HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



CAK 



Carnation. See Dianthus 



Carolina Allspice. A popuar name of the Caly- 

 cnnthus, or Sweet-scented Shrub. 



Carolina Jasmine. See Gelsemi'im. 



Carpinus. Hornbeam, Iron Wood. From the 

 Celtic car, wood, and pinda, head ; the wood 

 being used for the yokes of cattle. Linn. Pentan- 

 dria-Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Gsrylacea.: 



C. Americftna, the only representative of this 

 genus in our woods, is a low-growing tree of 

 compact form, and a very rigid trunk. It is par- 

 ticularly handsome in autumn, because of its 

 richly colored foliage. It is found in nearly all 

 parts of the country, but is not plenty in any 

 section. The wood of this tree is exceedingly 

 hard and close-grained, and is well suited for 

 any work requiring great hardness and strength. 



Carpolyza. From karpos, fruit, and lyssa, rage ; 

 in reference to the three-celled fruit, or seed- 

 pod, opening like the mouth of an enraged ani- 

 mal. Linn. Hexandria-Monogynia. Nat. Ord. 

 AmaryttidacecK. 



A genus of South African bulbs, the only 

 species being C. spiralis, which is a very pretty 

 little plant. The leaves and flower scape are 

 twisted, fisom which fact it derives its specific 

 name. The flowers are white, sepals pink, 

 tipped with green. It requires protection in 

 winter, or may be kept dry and grown in pots, 

 starting them about the first of February. They 

 are propagated by offsets. Introduced in 1791. 



Carrot. Daucus carota. The wild Carrot, in- 

 digenous to Great Britain and many other parts 

 of Europe, and so extensively naturalized 

 in this country as to become one of the most 

 troublesome pests of the farmer, has generally 

 been supposed to be the parent of the many 

 varieties of the common garden Carrot, which 

 has been under cultivation from time immemo- 

 rial. Dioscorides describes accurately the Car- 

 rot, both as a wild plant and as cultivated as an 

 esculent root. The parentage was not ques- 

 tioned until Miller, the celebrated English gar- 

 dener and botanist, undertook to improve the 

 wild Carrot by cultivation, and signally failed in 

 his many and varied attempts. Others have ex- 

 perimented at different times, with no better 

 success. The prevailing opinion now is that 

 the garden Carrot is a distinct species, or was 

 obtained under circumstances entirely different : 

 or unknown at the present day. The Carrot 

 was introduced into England, in about its pres- j 

 ent form, by the Dutch, during the reign of j 

 Queen Elizabeth, and soon thereafter became a 

 favorite vegetable, and a useful as well as a | 

 profitable field crop. Careful selection has i 

 gradually improved the quality, in certain re- j 

 spects, of the Carrot, during the past hundred I 

 years, and good cultivation is now required to ! 

 keep the varieties up to their proper standard. 



Caruna. Caraway. From Caria, in Asia Minor, 

 where it was first discovered. Linn. Peniandria- 

 Difjynifi. Nat. Ord. Apiaceai. 



A small genus of hardy biennials, but one 

 species of which, C. Carui, is of any special in- 

 terest. This is a native of Europe, and produces ' 

 the Caraway seeds, which contain an aromatic 

 volatile oil, and are used in flavoring. The ' 

 plants are of the simplest culture, requiring 

 only to sow the seeds where the plants are wanted 

 to grow. 



Carya. Hickory. The Greek name for the Wal- 

 nut. Linn. Moxcncia-Polyandria. Nat. Ord. Jug- 

 landaceci;. 



A well-known genus of hardy deciduous trees, 



CAS 



confined wholly to North America. C. alba is 

 the common Shell-bark or Shag-bark Walnut, so 

 called on account of the rough, shaggy bark of 

 the trees, peeling off in long, narrow strips 

 from large trees. This species furnishes the 

 best Hickory-nuts. C. otkxqformis is the Pecan- 

 nut tree, common from Illinois southward. It 

 is a large and beautiful tree. Its delicious nuts 

 are well known. C. porcina is the Pig-nut, one 

 of the most valuable as a timber tree, but the 

 fruit is worthless. C. amara is the Bitter-nut or 

 Swamp Hickory-nut. C. sulcata is the Western 

 Shell-bark Hickory, remarkable for the size of 

 the nut, which has a very thick shell, but is of 

 excellent quality. C. tomentosa, common in the 

 West and South, bears the largest nuts of any of 

 the species, the size, however, being at the ex- 

 pease of the quality. The timber of all thespe- 

 cies is valuable for any purpose where strength 

 and elasticity are required. 



Caryota. From karyon, a nut. The Greeks first 

 applied the name to their cultivated Date. Linn. 

 Monoeda-Polyandria. Nat. Ord. PcUmacecK. 



C. wrens, commonly called Fish-tail Palm, is 

 the most prominent species of this genus. It is 

 a beautiful tree, growing from sixty to eighty 

 feet high, with a trunk a foot in diameter, pro- 

 ducing many pendulous spikes of flowers, 

 which are succeeded by strings of succulent 

 globular berries, dark red when ripe, and are 

 very sharp and acrid to the taste. In Ceylon it 

 yields a sort of liquor, sweet, wholesome, and no 

 stronger than water. It is taken from the tree 

 two or three times a day, each yield from a large 

 tree being from three to four gallons. When 

 boiled down it makes a coarse brown sugar 

 called jaggory. When the tree has come to ma- 

 turity, there comes out a bud from the top ; 

 that bud the natives cut and prepare by putting 

 salt, pepper, lemons, garlic, leaves, etc. , over it, 

 which keeps it from ripening. They daily cut 

 off a thin slice from the end, and the liquor 

 drops into a vessel, which they set to catch it. 

 The buds are most delicious to the taste, re- 

 sembling Walnuts or Almonds. The species are 

 natives of the Indies, and are grown in the 

 green-house, where they succeed well with the 

 same treatment as other tropical Palms require. 



Cashew-Nut. See Anacardium. 



Cassia. Senna. From the Greek name of a plant, 

 Kassian, of the Bible. Linn. Decandria-Mono- 

 gynla. Nat. Ord. fbbacece. 



An extensive genus of hardy herbaceous and 

 green-house perennials, found scattered over 

 nearly all parts of the globe. Many of the 

 species are well known, and considered of great 

 importance for their medicinal properties. The 

 leaflets of several of the species constitute what 

 is known in medicine as Senna leaves. Those 

 from C. acutifolia and C. obovata, African and 

 East Indian species, are the most highly-es- 

 teemed. The leaves of C. Marilandica, wild 

 Senna, a native of the Middle and Southern 

 States, have, to some extent, the same properties, 

 and are sometimes used as a substitute for the 

 officinal Senna. This species may be justly re- 

 garded one of our most valued plants for the 

 border. It grows from three to four feet high ; 

 foliage a beautiful deep green, not unlike the 

 finer Acacias ; flowers bright yellow, produced 

 in short axillary racemes, continuing a long 

 time in succession. Some of the road-sides of 

 Long Island are bordered with this plant, and 

 no public park, with all that art can bestow 

 upon its drives iu the way of ornamentation, 



