CERASTIUM 



CERATONIA 



717 



AA. Lvs. silvery or grayish. 

 B. Caps, equaling the calyx. 



grandifldrum, Waldst. & Kit. (C. argenteum, Bieb.). 

 Creeping perennial: Ivs. linear, acute, the margins 

 reflexed: infl. dichotomous; fl.-sts. 6-8 in. high; petals 

 oval, 2-parted, transparent white, twice as long as 

 calyx. E. Eu. 



BB. Caps, much longer than the calyx. 



Biebersteinii, DC. Perennial: sts. 6 in., creeping, 

 diffuse, branched: Ivs. ovate-lanceolate, tomentose- 

 woolly: peduncles erect, dichotomous; fls. white: caps, 

 ovate-cylindrical. Tauria. B.M. 2782. Gn. 59, p. 470. 

 Like C. tomentosum, but with larger Ivs. Fine for 

 edgings. 



Boissieri, Gren. Perennial, low: Ivs. silvery, ovate- 

 lanceolate, acute, entire, sessile: pedimcles 4-12 in. 

 high; infl. a dichotomous cyme; fls. large, white. Spain. 



tomentdsum, Linn. SNOW-IN-STJMMER. Perennial, 

 low, creeping, branched : Ivs. oblong, spatulate, grayish 

 woolly, upper Ivs. lanceolate: peduncles 6 in. high, 

 erect, dichotomous; fls. white: caps, cylindrical. Eu. 

 G. 29:555. Gn. 69, p. 143. Much used for edgings. 



E. Z. B.f 



C^RASUS (from Cerasunt or Cerasonte, a place in 

 Asia Minor on the Black Sea, whence cherries are said 

 to have been brought to Italy before Christ). CHERRY. 

 Rosdcese. Tournefort in 1700 founded the genus Cera- 

 sus, but by general usage it is now combined with 

 Prunus inasmuch as no single important character 

 holds clearly between the two groups. The name is 

 sometimes kept distinct in trade lists, representing the 

 cherries as distinct from the plums. Botanically, the 

 group is distinguished from Prunus proper (the plum 

 group) in having conduplicate vernation (young Ivs. 

 with the halves folded together) rather than involute 

 vernation, fls. more characteristically in umbels or 

 racemes, fr. mostly lacking bloom and pubescence, and 

 the stone not corrugated or pitted. See Prunus. 



L. H. B. 



CERATIOLA (Greek, a little horn, referring to the 

 four-branched, serrate stigma). Empetracese. A heath- 

 like evergreen, from the sand barrens of South Carolina 

 to Florida and Alabama; rarely cultivated North, but 

 not hardy. 



Branches often whorled as are the Ivs., which are 

 narrow, strongly revolute and thus almost tubular: 

 fls. dioecious, 2-3-whorled in the axils, sessile; sepals, 

 petals and stamens, each 2. Only 1 species. 



ericoides, Michx. Height 2-8 ft. : branches subverti- 

 cillate, marked with scars of numerous fallen Ivs., the 

 younger and upper ones only retaining foliage: Ivs. 

 crowded, M~/4i n - l9 n g> linear, rigid, shining, pale: fls. 

 inconspicuous reddish, whorled in the axils: drupe 

 round, orange-yellow, berry-like. B.M. 2758. 



N. TAYLOB.f 



CERATOLOBUS (Greek for horned pod). Palmdcex, 

 tribe Caldmeas. Low or creeping pinnate palms allied 

 to Calamus, and not as yet common in the American 

 trade. 



Stems and If .-stalks spiny but not the If .-blades: sts. 

 frequently 30 ft. or more long and armed with stout 

 spines an inch long: Ivs. pinnate, often as much as 7 ft. 

 long, with numerous alternate or opposite Ifts., which 

 are crenate-dentate towards the apex: fls. polygamous- 

 monoecious, in a paniculately branched spadix: fr. 

 drupe-like, 1 -seeded. There are only 3 wild species and 

 2 species known in horticultural literature, the botani- 

 cal status of which is doubtful. All the wild species 

 come from Java or Sumatra. For cult., see Calamus to 

 which Ceratolobus is closely related, differing in having 

 rhomboid, not linear Ifts. G.C. II. 23:338. 



glaucescens, Blume. St. up to 30 ft. and about 

 as thick as one's wrist: Ivs. 6-7 ft. long, of 14-18 sessile, 

 erect or spreading Ifts. which are 8-10 in. long, 2^j- 

 3^2 in. wide, opposite above, alternate below: spadix 

 from the axils of the upper Ivs. : spathes 2-horned, 4- 

 6 in. long. Java. 



C. cdncolor, Blume. Similar, with 10-14 Ifts., relatively broader 

 than in C. glaucescens. Sumatra. C. Findley&nus, Hort. Lvs 21 

 ft. long, clear pale shining green. Hab.(7). A.G. 15:169. C. 

 Micholitziana, Hort. Very elegant palm, the st. and If.-rachis with 

 scattered spines: Ivs. oblong, the Ifts. remote, linear-oblong, acute, 

 pale on the under surface. Horticulturally the most attractive of 



thegroup - N.TAYLOR. 



CERATONIA (Greek for horn, in reference to the 

 large pod). Leguminosse. CAROB. A handsome ever- 

 green tree, bearing large pods that are used somewhat 

 for human food but chiefly for forage. 



One of the Cassia tribe: calyx-tube disk-bearing, 

 somewhat top-shaped, the segms. 5 and short; petals 

 0; stamens 5: pod long (4-12 in.), compressed, thick and 

 coriaceous, indehiscent, filled with a pulpy substance, 

 bearing obovate transverse seeds. C. Siliqua, Linn. 

 (Figs. 877, 878), the only species, is now widely dis- 

 tributed in warm countries, being grown both for shade 

 and for the edible pods. It reaches a height of 40-50 

 ft.: Ivs. pinnate, shining, the 2-3 pairs of Ifts. oval 

 and obtuse: fls. in small lateral red racemes, polygamo- 

 dicecious, the 

 trees said to be 

 variable in sex- 

 uality at differ- 

 ent ages. It 

 thrives well in S. 

 Calif, and S.Fla. 

 The dry pods 

 are occasionally 

 seen in the fruit 

 stands in north- 

 ern markets. 

 There are many 

 varieties, differ- 

 ing in the size 

 and shape of pod. 

 The Ceratonia is 

 known also as Algaroba, Karoub, Caroubier, and St. 

 John's Bread. The last name records the notion that 

 the seeds and sweet pulp are respectively the locusts 

 and wild honey which St. John found in the wilder- 

 ness. The dry valves or pods have been supposed to 

 be the husks that provided the subsistence of the prod- 

 igal son. See G.F. 3:318, 323. The seeds are said to 

 have been the original carat weight of goldsmiths. 



L. H. B. 



The carob is of much importance as a farm crop 

 throughout the Mediterranean basin and other hot 

 and semi-arid regions. According to Alphonse de Can- 

 dolle, its original home was about the eastern end of the 

 Mediterranean, including the southern coast of Asia 

 Minor and Syria and perhaps Tripoli. Its cultivation 

 began in historic times, and was diffused by the Greeks 

 in Italy and Greece and was carried by the Arabs west 

 as far as Spain and Morocco. In all these countries 

 the large pods, rich in protein and sugar, are a very 

 important forage crop, being eaten with avidity by all 

 kinds of stock, besides furnishing considerable susten- 

 ance to the poor in times of scarcity, and are also used 

 for the manufacture of syrups and different fermented 

 drinks. Carob pods were the main sustenance of Well- 

 ington's cavalry in the Peninsular campaign and at 

 the present time are the chief food of the British army 

 horses on the island of Malta and the horses of the 

 tramways in the cities of southern Italy. They form 

 one of the principal exports of Palestine, Syria and 

 especially of the island of Cyprus. Thousands of tons 

 are annually imported into England where they are 

 ground for stock -feed. A. Aaronsohn, Chief of the 



877. Ceratonia Siliqua. 



