890 



CREPIS 



CRINUM 



C. barbata, Linn.=ToIpis. C. montana, Reich. 12-18 in.: Ivs. 

 unequally dentate: fls. yellow in a large head. High mts., Switzer- 

 land, etc. Mentioned as grown in this country, but apparently 

 not in the trade. L H B t 



CRESCENTIA (after Crescenzi, thirteenth century 

 Italian agricultural writer). Bignoniacese. This genus 

 is chiefly interesting for the calabash tree, which has 



1106. Crescentia Cujete. The calabash. (XM) 



no near allies of horticultural importance; yields the 

 calabash fruit. 



Tropical trees, glabrous: Ivs. alternate, solitary or 

 clustered at nodes: fls. large, tubular, with a fluted 5- 

 cut limb, yellowish, with red or purple veins; calyx 

 2-parted or deeply 5-cut. About 5 species, in Mex. 

 and Cent. Amer. The calabash tree is a native of Trop. 

 Amer., is especially familiar in the W. Indies, and can 

 be grown outdoors in extreme S. Fla. and S. Calif. The 

 outer skin of the fr. is removed and the seeds and pulp 

 from within, and the hard woody shell is used for water- 

 gourds and for all sorts of domestic vessels, according 

 to size and shape. The growing fr. can be made to 

 assume various forms by skilful tying. It is a tree 

 20-40 ft. high, and readily distinguished from all 

 others by its peculiar habit of growth, as it bears large, 

 horizontal, scarcely divided branches, which bear 

 clusters of Ivs. at intervals. The tree is becoming 

 important in the manufacture of tobacco-pipes. 



Cujete,Linn. Fig. 1106. A handsome tree when grow- 

 ing in the open, with wide-spreading well-foliated 

 branches: Ivs. 4-6 in. long, broadly lanceolate, taper- 

 ing at the base, dark glossy green: fls. solitary, pendu- 

 lous; calyx 2-parted; corolla constricted below the mid- 

 dle, and then swollen above, malodorous when decay- 

 ing; stamens 4, sometimes 5: fr. frequently 18-20 in. 

 through. The growing tree has somewhat the habit of a 

 Burbank plum tree. B.M. 3430. N. TAYLOR, f 



CRESS. A name applied to the pungent herbage of 

 several species of the Cruciferse, used as salad. 



The leaves of the ordinary garden cress (Lepidium 

 sativum), sometimes called peppergrass, have a pleas- 

 ant pungency, somewhat like that of the water-cress, 

 which makes the plant well adapted to be used as a 

 popular condiment, served with salads, especially 

 lettuce, and also for garnishing purposes. The quick 

 sprouting habit of the seed is proverbial. Often the 

 plants show above ground the third day after seed is 

 sown. But if cress is wanted in its prime continuously, 

 new sowings must be made every few days. Sow seed 

 rather thickly in rows a foot apart, selecting any good 

 garden loam. The reason that this useful plant is 

 seldom seen in the average home garden is probably 



its liability to be attacked by hordes of flea-beetles 

 which seem to have a particular fondness for cress 

 pungency. But it is easily grown under glass, in flower 

 pots, flats, or on a bench, in any light and fairly warm 

 place and in any good soil. Grown thus it is usually 

 free from flea-beetle injury, and goes well with forced 

 lettuce. Seed is easily grown, either in the open or under 

 glass. The plants are allowed to mature their seeds, are 

 then pulled and the seed rubbed or thrashed out and 

 cleaned. There are slight variations in the form of 

 the leaves, some of which are more or less curled, others 

 more of the broad-leaved type. 



Water-cress (Nasturtium officinale of the older books, 

 but known as Radicula Nasturtium-aquaticum and 

 Roripa Nasturtium in recent books), Fig. 1107, is a 

 hardy perennial, and finds a congenial place in small, 

 running streams, shallow pools or ditches, wintering well 

 when covered with water. It is usually found freely, 

 bunched, in most of our markets and at green grocers'. 

 It grows readily from seed as well as from freshly cut 

 pieces of branches, and soon spreads over a large area. 

 The best product comes from clear running water. 



Similar to water-cress in pungency is the upland 

 cress (Barbarea prsecox), a hardy biennial. It also 

 grows easily from seed sown in the open or under glass 

 in ordinary soils and situations. The root-leaves are 

 used for garnishing and seasoning, but they are not of 

 the highest quality. See p. 454, Vol. I. 



Other plants sometimes grown under the name of 

 cress are Cardamine pratensis (p. 661) and Spilanthes 

 oleracea (which see). The very pungent root-leaves of 

 the former are said to be eaten, but apparently the 

 plant is not cultivated for this purpose. 



T. GREINER. 



CRINUM (Greek name for a lily). Amaryllidacese. 

 Large and showy flowering bulbs, mostly tender, closely 

 allied to Amaryllis and distinguished by the longer 

 perianth-tube; flowers usually white or in shades of 

 red; largely summer bloomers, but differing widely in 

 this respect. 



Stems arising from a tunicated bulb with a more or 

 less elongated neck: Ivs. mostly persistent, usually 

 broad, sometimes several feet long: fls. few or many in a 

 2-bracted umbel, often very fragrant and with 3 types 

 of coloring, pure white, banded red or purplish down the 

 center, or flushed with the same colors ; perianth salver- 

 form or funnel-shaped, the tube straight or curved, 

 long-cylindrical; segms. linear, lanceolate or oblong, 

 nearly or quite equal; stamens 6, attached on the throat 

 of the corolla, with long filiform filaments and very 

 narrow versatile anthers; ovary 3-celled, the ovules few 

 in each cell, the style long and filiform, somewhat bent 



1 107. Water-cress Radicula Nasturtium-aquaticum. 



downward, the stigma not lobed: fr. a roundish or 

 irregular caps., at length dehiscing; seeds large, green, 

 thick. Probably 100 species in warm and tropical 

 regions around the world, in moist or wet places. The 

 crinums are amaryllis-like plants of great beauty. 

 They are widely grown, often under the name -of 

 "lilies," some of them as warmhouse plants, some as 



