Indies. 



13. Celosia Polygonoides. Leaves cordate ; stem hispid ; 

 raceme spiked ; loose ; flowers three-styled. Stem almost 

 upright, striated. Sent by Koenig from Tranquebar. 



14. Celosia Baccata. Flowers three-styled; fruits ber- 

 ried ; stem upright; flowers small, on very short peduncles. 

 Found in the East Indies, 



Celsia ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angiosper- 

 mia. GENERIC CHARACTER Calix: perianth five-parted ; 

 divisions lanceolate, obtuse, length of the corolla, permanent. 

 Corolla : monopetalous, rotated ; tube extremely short; bor- 

 der flat, half five-cleft, unequal ; divisions roundish, of which 

 the two superior ones are smaller, the inferior one larger. 

 Stamina: filamenta four, capillary, inclined towards the 

 smallest divisions of the corolla, of which the two longer ones 

 are shorter than the corolla, and are outwardly woolly ; 

 anthers; roundish, small. Pistil: germen roundish ; style 

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

 capsule roundish, compressed at the tip, acuminate, sitting 

 on the calix, bilocular. Seeds: very many, small, angular; 

 receptacles solitary, hemispherical. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Calix: five-parted. Corolla: rotated. Filamenta : bearded. 

 Capsule : two-celled. The species are, 



J . Celsia Orientalis ; Oriental Celsia. Leaves bipinnate. 

 It flowers in June, and the seeds ripen in September. Stem 

 a foot and a half high, upright, herbaceous, cylindrical, sim- 

 ple or furnished with short branches ; leafy from the top ; 

 leaves alternate, scattered, those from the root oblong, lying- 

 fiat on the ground ; flowers pale yellow, small, solitary, ses- 

 sile, axillary. Annual. Native of the Levant. If the seeds 

 be sown on a warm dry border as soon as they are ripe, the 

 plants will often come up and live through the winter, if the 

 soil be poor ; on rich ground they are apt to grow rank, and 

 then they are generally destroyed by the early frosts, or will rot 

 with much wet ; but if the plants should not rise the same 

 .autumn, there will be little hazard of their not growing in the 

 following spring. They only require to be weeded, and 

 thinned when too close ; for as they do not bear removing well, 

 they should be sowed where they are intended to remain : 

 sometimes when the season proves warm ,the plants sown in the 

 spring produce ripe seeds ; but they cannot be depended upon. 



2. Celsia Arcturus ; Scollop-leaved Celsia. Radical leaves 

 lyrate-pinmite ; peduncles longer than the flowers ; corolla 

 yellow. Biennial. Native of Crete. It requires the pro- 

 tection of a green-house. 



3. Celsia Cretica; Great-jlowertd Celsia. Radical leaves 

 lyrate; stem-leaves subcordate, embracing; flowers subsessile; 

 corolla yellow, with two ferruginous spots at the upper part 

 of the tube. Biennial. Native of the East Indies, flowering 

 in July. It also requires the protection of a green-house. 



4. Celsia Linearis. Leaves tern, linear, toothletted. This 

 is an elegant evergreen smooth shrub ; the trunk is woody, 

 but weak, the thickness of a quill, striated, pale brown, three 

 feet high, putting out numerous spreading branches its whole 

 length ; the younger ones green, grooved, and very leafy ; 

 leaves growing three together, spreading much, the largest 

 two inches long ; corolla brilliant scarlet, with a blood-red 



VOL. i. 23. 



throat. Found in Peru by Dombey. It may be propagated 

 both by seeds and cuttings; and though it succeeds best in a 

 moderate stove, will bear to be treated as a green-house plant. 

 Celtis; a genus of the class Polygamia, order Monoecia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Hertnaphrodite Flowers, solitary, 

 superior. Calix: perianth one-leaved, five-parted ; divisions 

 ovate, patulous, withering. Corolla : none. Stamina : fila- 

 menta five, very short, concealed at first by the antherae, but 

 growing longer after the shedding of the pollen ; antherse 

 oblong, thickish, quadrangular, four-furrowed. Pistil : ger- 

 men ovate, acuminate, length of the calix; styles two, spread- 

 ing, variously inflected, subulate, pubescent on every side, 

 very long ; stigmas simple. Pericarp : drupe globular, one- 

 celled. Seed: nut roundish. Male Flowers, on the same 

 plant, inferior. Calix: perianth six-parted; the rest as in the 

 hermaphrodites. Corolla .- none. Stamina : six ; the rest as 

 in the hermaphrodites. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Her- 

 maphrodite. Calix : five-parted. Corolla : none. Stamina : 

 five. Styles : two. Drupe : one-seeded. Male. Calix .- six- 

 parted. Corolla: none. Stamina: six. These trees are all 

 propagated by seeds, which should be sown soon after they 

 are ripe, when they can be procured at that season ; for such 

 frequently come up in the following spring ; whereas those 

 which are sown in the spring, will not come up till a twelve- 

 month after : therefore it is the best way to sow them in pots 

 or tubs, that they may be easily removed ; for those which 

 are sown in the spring should be placed in a shady situation 

 in summer, and constantly kept clean from weeds, but in 

 autumn they should be placed in a warm situation, plunging 

 the pots into the ground ; and if they be covered over with 

 a little tan from a decayed hot-bed, it will prevent the frost 

 from penetrating the earth to injure the seeds ; and if these 

 pots be placed on a gentle hot-bed in the spring, it will 

 greatly forward the vegetation of the seeds, whereby the 

 plants will have more time to get strength before the winter : 

 but when the plants appear above ground, they must have a 

 large share of air admitted to them, otherwise they will draw 

 up weak ; and as soon as the weather is warm, they must be 

 exposed to the open air, and in summer they must be con- 

 stantly kept clean from weeds ; if the season prove dry, they 

 will require water two or three times a week. In autumn 

 it will be proper to remove the pots, and place them under a 

 hot-bed frame, to shelter them in winter from severe frost; 

 or, where there is not that convenience, the pots should be 

 plunged into the ground near a wall or hedge ; and, as the 

 plants when young are full of sap, and tender, the early frosts 

 in autumn frequently kill the upper part of the shoots ; there- 

 fore the plants should be either covered with mats, or have a 

 little straw or pease-haulm laid over to protect them. In the 

 following spring the plants should be taken out of the seed- 

 pots, and planted in the full ground ; this should be done 

 about the middle or latter end of March, when the danger of 

 the frost is over ; therefore a bed or two should be prepared 

 according to the number of plants raised, in a sheltered 

 situation, and, if possible, in a gentle loamy soil. The ground 

 must be well trenched, and cleared from the roots of bad 

 weeds, and when levelled, should be marked out in lines at one 

 foot distance ; then the plants should be carefully turned out 

 of the pots and separated, so as not to tear their roots, and 

 planted in the lines at six inches asunder, pressing the earth 

 down close to their roots. If the ground be very dry when 

 they are planted, and there be no appearance of rain soon, it 

 will be proper to water the beds to settle the ground to the 

 roots of the plants; and after this, if the surface of the ground 

 be covered with some old tan or rotten dung, it will keep it 

 moist, and prevent the drying winds from penetrating to the 

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