410 



CUP 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL ; 



CUR 



they are small, and of a browner green than the common 

 Cypress. The fruit is blue, and not larger than the berry of 

 the Juniper, from which it is not easily distinguished at a 

 little distance ; but it is a perfect cone or strobile, having 

 several nuts, like that of the common sort. It aboiinds in the 

 swamps of New Jersey, and in some parts of Pennsylvania 

 and New York, but not further northward than lat. 41. 1 Z5. 

 The number, however, has been greatly reduced ; and as 

 this tree requires to be of eighty years' growth from the seed 

 before it can be used for timber, posterity will probably feel 

 the want of tkis useful tree in America. It is used for fencing, 

 and even for posts, but does not lust in the ground so well 

 as the red cedar, or Juniperus Virginiana, but makes good 

 canoes, hoops, and other coopers' ware. Many houses are 

 built of it ; but it is in the highest esteem for shingles, and 

 great quantities of it are sent for that purpose to New York; 

 and it is also exported to the West Indies, both for shingles 

 and pipe staves. This tree, if planted in a strong moist soil, 

 may become profitable for timber, and growing in a climate 

 much colder than England, would undoubtedly succeed in 

 the open air of our climate ; and as it is an evergreen of regu- 

 lar growth, thrives in cold situations, and a moist soil, which 

 is unfavourable to other species of the same genus, besides 

 being a great ornament to large plantations, it certainly 

 deserves to be much encouraged. It is propagated by seeds 

 sown in the spring, in boxes or tubs filled with light fresli 

 earth, and placed where they are to enjoy the morning sun 

 till eleven or twelve o'clock. They must be watered in dry 

 weather, and kept clear from weeds. At Michaelmas they 

 should be removed to a warmer place, for the plants seldom 

 appear till the following spring, so that it will be proper to 

 place the boxes or tubs near a south fence during the winter 

 season, lest by being too much shaded, the wet should rot 

 the seeds. In the second spring, if the tubs or boxes be 

 placed on a moderate hot-bed, it will bring up the piants very 

 soon, and greatly forward their growth ; but as the spring 

 advances, they should be introduced into the open air by 

 degrees, and placed in a sheltered situation, where they may 

 enjoy the morning sun, taking care to remove all weeds, and 

 supply them with water in dry weather. In the following 

 winter, it will be proper to remove the tubs near a south 

 wall or pale ; for while the plants are young, they are some- 

 times tenderer than they afterwards become. At the end of 

 March, or the beginning of April, just before the plants 

 begin to shoot, they should be carefully taken up out of the 

 boxes, and having prepared a bed or two of fresh earth (ac- 

 cording to the quantity of plants raised) in a sheltered situa- 

 tion, place the plants in it in rows about eighteen inches 

 asunder, and about a foot from each other. This should be 

 done in cloudy weather, when there is rain ; for in dry wea- 

 ther, when easterly winds commonly blow at this season, it 

 will be very dangerous to transplant these plants ; so that in 

 dry weather, it had better be deferred a fortnight longer, 

 until a change in the weather. When first planted, they 

 should be watered, to settle the earth to their roots ; ami then 

 the surface of the ground should be covered with mulch, to 

 prevent the sun and wind from penetrating to the roots of these 

 plants, for nothing is more injurious to them than to have 

 their fibres dried when they are transplanted. They ought 

 not, therefore, to be taken out of the tubs, until the ground 

 be ready to receive them, for they cannot lie any time out of 

 it, without great danger of perishing. 



4. Cupressus Juniperoides ; African or Cape Cypress. 

 Leaves opposite, decussated, subulate, patulous- The young 

 plants of this species, raised from seeds in England, have 

 loose spreading branches, closely beset with narrow straight 



leaves, alternately opposite, nearly an inch long, of a light 

 green colour, and continuing in verdure all the year. The 

 cones are black when ripe. Native of the Cape of Good 

 Hope. This is too tender to thrive while young in the open 

 air of England, but would probably do well in warmer situa- 

 tions, after the plants have acquired considerable strength. 

 Young plants, placed under a frame which had no glass, but 

 only wooden shutters, were not injured by the cold, though 

 the earth of their pots was frequently frozen hard. The 

 practice now is, to keep them in pots, and house them in 

 winter, till they are a yard in height. When they are com- 

 mitted to the open air, they must have a dry warm soil, and 

 a well-sheltered situation ; nothing, however, can ensure 

 them but the dry-stove. 



5. Cupressus Pendula ; Portuguese Cypress. Leaves im- 

 oricate. glandulose : fronds quadrangular, glaucous ; brandies 

 hanging down. This is a small tree, with a glaucous appear- 

 ance. The leaves are glandulous. The flowers resemble 

 those of the first species. It is at present rare in the English 

 gardens, though there have been many plants raised here, 

 which, as it is not quite so hardy as the common Cypress, have 

 either perished.orbeenirrecoverablyinjured in severe winters. 

 There are plenty of these trees growing at Busaco, near 

 Coimbra in Portugal, where it is called the Cedar of Busaco, 

 and grows to be a timber tree, so that from thence the seeds 

 may be easily obtained. It grows naturally at Goa, whence 

 it was originally brought to Portugal, where it flourishes as 

 above stated, although in England it seldom exceeds fifteen 

 feet high. The branches extend horizontally to a great dis- 

 tance every way, quite from the ground ; they grow without 

 much order, and the tree has a very different appearance from 

 the other sorts. Thunberg describes the Cupressus Pendula 

 of Japan, to be a tree of a man's height, or rather more, erect, 

 and smooth ; and adds, that this handsome singular tree is 

 easily distinguished from all the evergreens of this order, by 

 its abundance of very long, dichotomous, pendent branch- 

 lets. It may be propagated from seeds, in the same manner 

 as the common Cypress, and the plants treated as directed 

 for that species, with this difference only, that it will be 

 proper to cover them during the two first winters after they 

 are come up especially if the frost should be severe, which 

 might destroy them while young and exposed. It may also 

 be propagated by cuttings, which, if planted in autumn, and 

 screened in winter, will take root ; but are generally two 

 years before they will be rooted enough to transplant; nor 

 will the plants so raised thrive so fast as the seedlings, which 

 are therefore greatly to be preferred whenever the seeds can 

 be obtained. 



6. Cupressus Japonica ; Japan Cypress. Leaves in fouir 

 rows, sickled, compressed, furrowed, decurrent. This is * 

 very lofty straight tree, with a trunk the thickness of the 

 human thigh, or more. The wood is very soft, and is much 

 used for cabinets, and other furniture, that are varnished or 

 japanned, as it is termed. Native of Japan. 



7. Cupressus Columnaris. Leaves imbricate, subulate, 

 furrowed ; strobiles cylindric, elongated. Native of New 

 Caledonia, and Norfolk Island. 



Curatella; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Digynia, 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Caiu: : perianth five-leaved, 

 rounded ; leaflets roundish, concave, the fifth interior, 

 extremely like the petals. Corolla ; petals three or four, 

 roundish, concave, very like the calix. Stamina ; filainenta 

 very many, filiform, shorter than the corolla : anthem 

 roundish. Pistil: germen two-parted, roundish; styles 

 two, filiform, erect, length of the stamina ; stigmas headed. 

 Pericarp : capsule two-celled, two-parted : lobea roundish, 



