314 



C I T 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL, 



C I T 



60. Cistus Sericeus. Arborescent, without stipules : leaves 

 ovate, tomentose, three-nerved, the lower petioled, the upper- 

 most sessile ; peduncles rough with hairs. Stem two or three 

 feet high ; branches round, densely tomentose, hoary-white; 

 leaves opposite, hoary, very soft, flat, bluntish, about an inch 

 in length ; the four uppermost sessile, subcordate at the base, 

 the rest ending in a short petiole ; peduncle from the top of 

 the branches, solitary, erect, a short span in length, hoary, 

 wholly beset, as are the pedicels also, with long purplish 

 hairs ; petals purple, with a yellow spot at the base ; filamenta 

 purple ; antherae yellow. Native of Spain and Portugal. 



61. Cistus Hybridus. Arborescent, without stipules: 

 leaves ovate, petioled, hoary; branches scaly; peduncles 

 elongated, rough with hairs. This is a shrub, with all the 

 leaves petioled, flat, the younger ones waved, hoary on both 

 sides, appearing very minutely dotted when viewed with a 

 magnifier, nerved, brittle, half an inch in length. It is dis- 

 tinguished from the foregoing species, by having all the leaves 

 petioled and whiter, with the branches covered with yellow 

 scales. Native of Spain. . 



6 C 2. Cistus Elongatus. Arborescent, without stipules : 

 leaves lanceolate, hoary; peduncle elongated, two-leaved; 

 that and the racemed calices hirsute. An upright and very 

 branching shrub, a foot or more in height ; branches short, 

 the younger ones tomentose, hoary, with yellowish scales 

 scattered over them; flowers racemed; peduncle terminating, 

 half a foot long, erect, by no means hoary, hairy, especially 

 at bottom ; flowers nodding before they open ; petals yel- 

 low, with a dusky spot at the base a little longer than the 

 calix. Native of Spain. 



63. Cistus Alternifolius. Suffruticose, without stipules: 

 leaves alternate ; peduncles lateral and terminating, solitary, 

 one-flowered. An erect little shrub, with slender villose 

 branches, and a brown bark. Native of Brazil. 



64. Cistus Lavandulifolius ; Lavender-leaved Cistus. Suf- 

 fruticose, stipuled : leaves lanceolate-linear, tomentose ; 

 calices racemed, tomentose, pointing one way, pendulous. 

 This shrub is a palm and sometimes a foot in height, branched 

 at bottom; branches round, upright, tomentose, hoary; leaves 

 opposite, hoary ; flowers copious, without bractes ; corolla 

 yellow. Native of Spain, south of France, Barbary, and of 

 the dry hills of Tunis. 



65. Cistus Lanceolatus. Suffruticose, without stipules : 

 leaves lanceolate, three-nerved, hairy. Stem Suffruticose, 

 branched at the base ;' branches quite simple, a short span in 

 length, ascending, leafy, smooth at bottom, tomentose at top, 

 hoary, as they are also at the base. Found by Vahl on the 

 heaths near Bizerta in Barbary. 



66. Cistus Ocymoides. Shrubby, without stipules : leaves 

 obovate, three-nerved, those of the branchlets hoary on both 

 sides, reflex at the tip ; calices racemed, both they and the 

 peduncles quite smooth. A small upright shrub, a span 

 high ; branches opposite, purple at bottom, clothed at the 

 base, as are also the branchlets, with long thinly scattered 

 hairs; stipules none ; petals white, with a purple spot at the 

 base. Native of Spain. 



CithaTtxylum ; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angio- 

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 bell-form, five-toothed, acute, permanent. Corolla: one- 

 petalled ; funnel-wheel-form ; tube twice as long as the 

 perianth, thicker at the top; border five-parted, two-lipped; 

 segments above villose, oblong, truncate, flat, very spread- 

 ing. Sttiminn : filamenta four, with the rudiment of a fifth 

 from the middle of the tube, filiform, two of them some- 

 what longer ; antherse oblong, twin, erect. Pistil : germen 

 roundish; style filiform, the length of the stamina; stigma 



obtuse-headed. Pericarp: berry roundish, somewhat com- 

 pressed, one-celled. Seeds : two, ovate, two-celled, convex 

 on one side, concave at the other, emarginate at the end. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-toothed, bell-form. 

 Corolla : funnel-wheel-form; segments above villose, equal. 

 Berry: two-seeded. Seeds : two-celled. The species are, 



1. Citharexylum Cinereum ; Ash-coloured Fiddlewood. 

 Branches round ; calices toothed. This is a tree rising with 

 a round upright trunk, not more than a foot in diameter, to 

 the height of fifteen or twenty feet, with a handsome branch- 

 ing head; leaves oblong-oval, entire, shining, about six 

 inches long ; flowers small, numerous, odoriferous, on short 

 pedicels ; corolla white ; berries succulent, shining, soft, 

 roundish, first green, next red, and finally black. Browne 

 says, that it rises not above eight or nine feet in height; 

 that the veins of the leaves, and all the tender buds, are of a 

 brown colour ; the bark of the trunk and lower branches of a 

 whitish ash-colour. It is very common in all the savannas of 

 Jamaica, and is called old woman's bitter; also in the woods of 

 Martinique, where the French have named it bois cotelet. 



2. Citharexylum Caudatum ; Oval-leaved or Long-spiked 

 Fiddlewood. Branches round ; calices truncate. The leave* 

 are obovate, and, like the racemes, erect. According to 

 Browne, it is a shrub which seldom exceeds ten or twelve feet 

 in height, and bears a great number of small berries, disposed 

 on divided spikes at the extremities of the branches. It is 

 pretty common about Sixteen-mile Walk in Jamaica. 



3. Citharexylum Quadrangulare ; Square-stalked Fiddle- 

 wood. Branches quadrangular. The bark is ash-coloured 

 Mr. Miller describes it with an upright trunk, fifty or sixty 

 feet high, sending out branches on every side, which have 

 several angles or ribs, running longitudinally, garnished by 

 three oval spear-shaped leaves at every joint, standing in a 

 triangle upon short footstalks ; leaves four inches long, and 

 one to two broad, of a lively green colour, notched on their 

 edges, and veined. The flowers come out from the sides, 

 and also at the ends of the branches, in loose bunches, which 

 are succeeded by small pulpy berries inclosing two seeds in 

 each. The French call it bois cotelet carre. Native of Ja- 

 maica, Martinique, &c. This species has been long pre- 

 served in some of the curious gardens in England, for the 

 sake of variety; the leaves continuing through the year, and 

 being of a fine green colour, make a pretty variety in the 

 stove during the winter season. It may be propagated either 

 by seeds or by cuttings ; the latter of which is the usual 

 method in England, where the seeds are not produced ; but 

 when seeds can be obtained from abroad, the plants raised 

 from them should be preferred. They should be sown in 

 small pots early in the spring, and plunged into a fresh hot- 

 bed of tanner's bark, and treated in the same manner as 

 other exotic seeds which are brought from hot countries. 

 If the seeds be fresh, the plants will appear in five or six 

 weeks ; and in a month after that, will be ready to trans- 

 plant : when this is done, care should be taken not to tear 

 or break the roots in separating thorn. They should each 

 be planted in a small pot filled with light fresh earth, and 

 plunged into the hot-bed again, observing to shade thorn till 

 they "have taken fresh root ; after which they should have a 

 large share of air admitted to them in warm weather, and must 

 be frequently watered. In autumn they should be removed 

 into the bark-stove, where it will be proper to keep them 

 during the first winter until they have obtained strength. 

 They may afterwards be kept in a dry-stove in winter, and 

 be exposed in the middle of summer for two or three month* 

 to the open air, in a warm situation, which will cause them 

 to flourish better than when they are more tenderly treated. 



