C I S 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



C I S 



307 



ous situations it ishirsute,with cordate-roundish, emarginate 

 leaves, which are tomentose. Native of the West Indies. 

 The leaf, applied whole or bruised to a wound, cures it effec- 

 tually ; it is also a remedy against the bite of poisonous 

 animals : the root is 'excellent for the stone, and is looked 

 upon as an excellent diuretic, which the negroes constantly 

 use in all obstructions of the urinary passages. The root, 

 which is the part chiefly used, has a pleasant bitterish taste, 

 and answers well in decoctions. It thrives best in a rich 

 =hady soil ; grows well both on the high and low lands of 

 Jamaica, and is very easy propagated there. 



2. Cissampelos Caapeba. Leaves petioled at the base, 

 entire. This has round or heart-shaped leaves, which are 

 extremely woolly and soft to the touch. The stalks and 

 every part of the plant is covered with a soft woolly clown. 

 Grows in Jamaica. 



3. Cissampelos Smilacina. Leaves cordate, acute, angu- 

 lar. The stalks are slender, running up walls, and twining 

 about posts and trees. The leaves resemble those of common 

 Ivy. The berries are red, of the size of small peas, and grow 

 in clusters. Native of Carolina. 



4. Cissampelos Fruticosa. Stem erect, shrubby ; leaves 

 ovate, petioled, entire. Found by Thunberg at the Cape. 



5. Ciesampelos Capensis. Stem twining; leaves ovate, 

 obtuse, petioled, entire. Found by Thunberg at the Cape. 



6. Cissampelos Ovata. Leaves egg-shaped, obtuse, almost 

 entirely smooth ; racemes slender, elongated, pubescent. 

 Stems woody, cylindrical, slightly striated : branches nume- 

 rous, alternate, climbing, slightly villose ; leaves about two 

 inches long, alternate, petioled, finely veined, green, with a 

 few short hairs underneath along the veins ; flowers small ; 

 fruit a dry berry or drupe about the size of a lentil. Native 

 of the East Indies. 



Cissus : a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : involucre many-leaved, 

 very small ; perianth one-leafed, flat, short, obscurely four- 

 cornered. Corolla: petals four, concave; nectary a rim 

 surrounding the germen. Stamina : filamenta four, the length 

 of the corolla, inserted into the nectary; antherae roundish. 

 Pistil: germen roundish, obtusely four-cornered, retuse ; 

 style filiform, the length of the stamina ; stigma simple, acute. 

 Pericarp : berry round, shining, umbilicate. Seed : a round- 

 ish stone. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Berry one-seeded, 

 surrounded by the calix and four-parted corolla. These 

 plants are preserved in some of theEuropean gardens, more 

 for the sake of variety than for use or beauty, as they 

 rarely produce either fruit or flowers in temperate climates. 

 They are propagated either by laying their flexible branches 

 down in pots of earth, where they will put out roots in four 

 or five months: or by planting cuttings in pots tilled with 

 light earth, which should be plunged into a moderate hot- 

 bed of tanner's bark, covering the pots closely with hand- 

 glasses to exclude the outer air : they must be frequently 

 refreshed with small quantities of water. When these, or the 

 layers are well rooted, they should be carefully taken up, 

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

 plunged into the hot-bed of tan, where they must constantly 

 remain. They should be shifted into large pots when it is 

 necessary, and their branches must be supported with stakes, 

 to prevent them from trailing over the neighbouring plants; 

 and in warm weather the plants should have free air admitted 

 to them daily. The species are, 



1. Cissus Vitiginea; Vine-leaved Cissus. Leaves cordate, 

 with about five lobes, tomentose. Linneus observes, that this 

 species of Cissus has the appearance of a vine, but differs in 

 the calix, corolla, number of stamina, and in having a style. 



The stem is tomentose ; the branches villose, hoary at top, 

 and subquadrangular ; leaves alternate, two inches long, 

 entire ; flowers hoary, most of them deciduous ; fruitful pe- 

 dicels commonly in pairs, and divaricating ; berries pear- 

 shaped, the size of peas, of a blueish glaucous colour. Na- 

 tive of the East Indies. 



2. Cissus Repanda. Leaves cordate, entire, or sublobed, 

 repand, smooth on both sides. The branches, of this are 

 round, flexuose, jointed, tomentose, but become smooth by 

 age ; leaves petioled, two to three inches long, and still more 

 in breadth ; peduncles opposite to the leaves ; rays of the 

 umbel three, dichotomously branched ; berries pear-shaped, 

 the size of peas, mucronate with the permanent style. Na- 

 tive of the East Indies. 



3. Cissus Latifolia. Leaves cordate-ovate, villose, acumi- 

 nate, setaceous, serrate; branches four-cornered. Branches 

 jointed, woody, as are also the petioles and peduncles, ferru- 

 ginous-tomentose, especially at top, becoming smooth at bot- 

 tom by age ; berries black, smooth and shining, succulent. 

 Native of the East Indies. 



4. Cissus Cordifolia. Leaves cordate, quite entire ; 

 branches simple, knotty; berries large, oblong; tendrils 

 large, bifid, retrograde. Native of South America. 



5. Cissus Ilotundifolia. Leaves cordate, roundish, ser- 

 rate ; leaves smooth, setaceous, serrate ; umbels racemed, 

 opposite, many -flowered, about four on each common pedun- 

 cle, and simple ; peduncles nearly the length of the leaves. 

 Native of Arabia. 



6. Cissus Sicyoides. Leaves subcordate, naked, bristly, 

 serrate. Root perennial ; stem somewhat woody, herbaceous 

 at top, climbing, branched, marked with red spots ; leaves 

 petioled, alternate, nerved, somewhat succulent; flowers yel- 

 low; petals broader at the base, egg-shaped, reflexed, deci- 

 duous ; antherae orange ; berry oblong, black. Native of 

 Jamaica, in waste places, by walls, and on rocks. Jacquin 

 informs us, that it is found in all the Caribbee islands, and 

 the neighbouring continent, differing in habit according to 

 the situation in which it grows. The berries of this, and 

 some of the other sorts, are sometimes eaten by the negroes, 

 but they are chiefly food for birds. 



7. Cissus Quadrangularis. Leaves cordate, fleshy, serrate- 

 toothed ; stem four-cornered, somewhat swelling. Stem very 

 long, climbing, smooth, and even. The root is tuberous. 

 Native of Arabia, and the East Indies; found also by Loureiro 

 near Mosambique in Africa. 



8. Cissus Acida ; Three-leaved Cissus. Leaves ternate, 

 obovate, smooth, fleshy, gashed. Stem scandent, flexuose, 

 round, tinged with purple, succulent, jointed ; branches 

 short ; corolla four-parted, the parts reflex and deciduous ; 

 germen truncate ; berry black, surrounded by the calix. The 

 whole of this plant is acid. Native of Jamaica, in woods 

 near the coast. 



9. Cissus Trifoliata. Leaves ternate, roundish, hirsute, 

 with a few teeth ; branches angular and membranaceous. 

 Stem suffrutescent, scandent, having five or six angles, knot- 

 ted, rooting, branched, green, the angles slightly winged ; 

 branches herbaceous, lax ; flowers umbelled, blood-red : 

 calix or rim of the germen entire and four-cornered ; berry 

 roundish, one-seeded. Native of the West Indies, climbing 

 hia'h above the branches of the trees, in the hedges, upon the 

 mountains. 



1O. Cissus Crenata. Leaves ternate; leaflets roundish, 

 crenate. The branches, petioles, younger leaves, and pedun- 

 cles, villose ; tendrils opposite to the leaves, compound; 

 petals arched; filamenta shorter than the corolla. Native of 

 the East Indies. 



