280 



C E R 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



C E R 



France and Italy, and was formerly cultivated in the English 

 gardens, under the name of Sea Pink, as an edging for borders, 

 tor which it was very unfit, on account of its creeping. The 

 Neapolitans call it erba lattaria, or milk -herb, because it is 

 supposed to increase the milk of sheep and cows. It propa- 

 gates too fast by its creeping roots and trailing branches, to 

 be admitted into gardens ; but is very proper for planting 

 upon rock-work, where it will spread and thrive without care. 



11. CerastiumStrictum. Leaves linear, acuminate, smooth; 

 peduncles one-flowered, subtomentose ; capsules globular. 

 Stems smooth, procumbent ; leaves stiff, very much acumi- 

 nated : perennial. Native of the mountains of Switzerland, 

 Austria, the Vaudois, and Mount Cenis. 



12. Cerastium Suffruticosum. Stem perennial, procum- 

 bent ; leaves linear, lanceolate, subhirsute. It is found in 

 the southern countries of Europe. 



13. Cerastium Maximum. Leaves lanceolate, scabrous ; 

 petals crenated ; capsules globular : annual. Found in 

 Siberia, near the river Jenisca. 



J4. Cerastium Aquaticum; Water Mouse-Ear. Leaves 

 cordate, sessile ; flowers solitary ; fruits pendulous. Root 

 perennial. Native of moist places, and banks of ditches and 

 rivers, flowering in July and August. 



15. Cerastium Latifolium; Broad-leaved Mouse-Ear. 

 Leaves ovate, subtomentose ; branches one-flowered ; cap- 

 sules globular; flowers white, large. Found upon the high 

 mountains of the Valais, next the Glaciers, and on the high- 

 est rocks in Wales and Scotland. Perennial ; flowering in 

 May and June. 



16. Cerastium Tomentosum ; Woolly Mouse-Ear. Leaves 

 oblong, tomentose; peduncles branching; capsules globular. 

 The whole plant is white, with a thick down. Native of 

 Granada, Istria, France, Switzerland, and Ripton-wood in 

 Huntingdonshire. Perennial ; flowering in May and June. 



17. Cerastium Manticum. Smooth : stem striated ; leaves 

 lanceolate ; peduncles very long ; capsules globular. Root 

 slender, annual. Native of the neighbourhood of Verona 

 and the Orisons. 



18. Cerastium Refractum. Leaves lanceolate, smooth ; 

 petioles broken : perennial. Found upon the higher Alps, 

 Mont St. Bernard, &c. 



Ceratocarpus ; a genus of the class Monoecia, order Monan- 

 dria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flowers. Calix : peri- 

 anth one-leafed, tubular, wider at top, thin, coloured, bifid ; 

 the upper segments sharp, the lower emarginate. Corolla : 

 none. Stamina : lilamentum single, capillary, scarce longer 

 than the calix, inserted into the receptacle ; antherae twin, 

 oval, upright. Female Flowers, on the same plant. Calix : 

 perianth one-leafed, obovate, compressed, keeled on both 

 sides, permanent, two-horned ; horns straight, subulate, di- 

 varicate. Corolla: none. Pistil: germen oblong, superior; 

 styles two, capillary ; stigmas simple, standing out between 

 the horns of the calix. Pericarp: none, but the calix grown 

 larger. Seed: oblong, attenuated at bottom, compressed. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Calix : one-leafed, bifid ; 

 Corolla: none. Female. Calix: one-leafed, keeled, perma- 

 nent, two-horned. Styles .-two. Seeds: single, compressed, 

 inclosed in and covered by the calix. The only species is, 



1. Ceratocarpns Arenarius. An annual branching plant, 

 with very narrow sharp grassy leaves. Stem about a foot 

 high, villous. Three male flowers sessile in each division 

 of the stem ; females solitary, sessile in each axilla of the 

 leaves. It is a native of the rude deserts of Tartary. 



Ceratonia-. a genus of the class Polygamia, order Tricecia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male. Calix: perianth five-parted, 

 very large. Corolla.- none. Stamina: filamenta five, sub- 



ulate, very long, spreading : anthera? large, twin. Femali-. 

 Calix : perianth one-leafed, divided by five tubercles. Corolla : 

 none. Pistil : germen lying concealed within a fleshy recep- 

 tacle ; style long, filiform ; stigma headed. Pericarp : le- 

 gume very large, obtuse, compressed, coriaceous, with a 

 great many transverse partitions, the interstices filled with 

 pulp ; seed solitary, roundish, compressed, hard, glossy. 

 Hermaphrodite Flowers, on a distinct tree. ESSENTIAL CHA- 

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

 Style: filiform. Legume: coriaceous, many-seeded. Dioecous; 

 male and female separate. The only species is, 



1. Ceratonia Siliqua ; The Carob Tree, or St. John's Bread. 

 It sometimes grows to a considerable size ; leaves pinnate ; 

 leaflets roundish, entire,thick, rigid, nerved, dark green above, 

 paler beneath, three inches in breadth, and somewhat more in 

 length. Its fruit when ripe has a tolerably pleasant sweetish 

 taste, and is eaten in times of scarcity, but is apt to disorder 

 the bowels. As a medicine, it has the same properties as 

 Cassia, but in a less degree. The pulp, which has the con- 

 sistence of a blackish syrup, mixed with liquorice root, dry 

 raisins, and other fruit, forms the sherbet of the Turks. Its 

 leaves are of an astringent nature, and may housed in tanning. 

 Native of Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Cyprus, Candia, Sicily, 

 Apulia, and Spain. Ignorance of Eastern manners and natu- 

 ral history, induced some persons to fancy, that the locusts on 

 which John the Baptist fed, were the tender shoots of plants, 

 and that the wild honey was the pulp in the pod of the 

 Carob; whence it had the name of St. John's bread : there is 

 better reason to suppose that the shells of the Carob pod 

 might be the husks which the prodigal son desired to partake 

 of with the swine. This tree is propagated by seeds, which, 

 when imported fresh in the pods, will grow very well, if they 

 be sown upon a moderate hot-bed in the spring ; when the, 

 plants come up, they should be carefully transplanted, each 

 into a separate small pot filled with light earth, and plunged 

 into another moderate hot-bed, observing to water and shade 

 them until they have taken root ; after which air must be 

 admitted in proportion to the heat of the weather. In June 

 they must be inured to the open air by degrees, and in July 

 they should be removed off the hot-bed, and placed in a 

 warm situation, where they may remain till the beginning of 

 October, when they should be removed into the green-house, 

 placing them where they may have free air in mild weather ; 

 for they are pretty hardy, and only require to be sheltered 

 from hard frosts. 



Ceratophyllum ; a genus of the class Monoecia, order Poly- 

 andria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flowers : Calix : pe- 

 rianth many-parted; divisions subulate, equal. Corolla: 

 none. Stamina : filamenta double the number of divisions of 

 the calix, sixteen to twenty, hardly conspicuous ; antherae 

 oblong, erect, longer than the calix. Female Flowert, on the 

 same plant with the males. Cater : perianth many-part-'d: 

 divisions subulate, equal. Corolla: none. Pistil: germen 

 ovate, compressed ; style none ; stigma obtuse, oblique. 

 Pericarp: none. .Seed: nut ovate, unilocnlar, acuminate, 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Calix: many-parted. Corolla: 

 none. Stamina: sixteen to twenty. Female. Calix: many- 

 parted. Corolla: none. Pistil: one; style none. Seed: 

 one, naked. These plants can be cultivated in gardens, no 

 other way than by sowing the seeds or planting them in 

 ponds, muddy streams, or in pots or boxes with earth at fhe 

 bottom, and filled with water. The species are, 



1. Ceratophyllum Demersum ; Prickly-seeded Hornirort. 

 Leaves two-fold, dichotomous ; fruits three-thorned. Root per- 

 ennial, striking deep in the mud; stem much branched; flowers 



few, in the bosoms of the leaves. Found in ditches and slow 



