CEDRUS CELASTRINE^. 



761 



lisjrht, is hollowed into canoes, and is used for covering 

 houses, as well as for a variety of other purposes. 

 It is apt to communicate a peculiar flavour to liquors, 

 and therefore cannot be made into casks for keeping 

 spirits, Cedrcla toona is a beautiful large tree, with 

 a straight stem, and a smooth grey-coloured bark. 

 It is furnished with alternate drooping leaves, twelve 

 or thirteen inches long, and numerous small white 

 Huwevs, which emit a smell like honey. It is common 

 in Bengal, and, as already mentioned, is used for 

 timber. This species and Cedrcla fchriftigft, have 

 fragrant resinous barks, which are used medicinally 

 in levers. 



Sn'/rteuift, a genus named in honour of Baron Van 



Swieleu, at whose suggestion the Botanic Garden at 



Vienna was first established, contains two important 



species. The first of these, Swielema mahagoni, pos- 



s much interest in consequence of furnishing the 



niahoirany of commerce. It is a lofty tree with 



spreading branches, bearing a fruit about the size of 



a turkey's egg. It grows in Jamaica, Cuba, Hispa- 



nioki, &c., and was introduced into Kew gardens 



early in the last century. Mahogany is imported in 



quantities from Honduras and Jamaica. It 



varies in durability and firmness of grain, according 



to soil, situation, and various other circumstances. 



The bark of the trunk of the mahogany tree is brown, 



rough, and scaly, that of the branches is smooth and 



It has a weak aromatic smell, a bitter astrin- 



taste, and has been proposed as a substitute for 



Peruvian bark. From the trials which have been 



made of it, however, it docs not seem to possess the 



uge properties of cinchona. 



The seeled species is Swiclenin febrifuga, known 

 in India under the name of Soymida, and called, on 

 the Coromandel coast, the red-wood tree. It is a 

 lofty tree, like mahogany, found in mountainous dis- 

 tricts in India, and yielding a hard, heavy and durable 

 wood, whi h is employed by the natives in the con- 

 struction of their temples. The trunk is straight, and 

 is covered with a rough grey bark, which is internally 

 of a red colour, and which is used for dyeing brown. 

 This bark has an astringent bitter taste, and was first 

 brought into notice by Dr. Roxburgh, as a substitute 

 for cinchona in the cure of intermittent fever. It 

 ilso been used as a tonic in the remittent bilious 

 lever of India, and in cases of debility and gangrene. 

 Its reputation, however, has not been sufficiently 

 established, to induce practitioners in this country to 

 prescribe it in place of Peruvian bark or quinine. In 

 large doses it is said to occasion giddiness arid stupor. 

 An extract prepared from the bark has an appearance 

 -iinilar to the kino of commerce. 



Flindcrsia, a genus named in honour of Captain 

 Flinders, is distinguished from the other genera of the 

 order, by the insertion of its seeds, and the mode in 

 which its capsules open, as well as by having its 

 leaves dotted with pellucid glands. Oxlcya xan- 

 'la is a large tree, which yields the yellow wood 

 of New South Wales. C/1/oro.rylon Siciclciiia is a 

 middle-sized tree, found in mountainous parts of the 

 Ea?t Indies, which also furnishes a wood of a yellow 

 colour. 



CEDRUS (Barrelier). A genus separated from 

 Pinm, containing two species, the cedar of Lebanon, 

 and the deodora, a lofty timber tree, native of Nepal. 

 Linnaran class and order Moiuecia Monadctpkia; 

 natural order Conifcra;. 



CELANDINE is the Chilidonium mnjtis of Bauhin, 



and a common British plant, growing on hedge banks 

 in many places. The flowers are yellow, and when 

 the leaves or stalks are broken, a deep yellow coloured 

 juice is exuded. 



CELASTRINE.E (Celastrm, or staff-tree family). 

 A natural order of dicotyledonous plants, containing- 

 ten genera and upwards of one hundred known 

 species. This order was formerly included under 

 Rhamnece, but was separated by Mr. Brown on 

 account of the ovary being free, the calyx imbri- 

 cated, and the stamens alternate with the petals. 

 The order is allied to Hippocfateaceee, but differs in 

 the number of the stamens, and in their not being 

 rnonadelphous. 



The essential characters of celastrinese are : sepals 

 four or five, combined at the base, or imbricated ; 

 petals four or five, alternate with the sepals, rarely 

 wanting ; stamens equal in number to the petals, 

 and alternate with them ; anthers two-celled ; disk 

 large, closely surrounding the ovary ; ovary free, 

 immersed in the disk, with three or four cells ; cells 

 one or many seeded ; ovules erect, rarely pendulous ; 

 style one, or wanting ; stigma two to four-cleft ; 

 fruit superior, either with a capsule, berry, drupe, or 

 samara, various in form ; seeds ascending, frequently- 

 provided with an arillus. 



The plants belonging to the order are shrubs or 

 trees, with simple alternate or opposite leaves, and 

 white or greenish flowers, growing iu axillary cymes 

 or terminal racemes. They are found extensively 

 scattered over the globe. In general, however, they 

 inhabit the warm parts of Europe, North America, 

 and Asia, and are not abundant within the tropics. 

 Many are natives of the Cape of Good Hope, and a 

 few are found in South America and New Holland. 

 Tiieir properties are not well known. 



The order has been divided into two sections: 



1. Staphylcaccee, or bladder-nut tribe, including the 

 genera Staphylea and Tarpinia. This division is, by 

 Brorigniart and others, made a separate order, charac- 

 terised by its opposite pinnated leaves, which are 

 furnished with stipules. 



2. Euonymece, or spindle-tree tribe, including the 

 genera Euonymus, Celasirus, ELeodendron, Maytcnus, 

 &c. 



A third tribe, Ar/irifoliaceee of Decandolle, is now 

 referred to the section of monopetalous plants, and 

 will be noticed under II.ICINK.K. 



Several species of Staphylca and Euonymus are 

 valued in shrubberies as ornamental plants. Staphylea 

 pinnata, common bladder-nut, is a native of Britain, 

 and grows in thickets and hedges both in Yorkshire 

 and Kent. It is frequently cultivated in gardens on 

 account of its singularity, and in this way has become 

 naturalised in some parts of the country. It is a 

 shrub bearing graceful drooping clusters of white 

 flowers, which are followed by a large curious fruit 

 covered with a sort of bladder ; hence the English 

 name of the genus. The nuts are said to possess 

 emetic properties, and to have a sweet nauseous 

 taste. They are hard and smooth, and are strung 

 for beads by the Catholics in some countries. 



Euonymus Europeens, common sprindle-tree or 

 prickwood, is also a native of Britain, and grows 

 generally in hedges and thickets. The plant is 

 reckoned poisonous, and, when bruised, it emits a 

 fetid odour. Its fruit or capsule is of a beautiful 

 rose-colour, occasionally white. The coat of the 

 seed, or arillus, is of un orange-colour, and is finely 



