C E S 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



C H 



233 



roundish. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Corolla .- funnel-form. 

 Stamina : emitting a toothlet from their middle. Berry .- 



unilocular. The species are, 



1. Cestrum Nocturnum ; Night-smelling Cistrum. Fila- 

 menta toothed ; peduncles subracemed, equal to the leaf. It 

 rises with an upright stalk, about six or seven feet high, divid- 

 ing upward into many slender branches ; leaves alternate, near 

 four inches long, and one and a half broad : the flowers are 

 produced at the wings of the leaves in small clusters, standing 

 upon short peduncles, each sustaining four or five flowers of 

 an herbaceous colour ; they appear in August, but are not 

 succeeded by berries in this country ; those which come from 

 America are small, and of a dark brown colour.It is a native 

 of the island of Cuba: whence Mr. Miller received the seeds 

 under the name of Dama de noche, or Lady-of-tlte night, 

 probably so called from the flowers sending out a strong 

 odour after sunset. It requires to be placed in a dry-stove, 

 with a moderate share of heat in winter, and in the summer 

 to be set in a warm situation in the open air : with this 

 management they will thrive, and produce flowersmuch better 

 than when they have been under a greater heat. All these 

 plants growing naturally in very hot countries, require to be 

 placed in a warm stove, especially in winter. They may all 

 be propagated by seeds, or by cuttings, but principally the 

 latter, although those produced from seeds are always the 

 straightest and most vigorous, because they do not ripen the 

 seed in England, and it is rarely imported. The best time 

 to plant these cuttings is about the end of May, by which 

 time the shoots will have had time to recover their strength, 

 after confinement during the winter season : the shoots which 

 come out from the lowest part of the stalk should always be 

 preferred ; these should be cut about four inches long, and 

 five or six of them should be planted in each halfpenny pot : 

 the earth should be fresh and light, but not full of dung; it 

 must be pressed pretty close to the cuttings, and then they 

 must be gently watered, after which the pots must be plunged 

 into a moderate hot-bed of tanner's bark, and every day shaded 

 from the sun ; their waterings should be often repeated in the 

 summer, and if sprinkled all over their leaves, it will wash and 

 cleanse them from filth, and greatly promote their growth. 



2. Cestrum Vespertinum ; Cluster-flowered Cestrum. Fila- 

 menta toothless; tube filiform; peduncles very short. A tree 

 twelve feet in height ; the stem not very strong. The^leaves 

 are alternate, on short petioles; corolla larger than the spike, 

 green ; tube filiform ; border expanding, five-parted ; divi- 

 sions subulate, sharp, one third shorter than the tube, equal, 

 greenish white ; the berries are blue ; the bark and fruit 

 foetid. Native of the West Indies. 



3. Cestrum Diurnum ; nay-smelling Cestrum. Filamenta 

 toothless ; segments of the corolla roundish, reflected ; leaves 

 lanceolate. This rises with an angular stalk to the height of 

 ten or twelve feet, covered with a smooth, liffht green bark. 

 Towards the upper parts of the shoots the flowers come out 

 from the wings of the leaves, standing in clusters close to the 

 branches ; they are very white, shaped like those ofthe first 

 sort, and smell sweet in the day-time, from which it derives 

 the name of Lady-of-the-day. It flowers in September, Oc- 

 tober, and November ; and is a native of the Havannah. 



4. Cestrum Tomentosum. Flowers crowded, sessile, ter- 

 minal ; brunches, leaves, and calices tomentose. Found by 

 Mutis in South America. 



5. Cestrum Laurifolium ; Laurel-leaved Cestrum. Fila- 

 miTitatoothletted or naked 1 ; leaves elliptic, coriaceous, shin- 

 ing very much ; peduncles shorter than the petiole. Stem 

 shrubby, erect, round, with an ash-coloured bark, eight or 

 nine foot high ; corolla four times longer than the calix ; seg- 



ments of the rim obtuse, spreading, pale yellow, marked with 

 agold-coloured streak. The flowers emit a disagreeable odour, 

 and are succeeded by oval berries of a violet colour, full of 

 juice; they are reckoned very poisonous, and are called poison- 

 berries in Jamaica, of which it is a native : it flowers in August. 



6. Cestrum Auriculatum ; Ear-leaved Cestrum. Filamenta 

 toothless ; stipules lunate. This is a very foetid shrub, about 

 two fathoms high. The natives of Lima, in Peru, use it exter- 

 nally to cleanse foul ulcers, and internally in the venereal 

 disease ; they look upon it as a pectoral, but it seems to be 

 a plant of suspicious character. Dombey observed it in wet 

 places about Lima. 



7- Cestrum Parqui. Filamenta toothletted or naked, 

 floriferous ; stem panicled ; stipules linear. This is n foetid 

 shrub, six feet high ; flowers odorous in the night. Native 

 of Chili. 



8. Cestrum Hirtum. Flowers subspiked, axillary; leaves 

 subcordate, ovate-acute ; underneath, with the branchlets, 

 rough with hairs. Native of the West Indies, Jamaica, &c. 



9. Cestrum Nervosum. Leaves lanceolate, opjwsite, with 

 transverse nerves ; peduncles branching. Stem shrubby, five 

 or six inches high, covered with a brown bark, and dividing 

 at top into very small branches ; corolla white, and inodorous. 

 Native of Carthagena, in New Spain. 



Chterophyllum ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Di- 

 gynia. ^GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : umbel universal 

 spreading ; partial nearly equal as to the number of rays. 

 Involucre universal, none ; partial, subpentaphyllous ; leaf- 

 lets lanceolate, concave, reflected, nearly the length of the um- 

 bellule ; perianth proper obscure. Corolla : universal nearly 

 uniform ; florets of the disk abortive ; proper of five petals, 

 heart inflected, with the point bent in, flattish ; exterior ones 

 rather larger. Stamina: filamenta five, simple, length of the 

 umbellule ; antherse roundish. Pistil; germen inferior; styles 

 two, reflected; stigmas obtuse. Pericarp : none ; fruit oblong, 

 acuminate, -smooth, bipartite. Seeds: two, oblong, attenu- 

 ated upwards, convex on one side, flat on the other. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Involucre : reflected, concave. Petal .- 

 heart inflected. Fruit : oblong, even. The first and fourth 

 species of this genus are common weeds ; the rest are ad- 

 mitted into botanic gardens only, not being much esteemed 

 either for culinary or medical purposes : if the seeds be 

 permitted to scatter, the plants will come up without further 

 care ; or they may be sown, in spring, wherever they are 

 to remain. The species are, 



1. Chaerophyllum Sylvestre ; Wild Cicely, or Cow-weed ; 

 Common Cow-parsley, or Chervil. Stem even, striated 1 , two 

 feet high and upward, hollow, grooved, generally villose, and 

 purplish, much branched ; joints somewhat swelling ; branches 

 suberect, less hoary than the stem ; petals flat, obovate, whi- 

 tish, at first yellowish-white; seeds columnar, glossy, grooved , 

 blackish, without scent, and almost tasteless. It is very 

 common in pastures, orchards, and under hedges, flowering 

 in May, and in warm situations in April. Linnseus remarks, 

 that this plant indicates a luxuriant soil, and that the flowers 

 communicate a green and yellow dye to wool : he also says, 

 that horses, sheep, and goats are not fond of it. Mona. Vil- 

 lars declares, that horses will not eat it, even in the stable ; 

 and, according to Mr. Milter, there are few animals who care 

 to eat it, except the ass. Mr. Ray, on the contrary, asserts, 

 that it has the name of Coin-weed, because it is grateful food, 

 before it runs up to stalk, to cows, in the spring; and, in 

 confirmation of this account, Mr. Wainwright says, that the 

 cowslike it so well, that when a pasture is overrunwith it.which 

 is often the case about Dudley, they always turn them in to eat 

 it up. Rabbits are well known to be very fond of it ; and Mr. 



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