274 



C E L 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



C E N 



roots of the plants. The following summer the necessary care 

 must be to keep them constantly clean from weeds ; but after 

 the plants are pretty well established in the ground, they will 

 not require any water, especially toward the latter end of 

 summer, for that will occasion theirlategrowth, wherebythey 

 will be in great danger of suffering by the autumnal frosts ; 

 for the more any of these young trees are stopped in their 

 growth by drought towards autumn, the firmer will their 

 texture be, and the better able to bear the cold. The plants 

 may remain in these nursery beds two years, by which time 

 they will have acquired sufficient strength to be transplanted 

 where they are designed to remain, because these plants extend 

 their roots wide every way ; so that if they stand long in 

 the nursery their roots will be cut in removing, which will be 

 a great prejudice to their future growth. The species are, 



1. Celtis Australis ; European Nettle Tree. Leaves ovate- 

 lanceolate. The European Nettle-tree, or Lote-tree, rises with 

 an upright stem, to the height of forty or fifty feet, with many 

 slender branches, and a smooth dark-coloured bark with 

 some grey spots ; leaves alternate, nearly four inches long 

 and two broad ; flowers axillary all along the branches, com- 

 posed of a green calix without any corolla; fruit the size of a 

 small cherry, black. It grows naturally in the south of Eu- 

 rope, where it is one of the largest trees : the wood is one of 

 the hardest we are acquainted with. Evelyn says that it was 

 anciently used for flutes and other musical instruments, and 

 that hafts for knives and tools were made of the root. 

 Whenever it arrives at any considerable size, its hardness, 

 toughness, and flexibility, must fit it for important services : 

 its fine regular spreading head, of a cheerful green colour, 

 renders this tree extremely proper for clumps in parks, 

 groves, single trees, or avenues. The branches are con- 

 verted into hoops for casks ; the berries are eaten by birds, 

 and also by children in the south of Europe. 



2. Celtis Occidentals ; American Nettle Tree. Leaves 

 obliquely ovate, serrate-acuminate. This tree rises with a 

 straight stem, which in young trees is smooth, and of a dark 

 colour ; but as they advance it becomes rougher, and of a 

 lighter green. The fruit when ripe is of a dark purple colour. 

 It grows naturally in North America, and in a moist rich soil 

 becomes a very large tree ; the wood of which being tough 

 and pliable, is esteemed by coach-makers for their carriages. 



3. Celtis Orientalis ; Oriental Nettle Tree. Leaves ob- 

 liquely cordate, serrate, villose underneath. It rises with a 

 stem about ten or twelve feet high, dividing into many 

 branches, which spread horizontally on every side, and have 

 a smooth greenish bark. The fruit is oval and yellow; when 

 fully ripe it turns to a darker colour : the wood is very 

 white ; it yields gum like the Cherry-tree. Native of the 

 Levant, the East Indies, Japan, and the Society Isles. 



4. Celtis Americana. Leaves oblong, ovate, obtuse, nerved, 

 smooth above, golden beneath. This rises with a straight 

 trunk nearly twenty feet high, covered with a grey bark, and 

 dividing at the top into many branches ; the fruit is round 

 and red. It was first discovered by Father Plumier in the 

 French West India islands. The seeds rarely come up the 

 first year; so that they may be sown in pots, and plunged into 

 the tan-bed in the stove, where they should remain till the 

 plants come up. They must be constantly kept in the bark- 

 stove, and treated in the same manner as other tender exotics. 



5. Celtis Micrantha ; Jamaica Nettle Tree. Leaves obliquely 

 cordate, ovate-lanceolate, serrulate, somewhat rugged on the 

 upper surface. This shrubby tree seldom rises above ten or 

 twelve feet, and throws out agreat number of loose branches. 

 It flowers in August and September. Native of Jamaica. 



C. Celtis Aculeata. Leaves cordate-ovate, blunt at the 



tip, almost entire, very smooth ; branches prickly. This 

 inelegant little tree has very long, pliant, scarcely divided, 

 and reclining branches ; drupe roundish or ovate, crowned 

 with the withering style, yellow, double the size of a pea, 

 containing a sweet pulp, which is eaten by the inhabitants 

 of the Caribbee islands ; of which, and also of the neighbour- 

 ing continent, this tree is a native. 



7. Celtis Lima. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, ob- 

 liquely cordate, serrate, very rugged above. Height fifteen 

 feet ; trunk straight, with a smooth, reddish, or light brown 

 bark. Native of the West Indies. 



Cenchrus; a genus of the class Folygamia, order Moncecia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: involucres many, laciniate, 

 echinate, gathered into a head, each sessile, including 

 three calices, biflorous; perianth a bivalve glume, lanceolate, 

 concave, acuminate, biflorous, shorter than the corolla. 

 Corolla : one male, the other hermaphrodite ; proper, each 

 bivalve ; valves lanceolate, acuminate, concave, awnless ; the 

 interior one smaller. Stamina; to each three filamenta, 

 capillary, length of the corolla ; antherie sagittate. Pistil: 

 germen of the hermaphrodite roundish ; style filiform, length 

 of the stamina ; stigmas two, oblong, hairy, spreading. 

 Pericarp: none. Seed: roundish. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Involucre laciniate, echinate, two-flowered. Calix: glume 

 two-flowered, one male, the other hermaphrodite. Herma- 

 phrodite. Corolla: glume awnless. Stamina: three. Seed: 

 one. Male. Corolla: glume awnless. Stamina-, three. 

 The species are, 



1. Cenchrus Racemosus ; Branching Cenchrus. Panicle 

 spiked; glumes muricated with ciliary bristles. Native of 

 the southern parts of Europe, the coast of Egypt, and the 

 East Indies. It flowers in July and August. 



2. Cenchrus Lappaceus ; Bur Cenchrus. Branches of the 

 panicle very simple ; corollas hispid backward ; calices 

 three-valved, two-flowered ; culm branching, even. Na- 

 tive of the East Indies. 



3. Cenchrus Muricatus. Spike muricated ; scales various, 

 mucronated ; culm procumbent, a short span in length, 

 branching, leafy. Native of the Fast Indies. 



4. Cenchrus Cnpitatus ; Oval-spiked Cenchrus. Spike ovate, 

 simple. The culm is only three or four inches high, and has 

 only one joint. Native of the south of France, and Italy. 



5. Cenchrus Echinatus ; Rough-spiked Cenchrus. Spike 

 oblong, conglomerate. Native of Virginia and Jamaica. 



6. Cenchrus Tribuloides. Spike glomerate ; female glumes 

 globular, muricate, spiny, hirsute ; culms many, trailing, 

 round, 18 inches long. Native of Virginia and Jamaica. 



7. Cenchrus Ciliaris ; Ciliated Cenchrus. Spike with seta- 

 ceous, ciliated, four-flowered involucels. Culm ascending, 

 glossy, the thickness of a thread, a short span in length, 

 with inflected joints. Observed at the Cape of Good Hope. 



8. Cenchrus Granularis. Racemes double ; fruits globu- 

 lar, wrinkle-netted ; fruits minute, scarcely so big as a < ,i>>- 

 bage seed. Native of the East Indies. 



9. Cenchrus Frutescens. Heads lateral, sessile; leaves mu- 

 cronated ; stem shrubby, Found by Tournefort in Armenia. 



10. Cenchrus Setosus. Spike linear, oblong ; involucres 

 bristly ; bristle unarmed, the interior ones villose at the !>:t:-c . 

 hairs ciliate : glumes even. Native of the West Indies. 



11. Cenchrus Purpurascens. Raceme spiked, simple; 

 florets surrounded with very long awns ; culm erect, two 

 feet high ; awns purple. Native of Japan. 



Centaurea; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order Polyga- 

 mia Frustranea. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: common 

 imbricate, roundish ; scales often variously terminate'l. 

 Corolla ; compound flosculous, difform ; corollulcs hernia- 



