664 



CALABASH T R E E C A L A N DR A. 



CALABASH TREE is the Crescent/a cujete of 

 Willdenow and other botanists. The fruit are large, 

 and either oval or round. When the pulp is scooped 

 out the skin becomes so hard as to serve the purpose 

 of bottles, basins, or other vessels. The plant is 

 common in the West Indies. 



CALADENIA (R. Brown). A tuberous rooted, 

 green-house perennial from New Holland. Linnaean 

 class and OTder,Gynandria Monaudria ; natural order, 

 Orc/iideeE. Generic character : perianth gaping, of 

 five sepals, glandular, upper one plane, four lower 

 ones nearly equal ; labellum hollow, clawed, some- 

 what three-lobed ; disk ornamented with a series of 

 glands ; column membranaceous, dilated ; anthers 

 terminal and persisting. 



CALADIUM (Willdenow). A genus of plants 

 allied to the Arums. Linnaean class and order M<>- 

 ncecia Polyandria ; natural order Aroidete. Generic 

 character: male flowers have neither calyx nor 

 corolla;' anthers many celled, disposed in a spike at 

 the end of the spadix : females, no calyx nor corolla ; 

 seed-vessel attached to the base of the spadix ; style 

 none; berry one-celled, one-seeded. The plants have ' 

 large triangular or arrow-head shaped leaves and 

 spotted stems. The species called Sagittifolium is 

 like the Arum colocasia, and is called by the French 

 Chou de Bresil, because they, like those of the C. escu- 

 lentum, are used like cabbage. The roots of the 

 sagittifolium are large tubers, and are a favourite 

 vegetable among the Chinese, who cultivate them 

 extensively. Most of these plants have a strong 

 bitter principle, which is dissipated by cooking, 

 whether boiled or roasted. 



CALAMAGROSTIS (Adanson). A family of 

 European uncultivated reeds or grasses. Linnaean 

 class a.nd order, Triandria Digynia ; natural order, 

 Graminccc. They are mostly found on bogs and 

 moist ground ; three of them are British. 



CALAMINE. This mineral forms the basis of 

 zinc, and is used to a great extent in the manufacture 

 of brass. Calamine is the zinlc-baryt of Mohs, and 

 is usually divided into two species, the prismatic 

 calamine and the rhomboidal calamine. The first of 

 these is usually of a white or yellow colour, occa- 

 sionally passing into green. Its primitive figure is 

 an oblique four-sided prism, levelled on the extremi- 

 ties. The crystallised varieties are much harder than 

 those that are massive and opaque. When gently 

 heated, the prismatic calamine is strongly electric, 

 hence its name electric calamine. It occurs in many 

 parts of England, especially in the lead mines at 

 Wanlockhead ; and also in Leicestershire and Flint- 

 shire. On the continent it is met with at Tarnowitz 

 in Silesia, Tscheren in Bohemia, Rexleanya in Hun- 

 gary, Bleibcrg in Carinthia, Freyburg in the Bresgau, 

 and Stolberg in the Tyrol. The rhomboidal calamine 

 occurs to a considerable extent in the Mendip Hills, 

 in Durham, Flintshire, and Derbyshire. It is also 

 found on the continent of Europe, and at Alta in 

 Siberia. The primitive figure is a rhomboid. 



CALAMINTHA (Pursh). The common calamint, 

 an inhabitant of our flower borders, natives of Europe. 

 Liiinaean class and order, Didynamia Gytunospcrmia ; 

 natural order, Labialce. Generic character: calyx 

 after flowering closed by hairs ; orifice of corolla 

 inflated, upper lip emarginate ; the lower three- 

 parted, with the intermediate segment entire. This 

 s;-enus is allied to our common thyme, and ranks 

 among pot-herbs, but is seldom used. 



CALAMUS (Willdenow). The rattan reed, a 

 native of the East Indies. Linnsean class and order, 

 Hcxnndria Monogyma-; natural order, PalnicB. Generic 

 character : perianth chaffy, irregular ; sepals six ; 

 berry dry, one-seeded, imbricated backwards. This 

 genus is said to form the link between the palms and 

 grasses ; having the inflorescence of the former, and 

 habit of the latter. The stems are regularly jointed, 

 solid, and extremely tough, so that they are exten- 

 sively used for binding bundles of goods, &c. They 

 also furnish the beautiful walking sticks called rattans ; 

 and in India, where they grow spontaneously by the 

 sides of rivers, the stems are put to many useful 

 purposes. The Chinese prepare great numbers for 

 exportation to Europe and America. The Calamus 

 Zalacca is cultivated for the fruit, which is about 

 the size of a walnut, containing two or three sweet 

 kernels. 



CALANDRA (Clairville). A genus of coleop- 

 terous insects belonging to the section Tctramcra, 

 and family of the weevils, having the antennas strongly 

 elbowed, the eighth and ninth joints forming a trian- 

 gular or ovoid mass, the elytra shorter than the 

 abdomen, and the body narrow and somewhat de- 

 pressed. This is a genus of very destructive insects, 

 the larvae feeding upon various seeds and grains. 

 Of these, the most injurious is, doubtless, the Cur- 

 culio granarius of Linnaeus, a minute species, not 

 exceeding one-sixth of an inch in length, of a dark 

 pitchy red colour ; the thorax is punctured, and as 

 long as the elytra, which are adorned with several 

 rows of deeply impressed dots. This insect, which 

 is called the corn weevil by the English, charancon 

 du ble by the French, and gwyfyn-yr-yd by the 

 Welsh, feeds, both in the larva and perfect state, upon 

 housed grain ; its ravages were evidently known in 

 the days of Virgil, by whom it was called Gurguho 

 ' Populatque ingentem farris acervum gurgulio." 



M. Keferstein has recently published a series ot 

 experiments upon this insect in the ninth number of 

 the Revue Entomologique de Silbermann, 1834, 

 which cannot fail to interest our agricultural readers. 

 The female deposits her eggs at one end of the grain 

 of corn, from whence, when the larvae is hatched, it 

 works internally, so that it is impossible to know 

 whether the grain be sound or not; generally each 

 grain contains but a single grub, but sometimes there 

 are two. The larvae resembles that of the nut weevil, 

 Balanenus nucum, being white, with a brown head, 

 and destitute of legs. When the entire of the 

 farinaceous matter of the grain is consumed, and a 

 mere husk remains, the larva is transformed into 

 a pupa of a white colour, in which all the parts of 

 the future weevil are plainly to be perceived. The 

 latter, in general, makes its appearance at the end of 

 eight days, piercing a round hole through one end 

 or the middle of the grain. At the approach of 

 winter it descends into the ground, a circumstance of 

 much importance, appearing again about Easter, 

 and making its way to the granaries. From the 

 various experiments made by M. Keferstein, he is 

 induced to draw the following, amongst other, results, 

 viz., that, the duration of the life of the perfect insect 

 does not extend beyond one year ; that those insects 

 of an advanced age are incapable of reproduction; 

 that during the cold the ravages of these insects are 

 stationary, reproduction not taking place during the 

 winter, but only in warm weather, although it is de- 

 pendent upon several circumstances not yet suffici- 



