068 



C A L L I O P E A C A L L I T R I S. 



The other divisions of the group which have re- 

 ceived generic names are, Trichonotus and Comephorus. 



The first of these do not differ very much from the 

 dragonets, properly so called, only their bodies are 

 more elongated in proportion to the thickness ; but 

 they have but one dorsal fin .; the dorsal and anal 

 fins are proportionally longer, and the first two rays 

 of the dorsal are produced in slender filaments, which 

 may be considered as answering to the first dorsal of 

 the true dragonets. The Tiichonotus setigcms of Bloch, 

 is the species of this division which is best known. 



Of Comephorut there is only one species, a native 

 of the lake of Baikal in Siberia, and is only known 

 from specimens which are cast on the shores of that 

 lake dead, after the violent storms by which its 

 waters are often agitated. This is Comephorus 

 Baikalensis (Cattwnymut Bdikalensis of Pyllas). It 

 is about a foot long, soft and fat in its substance, so 

 much so, that they who pick it up on the shores press 

 it on account of the oil which it contains. It has 

 two dorsal fins, the first very low ; the muzzle large, 

 oblong and depressed ; the gill-flaps containing seven 

 rays, very much divided from each other; the pec- 

 toral fins very long ; but, different from all the rest 

 of the family, there arc no ventral fins. 



CALLIOPEA (D. Don). A hardy perennial, a 

 native of Italy. It belongs to Syngcnesia JEqualis, 

 and to the natural order Composita;. This plant was 

 thought to be a Leontodon, by Linnaeus ; and by others 

 a Hieracium. 



CALLIOPSIS (Reichcnbach). A genus of orna- 

 mental annual and perennial herbs, natives of Ame- 

 rica. Linnjean class and order, Syngencsia Frustranea; 

 and natural order, Composite. Generic character : 

 involucrum of many leaves ; leaflets short and erect ; 

 anthodium of many parts, and coloured ; receptacle 

 chaffy, and bearing protuberant glands ; florets dilated 

 at the base, and unequally toothed at top ; seeds 

 oblong and cylindrical. The genus has been sepa- 

 rated from among the coreopsis family. 



CALLISACE (Fischer). An obscure umbelli- 

 ferous perennial from Siberia. 



CALLISIA (Linnaeus). A genus containing a 

 single species ; a creeping perennial from the West 

 Indies. It belongs to Trinndria Monogynia of Lin- 

 naeus, and the natural order Commciinacea; . The 

 flowers are pretty, on which account it has been long 

 introduced into European collections. 



CALLISTACHYS (Ventenat). A genus con- 

 taining four or five species of New Holland orna- 

 mental shrubs. Linnaean class and order, Dccandria 

 Monogynia ; and natural order, Leguminosce. Generic 

 character : calyx, bell or funnel-shaped, cut into long 

 slender divisions; corolla, petals inserted in the calyx, 

 clawed, the upper large, the lower small, and stand- 

 ing apart ; stamens inserted in the calyx, declining ; 

 anthers longish, and somewhat incumbent ; style long 

 and protruding ; stigma capitate ; germen stipitate ; 

 pod long, many seeded. These plants are usually 

 found in green-house collections 



CALLISTEMA (Cassini). A genus of annuals 

 long cultivated in European flower-gardens under the 

 name of China-asters. Linnsean class and order Syn- 

 gencsia Supermini i natural order, Compotibe, Generic 

 character : anthodium loosely imbricated, rather foli- 

 aceous; receptacle hairy; ray of two colours ; pappus 

 double ; exterior chafty, the interior downy. No 

 plant is better known than the China-aster as Lin- 

 naus called it. It ranks among those exotics called 



tender annuals, and as such are raised from seeds 

 (which ripen in this country) in hot beds in the 

 spring, and transplanted into beds or borders during 

 summer, to flower in the autumn. Of late yeais, 

 many new varieties have been raised from seed, beau- 

 tifully varied in colour, having a greater number of 

 ligulate florets, and the whole flower much increased 

 in size, and even vying with those of the dahlia. The 

 China-aster, or starwort, has always been regarded 

 for its late flowering, it being one of the principal 

 ornaments of the flower-garden when but few other 

 flowers are to be seen. 



Notwithstanding this exotic was introduced from 

 China above a century back, it does not appear to 

 have gained any greater degree of hardihood, from 

 its long sojourn in Europe, than it had at first ; so 

 that the idea of the possibility of acclimating plants 

 of warmer countries to the colder temperature of this, 

 does not hold good with respect to the plant under 

 notice. 



CALLISTEMON (R. Brown). A genus of 

 beautiful shrubs introduced into our collections from 

 New Holland. Linnaean class and order, Icosandria 

 Monogynia ; and natural order, Myrtaccce. Generic 

 character : calyx with a hemispherical tube, and the 

 margin divided into five lobes ; corolla of five petals ; 

 stamens numerous, seated in the throat of the calyx, 

 elongated ; style filiform : stigmas headed ; capsule 

 three-celled, containing many seeds thickened and 

 united to the tube of the calyx. The callistemons 

 were first included in the genus Mctrocideros, but 

 separated by Dr. Brown. They are all fine green- 

 house plants, partaking of the essential qualities and 

 general appearance of their type, the common myrtle. 



CALLITRICHINE.E. A natural order of dico- 

 tyledonous plants, containing only a single genus, 

 and three or four species. It is allied to the Halora- 

 gece, and by many authors is looked upon merely as a 

 section of that order. 



The characters of the order are, flowers monoe- 

 cious, naked, furnished with two-coloured bfacteae ; 

 one stamen, consisting of a thr'ead-like filament, 

 grooved along the middle, and a kidney-shaped, one- 

 celled anther ; ovary solitary, four-cornered or four- 

 celled : two awl-shaped styles ; fruit four-celled, four- 

 seeded, and indehisccnt ; seeds shield-shaped. 



The plants included in this order are aquatic herbs, 

 having entire opposite leaves, and very minute axil- 

 lary flowers. They are said to exhibit the lowest 

 degree of organisation in the dicotyledonous class of 

 vegetables, They are found in still waters in Europe 

 and America. 



The only genus is Callitriche, or water star-wort, of 

 whicl^there are three British species, vcrna, pcditncu- 

 lata and autumnalvs. These plants vary much in 

 appearance, according to the depth and stillness of 

 the water in which they grow. They are frequently 

 met with in ditches and pools, to which, along witn 

 the various species of duckweed, they give a green 

 and often thick covering. 



Their properties are still unknown. 



CALLITRIS (Ventenat) is a genus allied to the 

 pine family, a native of New Holland. Linnaean 

 class and order, Moncecia MonadelpJiia ; natural 

 order, CwiifertE. Generic character : male flowers in 

 a small ament or catkin, somewhat round, with peltate 

 scales, containing from two to five stamens united in 

 a brotherhood ; female flowers have a convex re- 

 ceptacle, with a double series of scales arranged 



