902 



CROTALARIA 



CRYPTANTHUS 



BB. Fls. not striped, pure yellow. 



incana, Linn. A woody perennial, 2-4 ft., with stout 

 round branches, the whole plant silky-hairy: Ifts. \Yy- 

 2 in. long, obtuse, cuneate below, membranous: fls. 

 12-20 in a raceme, yellow, at least J^in. long: pod 

 nearly sessile, loosely hairy. Common throughout the 

 tropics. B.R. 377. 



capensis, Jacq. Stout, much-branched shrub, 4-5 

 ft. high: branches terete, appressedly silky; stipules 

 when present petiolulate, obovate and If.-like, obsolete 

 or wanting on many petioles: Ifts. broadly obovate, 

 obtuse or mucronulate, glabrous or minutely pubescent 

 on one or both sides: racemes terminal or opposite the 

 Ivs., loose, many-fld., the fls. usually more than 1 in. long; 

 calyx and pod pubescent; wings transversely wrinkled 

 and pitted. S. Afr. Cult, in S. Fla. 



C. Trdpeae, Mattei. An erect or prostrate annual: racemes lat- 

 eral, often 20-fld. or more; fls. small, yellowish. Italian Somaliland. 



WILHELM MILLER. 

 N. TAYLOR. f 



CROTON (Greek name, probably of the castor bean). 

 Euphorbiacese. Herbs, shrubs or trees of no special 

 horticultural value; some cultivated for economic prod- 

 ucts which they yield. 



Pubescence stellate or scaly: Ivs. usually alternate: 

 fls. mostly in terminal spikes or racemes, usually 

 monoecious, sometimes dioecious; sepals usually 5-10, 

 small, petals present at least in the staminate fls.; 

 stamens 5 to many, incurved in the bud ; ovary 3-celled, 

 1 ovule in each cell. Five hundred or more species in 

 the warmer parts of the world, chiefly in Amer. Several 

 herbaceous species native in S. and W. U. S. 



1119. Croton alabamensis. 



For Croton tinctorius, see Chrozophora; for C. 

 sebiferus, see Sapium. See also Codiseum for the com- 

 monly cultivated crotons of florists. 



Tiglium, Linn. CROTON-OIL PLANT. PHYSIC-NUT. 

 PURGING CROTON. Small tree: Ivs. ovate, acuminate, 

 serrate, petiolate, varying from metallic green to bronze 

 and orange: pistillate fls. apetalous. S.E.Asia. Blanco. 

 Fl. Fil. 383. The powerful purgative, croton oil, is 

 obtained from the seeds. Offered in S. Calif, as an 

 ornamental and curious plant. 



Eluteria, Benn. CASCARILLA. SEASIDE BALSAM. 

 SWEETWOOD. Petals in both staminate and pistillate 



fls.: Ivs. ovate-lanceolate, acuminate subcordate. 

 Bahamas. B.M. 7515. This species and C. Cas- 

 carilla, Benn., Bahamas and Fla., yield the cascarilla, 

 bark. 



alabamensis, E. A. Smith. Fig. 1119. Shrub, 6-9 ft. 

 high: Ivs. evergreen, nearly entire, oblong-lanceolate, 

 upper side nearly smooth, lower side densely silvery 

 scaly: both staminate and pistillate fls. with petals. 

 Local in Ala., rarely cult. G.F. 2:594 (see Fig. 1119). 



J. B. S. NORTON. 



CROWFOOT: Ranunculus. 



CROWN IMPERIAL: Fritillaria Imperialis. 



CRUCIANELLA (Latin, a little cross; from the ar- 

 rangement of the leaves). Rubiacese. CROSSWORT. 

 Hardy rock plants of minor importance. 



Herbs, often woody at the base: branches usually 

 long, slender, 4-cornered: upper Ivs. opposite, without 

 stipules; lower Ivs. or all in whorls of 3 or more, linear 

 or lanceolate, rarely ovate or obovate: fls. small, white, 

 rosy or blue. About 30 species, natives of the Medit. 

 region and W. Asia. The genus is closely related to 

 Asperula, and is distinguished by the fls. having bracts, 

 not an involucre, and the style - branches distinctly 

 unequal instead of nearly equal. The first species 

 below has lately been referred to Asperula. It is of 

 easy cult., preferring light, moderate loam and partial 

 shade. A delicate plant for the front of borders, and 

 capital for the rockery. Prop, chiefly by division, 

 and also by seeds. 



stylosa, Trin. (Asperula ciliata, Rochel). Annual, 

 prostrate, 6-9 in. high: lys. in whorls of 8 or 9, lanceo- 

 late, hispid: fls. small, crimson-pink, in round terminal 

 heads ^in. diam.; floral parts in 5's; style club-shaped, 

 long exserted, very shortly twice cut at the top. June- 

 Aug. Persia. Grown, and often acting in England, 

 as a perennial. 



angustifdlia, Linn. Annual: lower Ivs. 6 to a whorl, 

 linear, on an erect or sometimes branching, smooth st. : 

 fls. white, in spike-like clusters, small, the petals some- 

 times short mucronate. Medit. region. July. 



C. chlorostachys, Fisch. & Mey. Annual, rough and spreading, 

 but the whole plant only 4-6 in. high: fls. small, in spike-like 

 clusters. C. glomerata, Bieb. (Asperula glomerata, Griseb.), has 

 yellowish green fls. in many interrupted spikes. Palestine to Persia. 

 Properly an Asperula. j^ TAYLOR t 



CRYPTANTHE (Greek, for hidden flower}. Bor- 

 raginaceie. NIEVITAS. This genus includes many spe- 

 cies referred by some writers to Eritrichium and Kry- 

 nitzkia, but probably none of them is in cult. They 

 are mostly annuals, with white fls., which are usually 

 sessile : calyx 5-parted to the base, as long as the corolla- 

 tube; segms. more or less hispid or with hooked bristles, 

 in fr. closely embracing the nutlets, eventually decidu- 

 ous: nutlets 4, sometimes 3, 2 or 1, smooth, papillate, 

 or muriculate, never rugose. Over 60 species, in 

 Pacific N. Amer., southward, into N. Mex. and Chile. 

 C. glomerata, Lehm. (Krynitzkia glomerata, Gray), 

 is a coarse biennial, 1-3 ft. high: Ivs. spatulate or linear- 

 spatulate. Plains, along eastern base of Rocky Mts. C. 

 barbigera, Greene (K. barbigera, Gray. Eritrichium barbi- 

 gerum, Gray). Nine to 12 in. high: Ivs. linear. S. Calif. 



CRYPT ANTHUS (Greek, for hidden flower) . Brome- 

 liacex. Brazilian epiphytal bromeliads, differing from 

 ^Echmea and Billbergia (which see for culture) in the 

 tubular calyx and the dense heads of flowers nearly 

 sessile amongst the leaves. 



Leaves crowded in a rosette, recurved-spreading, 

 spinulose-serrate : fls. in a terminal head, nearly buried 

 beneath the bracts; petals oblong, joined at the base; 

 stamens attached to corolla-tube. Monogr. by Mez 

 (who recognizes 8 species) in DC. Monogr. Phaner. 9, 

 (1896) ; by some; all are considered to be forms of one 

 species. 



