CITRUS. 



its indefinite stamens, and inverted embryo. It also 

 bears an affinity to BixinacE and HypcricinecE, but is 

 distinguished from these orders by its mealy albumen, 

 the absence of dots in its leaves and the structure of 

 its fruit.' 



The essential characters of the order are : sepals 

 five, persistent, unequal, two outer ones smaller, three 

 inner, with a twisted aestivation ; petals five, caducous, 

 equal, wrinkled in aestivation, and twisted in a direc- 

 tion opposite to that of the sepals ; stamens indefi- 

 nite, hypogynous, distinct ; anthers ovate, two-celled, 

 inserted by their base ; ovary distinct, one or many- 

 celled ; style single, filiform ; stigma simple ; fruit 

 a capsule, three to five-valved, occasionally ten-valved, 

 one-celled, with the valves, bearing a single longitudi- 

 nal placenta, or three to five-celled, with dissepiments 

 proceeding from the middle of the valves, and touch- 

 ing each other in the centre. Seeds indefinite in 

 number. 



The plants of the order are shrubs, or herbs with 

 viscid branches, simple, opposite or alternate leaves, 

 and racemose flowers, which are very fugacious, and 

 are of a white, yellow, or red colour. They are 

 chiefly found in the south of Europe and north of 

 Africa. A few are met with in North America, while 

 in South America and Asia the order is scarcely known. 



The rock-roses of our gardens give a good idea of 

 this order, of which they form the chief part. Their 

 properties are little known. Some of them yield a 

 resinous substance possessing tonic and stimulant 

 qualities. They are principally cultivated as orna- 

 mental plants on rock-work. 



The genera of the order are Cistus, Heluinthemum, 

 Hudsonia and Lecha. The two latter are exclusively 

 North American genera. 



The genus Cistus gives name to the order, and is 

 derived from a Greek word, signifying a box or cap- 

 sule, on account of the peculiarity of its seed-vessel. 

 There are twenty-eight species of cistus, most of 

 which are showy plants, flowering freely. Cistus cre- 

 ticus is an elegant shrub, which grows in dry rocky 

 places in the island of Crete, in Syria, and in several 

 parts of the Archipelago. It was first cultivated in 

 England in 1731. Its flowers, which are of a beauti- 

 ful purple colour, open at sun-rise, follow that lumi- 

 nary in its course, and fall off in the course of the 

 evening. From this species, as well as from Cistus 

 ladanifer, laurifoliws, &c., there is collected in the east 

 a resinous matter known by the name of ladanum or 

 labdanum. This substance is procured by drawing 

 lightly over the shrub a kind of rake to which leathern 

 thongs are attached in place of teeth. By this means 

 the unctuous juice which covers the plant is collected, 

 and is afterwards scraped off with a knife. There are 

 two kinds of ladanum met with in commerce, one in 

 masses more or less voluminous, of a blackish brown 

 colour,and soft consistence, the otherin rolled piecesof 

 a drier and harder texture. This gum-resin, when pure, 

 exhales an agreeable balsamic odour, and has a bitter 

 aromatic taste. When burnt it diffuses a thick white 

 smoke, and a pleasant perfume. As it occurs in com- 

 merce it is generally impure, being mixed with other 

 resinous substances, and with fine ferruginous sand. 



Ladanum is used in France as a tonic and astringent 

 in catarrhs, dysenteries, &c., and it enters into the 

 composition of some stimulating plasters. It is now 

 rarely used in medicine, and is chiefly employed in 

 fumigations, and in the formation of various perfumes 

 and cosmetics. 



Cistus villosits'hsLS large purple flowers.which are very 

 ephemeral, falling off the same day they expand. A 

 succession of fresh flowers come out daily for several 

 months. 



CITRUS (Linnaeus). The well-known and highly- 

 valued orange tree. Linnsean class and order Poly- 

 adelphia Polyandria ; and natural order AurantiacecE. 

 Generic character : calyx pitcher-shaped, in three or 

 five divisions ; petals five, often more ; stamens 

 compressed, variously united at the base ; anthers 

 oblong ; style cylindrical ; stigma hemispherical ; 

 fruit a berry of many cells, pulp composed of juicy 

 bladders ; cells containing seeds. It is scarcely ne- 

 cessary to observe, that the various species of this 

 genus are among the most beautiful, most fragrant, 

 arid most useful of fruit trees. The warmer parts of 

 the temperate zone appear to be the favourite cli- 

 mate of the orange ; but, even between the tropics, 

 they come to great perfection, provided the station is 

 high enough above the level of the sea. 



Whether the wild lime in the jungles of India be 

 the original stock from which all the numerous va- 

 rieties of the orange have been, in the course of time, 

 derived, is a question admitting of no certain answer. 

 The limes in India, and other places, are exactly 

 alike, and bear the same relation to the orange that 

 the crabs in the woods of England bear to the apple. 



The lime, lemon, orange, and shaddock, are the 

 most remarkable of what are called species ; but be- 

 tween the lemon and the shaddock, there are innu- 

 merable varieties called citrons, especially in Italy : 

 and of both the lemon and orange, there are many 

 varieties, differing in flavour, in bulk, and in shape 

 and colour. 



This fruit tree differs from all others, in bearing 

 two crops of fruit at the same time in different stages 

 of their growth towards perfection ; that is to say, 

 the young fruit of this spring 1835, do not ripen till 

 late in the autumn of 1836, and it sometimes happens 

 that flowers appear before the ripe fruit are gathered. 

 On this account it is that the orange tree is impatient 

 of frost ; as there is always some fruit on the tree, 

 which would be injured by severe cold. In all coun- 

 tries where the orange or lemon is cultivated, and 

 which may be subject to the least degree of frost, 

 precautions must be taken that the trees be defended 

 from it. In Britain, and in other northern countries 

 of Europe, orange trees are kept either in green- 

 houses or conservatories, more as ornamental than as 

 fruit trees. For the latter purpose their culture is 

 unnecessary ; seeing that the fruit are so cheaply 

 procurable from the south of Europe. Not but that 

 their culture to the utmost perfection is practicable in 

 the northern latitudes, for orangeries exist in many 

 places, where the affluent proprietors prefer plucking 

 mature fruit from their own trees, rather than depend 

 on the supplies from St. Michael's or the south of Spain. 



As all the best varieties of the citrus tribe are truly 

 artificial or accidental creations, they cannot be repro- 

 duced from their seed. In this respect they are 

 exactly like our garden and orchard fruits ; and, 

 therefore, must be perpetuated by grafting or budding. 

 The strongest stocks which can be raised from the 

 seeds of any of the varieties are always preferred. 

 Those from the lemon, or what is called the Madras 

 citron, are found to be the best for the finer sorts of 

 sweet oranges. The seeds should be sowed in the 

 previous summer ; potted off singly, as soon as pos- 

 sible, and forwarded so as to be ready to take the 



