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CUPHEA CUPULIFER^E. 



in our stoves, is grown in loam and moor-earth, and 

 is propagated by ripened cuttings struck in sand, and 

 a Httle heat. 



CUPHEA (R. Brown). A genus of greenhouse, 

 annuals, and hothouse under-shrubs, natives of the 

 West Indies. Linnaean class and order Dodecan- 

 dria Monogynia, and natural order Salicarice. Generic 

 character : calyx tubular, swollen at the base ; limb 

 from six to twelve-toothed, the upper tooth broad ; 

 petals six, inserted in the calyx ; stamens from ten 

 to fourteen, fixed to the throat of the calyx, unequal ; 

 anthers two-celled ; style filiform ; stigma simple or 

 two-lobed, bottom of the ovarium glandular ; capsule 

 covered by the calyx, one-celled ; seeds like lentils. 

 The annual species may be sown in the open ground, 

 like other annuals ; and the biennial sorts should be 

 raised on heat, put into pots, and kept in the green- 

 house or stove. 



CUPRESSUS (Linnaeus). A genus ofornamental 

 evergreen trees, commonly called cypress. They 

 belong to the twenty-first class of Linnaeus, and to 

 the natural order Coniferce. A few of this genus are 

 kept and propagated and managed like other green- 

 house plants. The hardy sorts are raised from seeds, 

 and nursed in pots till fit to be planted on lawns or 

 other parts of ornamented ground. When young 

 they are tender, and liable to be killed by severe 

 frost ; but in favourable situations, as in the south of 

 England, and in all warmer countries, they gain a 

 considerable height, and are very conspicuous trees. 

 They were anciently, as well as at present, in south- 

 eastern Europe, chosen as memorials of the dead ; 

 and still are the principal ornaments of cemeteries in 

 Greece and over all the Ottoman empire. 



CUPULIFERjE The oak family. A natural 

 order of dicotyledonous plants, containing five or six 

 genera, and numerous important species. It is allied 

 to the willow and birch families, but is distinguished 

 from the former by the veining of its leaves, and from 

 the latter by the presence of a calyx. It bears also 

 an affinity to UrticefE, but differs in its many-celled 

 ovary, pendulous ovules, and superior calyx. By many 

 .botanists this order is considered merely as a section 

 of Amentacece. The name Cupulifereee is derived from 

 the peculiar husk, or cup (cupule), in which the fruit 

 is enclosed. 



The essential characters are : flowers unisexual ; 

 male ones amentaceous, with from five to twenty 

 stamens, which are generally distinct, and are inserted 

 into the base of the scales, or perianth ; female ones 

 aggregate, or amentaceous ; ovaries crowned by the 

 rudiments of a superior calyx, seated within a coria- 

 ceous involucre, variously formed, and with several 

 cells and ovules, the greater number of which are 

 abortive ; ovules twin, or solitary, pendulous ; stigmas 

 several, nearly sessile, distinct ; fruit, a horny, or 

 coriaceous, one-celled nut, more or less enclosed in 

 the enlarged involucre (cupule) ; seeds solitary, two 

 to three, pendulous ; embryo large, with plano-convex, 

 fleshy cotyledons, and a minute superior radicle. 



The plants belonging to this order are trees or 

 shrubs, having alternate simple stipulate leaves, with 

 veins proceeding straight from the midrib to the 

 margin. They inhabit chiefly the temperate parts of 

 the northern hemisphere, and form extensive forests 

 both in the old and new world. They are common 

 in Europe, Asia, and North America, and they are 

 also found in some parts of South America, and in 

 the northern parts of Africa. They are said to be 



totally unknown at the Cape of Good Hope. Some 

 of the species grow on the high lands of tropical 

 regions. 



The order furnishes many trees which are highly 

 valued on account of their timber. Its medicinal 

 properties in general may be said to be astringent 

 and tonic, and it includes some plants which are used 

 in the arts, and others which are employed as articles 

 of materia medica. 



The chief genera are, Quercus, or oak ; Castanea, 

 or chestnut ; Fagus, or beech ; and Corylus, or hazel 

 nut. 



The genus Quercus, or oak, belongs to the class 

 Monaeria, order Polyandria of the Linnaean system, 

 and is well known as supplying many important 

 species of forest trees. According to Michaux, there 

 are at least forty-four species of the genus in America, 

 confined entirely to the northern hemisphwe, ex- 

 tending from the 48th to the 20th degree of latitude ; 

 while in the old world there are upwards of thirty 

 species, which grow both in the northern and southern 

 parts, from the 60th degree of north latitude. The 

 species have been divided by him into separate 

 sections, according as the fructification is annual or 

 biennial ; and the different forms of the leaves have 

 furnished him with a means of further subdivision. 



Of all the species, the Quercus robur, or pedunculata, 

 of some foreign authors, the common British oak 

 demands our first attention, whether we consider the 

 dignity of its stature, or the variety of uses to which 

 it is applied. It is the king of our forests, excelling 

 all other trees in the beauty of its growth, the 

 thickness of its trunk, and the hardness and solidity 

 of its wood. It constitutes the greatest part of the 

 European forests, extending from the 60th to the 

 35th degree of latitude. It is indigenous in our 

 island, and grows well in almost any soil, and even 

 in the most exposed situations. It delights in rich 

 deep earth, but the finest grained timber is said to be 

 produced in sandy soils. It is found both in forests 

 and hedgerows, but succeeds best in the former. The 

 flowers appear in spring, but the exact time at which 

 the leaves and flowers expand varies much, accord- 

 ing to the situation and soil in which the tree grows. 

 Sometimes we notice one oak in full leaf, and another, 

 not far from it, without any such appearance, owing 

 to the coldness or barrenness of the soil in which it 

 has been planted. The leaves are generally put forth 

 at a later period than those of other trees, but they 

 continue longer green. 



The oak is usually raised from its seeds, which are 

 ripened in October, and well known by the name of 

 acorns. These may be either sown at once in the 

 place where the oaks are to remain, or in a nursery, 

 and the young trees subsequently planted out. They 

 are sown in the spring or autumn, in loamy well 

 prepared soil, and the young plants generally appear 

 above ground in the course of six weeks. If reared 

 in a nursery, they may be planted out in the course 

 of two years, and considerable care is necessary in 

 keeping the ground clean, and free from weeds. The 

 plants, in the first instance, are set in rows, four feet 

 asunder, and two feet distant in the rows, and after 

 twelve or fourteen years, every second plant is taken 

 out, and sold for hoops, or small poles. After seven 

 or eight years more, another thinning may be prac- 

 tised, the" strongest and most vigorous trees being 

 left to form timber at the distance of twenty or thirty 

 feet from each 'Hher. The plantations should be 



