CLUB OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 121 



tlie shops. The Clove presents a singular history of monopoly 

 by the Dutch, who restricted the cultivation of the plant to the 

 island of Amboyna, and vast quantities of Cloves were destroyed 

 by them at Amsterdam in order to sustain a certain price. In 

 time, however, the plant was introduced to other islands, and is 

 now cultivated in Zanzibar, India, Ceylon, Mauritius, and the 

 West Indies. The Clove tree is known by modern botanists 

 under the name of Eugenia caryophyllata. 



Clove Bark (Dicypellmm caryopliyllatum), a large tree of 

 the Laurel family (Lauracese), native of Brazil. The bark is 

 made up in rolls of several layers, 2 feet in length, and about 

 an inch in diameter. It has the nature and flavour of cinnamon, 

 and when ground occasionally forms one of the ingredients of 

 some mixed spices. 



Clover {Trifolium pratense), a herb of the Bean family 

 (Leguminosse) ; the common red clover extensively cultivated as 

 cattle food, of which there are several varieties, by some botanists 

 considered as distinct species, the principal being Zigzag Clover 

 {T. medium), Carnation or Scarlet Clover (T. incarnatuin), Alsike 

 Clover [T. hyhridum). The White or Dutch Clover {T. repens), 

 well known as a cultivated fodder plant. T. joennsylvanicwn, 

 native of the United States, resembles the White Clover ; it is 

 extensively grown in this country, large quantities of seed being 

 annually imported from America. 



Club Gourd. {See Bottle Gourd.) 



Club Moss, a common name for different species of Lyco- 

 podium, a genus of Cryptogams of the family Lycopodiace?e, of 

 which there are six species, natives of Britain, found abundantly 

 in moorland bogs and heaths, both low and elevated. They are 

 by rustic practitioners considered to possess medicinal pro23erties. 

 A decoction of L. clavatum is used for a disease of the hair called 

 Plica poloniea. The spores of this species are like fine dust 

 (usually called pollen), highly absorbent, and have been used 

 to prevent excoriation in the skin of young children. This dust 

 is highly inflammable, and large quantities are collected called 

 Vegetable Sulphur, and at one time was used for producing arti- 



