116 DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES CHUSAN 



with a silky ash-coloured down ; it has a fleshy interior, divided 

 into five cells, each of which contains a single angular seed about 

 an inch in length. The celebrated traveller Humboldt de- 

 scribes the taste of the fruit as being like that of the apricot, 

 and that it is carefully cultivated in Peru and 'New Grenada ; 

 and W. Purdie, botanical collector in New Grenada for Kew in 

 1845, says it is among the finest of tropical fruits, its flavour is 

 more like that of the mango, better even than the apricot. It 

 was introduced to Jamaica through Purdie, and Mr. Wilson, for 

 some time director of the Jamaica Botanic Garden, in a letter 

 to the writer says: " It is now a tree 20 or 25 feet high, and last 

 year produced seven dozen fruits, one of which weighed two 

 pounds two ounces; it is full of stringy fibre, and not a good 

 fruit for dessert." Since then the tree has become common in 

 Jamaica. 



Chusan Palm {Chamcerops Fortunei), a fan-leaved palm, 

 native of Chusan and the north of China, attainino: a height 

 of 12 or more feet. The sheath at the base of the leaves be- 

 comes with age strongly fibrous, similar to that of the Piassaba . 

 of tropical America. The agricultural labourers in the north of 

 China make coats and hats of the fibrous substance, which has a 

 very Eobinson- Crusoe-like appearance ; but is good for keeping 

 out the rain. It is also used for making ropes and cables, and is 

 very strong and durable, even under water. This palm w^as 

 introduced into this country in 1844, and is hardy in sheltered 

 situations in southern counties. It was first supposed to be 

 C. excelsa of Thunb., a palm similar in habit, native of Japan, and 

 applied to similar purposes, of which, about fifty years ago, a 

 few plants were introduced to Holland, one being in 1837 sent 

 to Kew, and is now 12 feet high, with a girth of 1 foot 7 inches. 

 One of the originals sent by Mr. Fortune to Kew in 1844 was 

 planted in the front of the royal residence, Osborne, Isle of 

 Wight ; in 1881 it attained the height of 14|- feet, and girth 3 

 feet ; spread of leaves, 9 feet across. 



Cicely. {See Chervil.) 



Cinchona, the name of a Linnsean genus belonging to the 



