CENTAURY OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 103 



fully described in Hooker's Journal of Botany by Purdie and 

 Seemaim, botanical collectors for Kew, who had the opportunity 

 of seeing the tree growing, the first in New Grenada and the 

 second in Darien, between the years 1843 and 1850, and by 

 whom living plants were introduced to Kew. It was taken to 

 Trinidad by Purdie. 



Ceiba Tree. {See Silk Cotton Tree.) 



Celery (Apium graveolens)^ a biennial herb of the Carrot 

 family (Umbelliferse), native of various parts of England and 

 throughout Europe, also widely dispersed over the temperate 

 regions of the southern hemisphere. In its wild state it is, to a 

 certain degree, poisonous, but under cultivation and by bleaching 

 its leaf- stalks become a wholesome salad and pot-herb. Sir 

 Joseph Hooker, in the Flora Antarctica, says he could see no 

 difference between the European form and the Southern, but the 

 latter in its wild state was mild, and was constantly used by the 

 ship's crew ; this, he thinks, may be due to the less degree of 

 sunshine, for which blanching is the substitute. 



Celery -leaved Pine {Flmjllocladns rliomloidalis), a tree of 

 the Yew family (Taxaceae), native of Tasmania. A curious tree, 

 having no leaves; the terminal branches are united and flat, 

 performing the functions of leaves. It attains a height of 30 to 

 40 feet ; the wood is hard, and used for many purposes. 



Centaury, Common {Erytlircea centaurium), an annual herb 

 of the Gentian family (Gentianacese), native of this country, 

 common throughout Europe, varying from a few inches to a foot 

 in height, and from a single to a much-branched stem ; it has 

 pretty pink flowers. The whole plant is intensely bitter, and is 

 extolled for its medicinal properties by the ancient physicians 

 Galen and Dioscorides, as also by the old herbalists of this 

 country. 



Centaury, Australian {E. australis), is a pretty little 

 plant, with pink flowers, growing in the fields about Sydney ; 

 it is very similar to the European species, but is by botanists 

 considered distinct. It is collected and used as a tonic, and 

 is considered valuable in cases of dysentery and diarrhoea. 



