COR 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



C O ft 



363 



length of the stamina, bifid at top; divisions bifid ; stigmas 

 obtuse. Pericarp-, drupe globose, acuminate, growing 

 to the calix. Seed : nut furrowed, four-celled. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Corolla : funnel-form. Style : dichotomous. 

 Drupe ; with two-celled nuts. As the plants of this genus 

 are all natives of hot countries, they are too tender to en- 

 dure an English winter, unless they are preserved in a stove. 

 They are all propagated by seeds, which must be procured 

 from those parts where they naturally grow, and sown 

 in small pots, which should then be plunged into a good 

 hot-bed of tanner's bark in the spring ; and if the seeds be 

 tjood, the plants will begin to appear in six or eight weeks. 

 They must be brought forward in the hot-bed, by being 

 treated like other tender exotics, observing frequently to 

 water them in summer ; and in July, if the plants happen to 

 be considerably advanced, they should be gradually hardened 

 in order to prepare them against the winter, which they will 

 not survive, if too tenderly treated. As they acquire strength, 

 they will become hardier ; but during the two first winters, 

 it will be proper to keep them in the tan-bed in the stove ; 

 but as soon as their stems begin to turn woody, they may be 

 placed on shelves in a dry-stove, where, if they be kept in a 

 moderate degree of heat, they may be preserved very well, 

 especially the third species, which is somewhat hardier than 

 the rest. The species are, 



1 . Cordia Mixa ; Smooth- leaved Cordia, Sebesten, or As- 

 , Plum. Leaves ovate, smooth on the upper surface ; 



:abs lateral ; calices ten-striated. Leaves like those of 

 the Alder, serrate-angular, scabrous underneath, three inches 

 long, opposite, flat, entire, obtuse, on a round petiole, half 

 an inch in length ; petals white, revolute ; fruit inferior, red, 

 nearly an inch in diameter. The timber of this tree is tough 

 and solid, and is used for procuring fire by friction ; the leaves 

 bruised with those of the Datura Metel, are applied to the 

 forehead in the head-ache ; and a glue is^prepared from the 

 fruits, which are also eaten by children. Hill informs us, 

 that the fruit is like a plum, with an oblong kernel, and that 



pulpy part of it is so tough and clammy, that being beat 

 up with water, it makes good bird-lime : he adds, the fruit 

 is the part used. It is sent over to us dried like a prune, 

 and used to be a constant ingredient in decoctions for coughs, 

 and disorders of the lungs, but is now disregarded. Native 

 of Arabia and the East Indies. 



2. Cordia Spinescens. Leaves ovate, acute, serrate, sca- 



Jbrous ; petioles subspinescent. Branches erect, tomentose, 

 ferruginous ; leaves alternate, petiolate, tomentose, the size 

 of cherry leaves ; fruits scattered, sessile, black, the size oi 

 currants ; corolla bell-shaped, five-toothed, twice as large as 

 the calix. Native of the East Indies. 



3. Cordia Sebestena ; Rough-leaved Cordia. Leaves ob- 

 long-ovate,repand, scabrous. Stems several, shrubby,eight or 

 nine feet high, having towards the top rough alternate leaves, 

 on short petioles, of a deep green on their upper~side ; flowers 

 terminating, in large clusters, upon branching peduncles 

 sustaining one, two, or three flowers ; corolla large, with a 

 long tube, spreading open at top, and there divided into five 

 obtuse segments ; it is of a beautiful scarlet, and makes a 

 very fine appearance. A small piece of the wood, laid upon 

 a pan of lighted coals, will perfume a whole house with a 

 most agreeable smell. Browne says it is adorned with large 

 bunchee of fine scarlet flowers, which come out at the tops 

 of the branches fifteen or twenty together, with fringec 

 edges, and the surfaces sinuous and curled : they are a 

 first of a high vermili6n colour, which changes to a scarlet 

 and afterwards becomes purplish, but they have no scent 

 The fruit is in the form of an inverted pear. From the 



uice of the leaves, with that of a species of fig, is prepared 

 he fine red colour with which the natives of Otaheite dye 

 ,heir clothes ; but we are informed that there are several 

 other plants which will produce the same colour in conjunc- 

 ion with the fig. It is a native of both Indies, and of the 

 Society Isles. It being rather hardier than the other species, 

 may be placed abroad in a warm situation in the beginning 

 of July, where the plants may remain until the middle of Sep- 

 ;ember, provided the season continue warm, but if not, they 

 must be sooner removed into the stove. 



4. Cordia Gerascanthus. Leaves lanceolate-ovate, quite 

 entire ; panicles terminating ; calices tomentose, ten-striated. 

 Stem and branches unarmed, patulous, round, smooth ; leaves 

 petioled,scattered,acuminate,entire,veined(especially behind) 

 smooth; panicles large, composed of patulous, alternate, tri- 

 chotomous,many-flowered branchlets; the last pedicels three- 

 flowered ; flowers rather large, white, veined, permanent, 

 shrivelling. This tree rises to a considerable height, but 

 seldom exceeds twenty or thirty inches in diameter ; it is 

 pretty much branched towards the top, and furnished with 

 oblong nervous leaves ; the flowers have no scent, are very 

 white, and grow in great numbers at the extremities of the 

 branches ; as the germen enlarges, they fade, and turn of a 

 dark or dirty brown colour, continuing upon the tree until 

 the whole fruit, which seldom grows to a perfect state, falls 

 oif. The branches are used by the coopers to make hoops; 

 and it is esteemed one of the best timber-trees in Jamaica, 

 where it is a native. The wood is of adark brown colour, and 

 slightly striped, is tough and elastic, of a fine grain, and easily 

 worked. It is called Spanish Elm, or Prince-wood; intheother 

 islands of the West Indies, the French call it bois de chypre. 



5 Cordia Macrophylla ; Broad-leaved Cordia. Leaves 

 ovate, villose, a foot and a half in length. This tree attains to 

 the height of fifty feet, but is seldom above twelve or sixteen 

 inches in diameter, shooting generally by a straight trunk ; 

 the leaves are very large and rough ; the berries white, of the 

 size of small cherries. The heart of the tree is of a yellowish 

 colour, and tolerably good timber. It is called the Broad- 

 leaved Cherry-tree in Jamaica; where it naturally grows. 



6. Cordia Collococca ; Long-leaved Cordia. Leaves cor- 

 date-ovate, quite entire; flowers corymbed ; calices tomen- 

 tose within. It seldom exceeds fourteen or sixteen feet in 

 height; the leaves are rugged, obliquely veined, and disposed 

 alternately. The berries are red and succulent, the size of 

 our smallest European cherries, and disposed in umbellated 

 groups; the pulp is sweetish and clammy : turkeys and other 

 fowls feed much upon the berries, hence it is called Turkey- 

 Berry Tree, and Clammy Cherry-tree, in Jamaica, where it is 

 a native ; it is also found in the other West India islands. 



7. Cordia Patagonula; Spear-leaved Cordia, or Patagonula. 

 Leaves oblong-lanceolate, smooth on both surfaces, upper 

 ones serrate ; branchlets hairy. A shrub, with the habit 

 partly of Privet, and partly Alaternus. Stem straight ; bark 

 greenish ash-colour, spotted with white, the upper part, 

 and particularly the ends of the branches, covered with 

 long hairs ; the flowers come forth among the leaves in small 

 bunches, smelling like Elder-flowers. It flowers during the 

 greatest part of the summer. Native of Patagonia. 



8. Cordia Aspera. Leaves ovate, acuminate, rough; flowers 

 in cymes, wrinkled. Native of the island of Tongataboo. 



9. Cordia Dichotoma. Leaves oblong-ovate, scarcely cre- 

 nate ; corymbs dichotomous. Native of New Caledonia. 



10. Cordia Retusa, Leaves in bundles, wedge-form, retuse, 

 three- toothed. Branches round, smooth, somewhat hairy at 

 the tip ; the buds are tomentose tubercles ; fruit the size of 

 pepper, the calix not growing to it, four-celled, in each cell 



