HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



51 



C(EL 



firewood. The wood of this Palm, when fresh 

 cut, is spongy, but becomes hard after being 

 seasoned, and assumes a dark brown color. On 

 the top of the tree a large shoot is produced, 

 which, when boiled, resembles Broccoli, but is 

 said to be of a more delicate taste; and though 

 much liked, is seldom used by the natives, be- 

 cause, on cutting it off, the pith is exposed, and 

 the tree dies. Between this cabbage-like shoot 

 and the leaves there spring several buds, from 

 which, on making an incision, there distills a 

 juice differing but little from water, either in 

 color or consistence. It is the employment of a 

 certain class of men to climb to the top of the 

 trees in the evening, with earthen pots tied to 

 their waists, which they fix there to receive the 

 juice, which is regularly carried away before the 

 sun has had any influence upon it. This liquor 

 is sold at the bazaars by the natives under the 

 name of toddy. After being kept a few hours it 

 begins to ferment, acquires a sharp taste, and a 

 slightly intoxicating quality, in which state it is 

 drank by the natives and poorer classes with 

 avidity. It is also used as yeast, for which it 

 forms an excellent substitute. By boiling it a 

 coarse kind of sugar is obtained; and by distil- 

 lation it yields a strong, ardent spirit, which is 

 sold at a low price, constituting it a most perni- 

 cious beverage. The outside rind or husk of the 

 fruit yields the fiber from which the well-known 

 Cocoanut matting is manufactured. In order 

 to obtain it the husks are soaked in salt water 

 for six or twelve months, when the fiber is easily 

 separated by beating, and is made up into a 

 coarse kind of yarn called coir. Besides its use 

 for matting, it is extensively used in the manu- 

 facture of heavy cordage for ships' cables. It is 

 also used for various kinds of brushes, and for 

 stuffing mattresses, cushions, etc. The next im- 

 portant product of the fruit is the oil, which is 

 procured by boiling and pressing the white ker- 

 nel or albumen of the nut. It is liquid at the 

 ordinary temperature in tropical countries, and 

 while fresh is used in cooking. By the time the 

 nuts reach this country the albumen is solid, 

 and has frequently a rancid smell or taste. 

 When green, or first gathered, this substance is 

 easily separated by pressure into what is termed 

 stearine, which is made into candles, and a very 

 good oil, used for burning in lamps. As an ar- 

 ticle of food the kernel is of the greatest impor- 

 tance to the inhabitants of the tropics. In the 

 Laccadives it forms the chief food, each person 

 consuming four nuts per day, and the fluid, 

 commonly called milk, affords them an agreeable 

 beverage. While young they yield a delicious 

 substance resembling blanc-mange. As the nut 

 ripens, the milk is gradually absorbed, or hard- 

 ens into the white, fleshy substance that we find 

 when we receive them. The Cocoanuts brought 

 to this market are chiefly from Central America, 

 where they are gathered from the interior by the 

 natives, brought to the coast, and sold to deal- 

 ers who make that trade a specialty. Cbcos Wed- 

 delliaiut, recently introduced, is the most orna- 

 mental of this group, and one of the most grace- 

 ful Palms in cultivation. For dinner-table deco- 

 ration there is no Palm to compare with it. It 

 is very dwarf, with finely-divided foliage, which 

 is recurved with exquisite grace. It deserves a 

 place in the smallest collection of plants. The 

 ' 'ocas are all propagated from seed, and require 

 a temperature of about 70 for the germination 

 of the seed and the growth of the plants. 

 Coelogyne. From koilos, hollow, and gynf, a fe- 



COF 



male ; in reference to the female organ or pistil. 

 Linn. Gynandria-Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Orchi* 

 daceoK. 



An extensive genus of very beautiful Orchids, 

 natives of sub-tropical Asia. Most of the spe- 

 cies are great favorites with Orchid growers, on 

 account of their remarkable flowers, which are 

 produced in great numbers with but very little 

 care or trouble. C. cristata is one of the finest 

 of the genus. The flowers are ivory-white, with 

 a blotch of yellow on the lip. "This is a magnifi- 

 cent species, which any one having a green- 

 house can grow. Of late years it has been grown 

 in great perfection, and it is as easy to have 

 plants a foot or more in diameter, producing 

 hundreds of flowers, as it is to grow Verbenas. 

 Give plenty of water when growing, free circu- 

 lation of warm air, and not too much heat." 

 Hand. May be grown in moss in pots. Propa- 

 gated by division. Introduced in 1837. 

 Coffea. Coffee Tree. From Caffa, the name of a 

 province in Narea, in Africa, where it grows in 

 abundance. Linn. Pentandr'm-Monogynia. Nat. 

 Ord. CinchonacefK. 



The Coffee of commerce is the fruit of an 

 evergreen shrub, or low-growing tree, rarely 

 attaining a height of twenty feet, which it will 

 only acquire under the most favorable condi- 

 tions of soil and climate, the usual height being 

 from ten to twelve feet. All of our coffee is the 

 fruit of one species. Some botanists, however, 

 claim there are two; but the opinion that the 

 different sorts are merely varieties, resulting 

 from soil, climate, and mode of culture, is the 

 one generally entertained. C. Arabica, the pa- 

 rent of the numerous varieties in cultivation, is 

 a native of Arabia Felix and Ethiopia, and was 

 first introduced to the notice of Europeans by 

 Eanwolfius in 1573; but Alpinus, in 1591, was 

 the first who scientifically described it. The 

 Dutch were the first to introduce the plant into 

 Europe. Having procured some berries at Mo- 

 cha, which were carried to Batavia, and there 

 planted, a specimen was sent to Amsterdam, in 

 the year 1690, by Governor Wilson, where it 

 bore fruit, and produced many young plants. 

 From these the East Indies, and most of the 

 gardens of Europe, were furnished. In 1714 a 

 plant was presented by the magistrates of Am- 

 sterdam to the French King, Louis XIV. This 

 plant was placed at Marley, under the care of 

 the celebrated Jussieu, who afterward gave a 

 plant to Desclieux, a young officer in the French 

 Navy, who took it to Martinique, from which the 

 extensive plantations of the French West Indies 

 were established, and whence were also derived 

 all the coffee plants in Mexico and South Amer- 

 ica. The use of coffee was known in Arabia, 

 where the plant is supposed to have been indig- 

 enous, long before the periods mentioned. All 

 authorities agree in ascribing its introduction 

 to Megalleddin, a Turkish doctor of divinity 

 of Aden, in Arabia Felix, who had become ac- 

 quainted with it in Persia, and had recourse to 

 it medicinally when he returned to his own 

 country. The progress which it made was by 

 no means rapid at first, and it was not until the 

 year 1554 that coffee was publicly sold in Con- 

 stantinople. Its \ise had, in the meanwhile, 

 been much checked by authority of the Syrian 

 government, on the ground of its alleged intoxi- 

 cating qualities; but more probably because of its 

 leading to social and festive meetings incompat- 

 ible with the strictness of the Mohammedan 

 discipline. A similar persecution attended the 



