CHA 



[ 207 ] 



CHA 



Hardy herbaceous perennials ; chiefly by seeds ; 

 andy loam, and a dry, elevated position. 

 C, grandijlo'rus (large-flowered). Yellow. June. 

 Dahuria. 1828. 



poly'gynus (many-pistiled). Yellow. June. 



Siberia. 18121. 



CHASLK'ROPES. (From c/iamai, dwarf, 

 and rhops, a twig. A comparative name, 

 making the Fan-palm of the south of 

 Europe a low twig in comparison to the 

 huge, gigantic Palms of the tropics. Nat. 

 ord., Palms [Palmacesej. Linn., 23- 

 Polygamiu 2-JDiaecia.) 



Seeds, imported ; suckers, which are freely 

 produced, with the exception of C. gra'cilis and 

 Guiune'nsis. The others will flourish in a green- 

 house; and their loaves render them striking 

 objects. In Edinburgh the hu'milis stood out 

 several winters, with but a slight protection; rich, 

 loamy soil. Summer temp., 50 to 80; winter, 

 35 to 45. 

 <7. exce'lsa (tall). 30. Green, white. Nepaul. 1822. 



gra'cilis (slender). 10. Green, white. S. Amer. 



1822. Stove. 



Guiune'nsis (Guiana). 20. Green, white. 



Guiana. 1824. Stove. 



Jiu'milis (low). 10. Green, white. March. 



South of Europe. J/31. 



ky'strix (porcupine). 10. Green, white. 



Georgia. 1801. 



Palme'tto (Palmetto). 20. Green, white. Caro- 



lina. 1801. 



serrula'tn (saw-feed). 10. Green, white. 



N. Amer. 1809. 



CHAILENE'RON. (From chamai, dwarf, 

 and neron, the oleander. Nat. ord., Ona- 

 fjrads [Onagraceoe]. Linn., 8-Octandria 

 l-Honogynia. Allied to Epilohium.) 



Hardy herbaceous perennial ; seeds ; division of 

 the roots in spring ; common soil. 

 C. America' num (American). Red. July. N. 

 Amer. 1825., 



CHAMISSO'A. (Named after M. Camisso, 

 a botanist. Nat. ord., Amaranths [Ama- 

 rantacese]. Linn., 6-Pentandria l-Mono- 

 gynia.} 



Stove evergreen shrub ; cuttings of ripe shoots 

 in heat, under a bell-plass; fibry, sandy loam. 

 Summer temp., 60 to 85; winter, 50 to 55. 

 C. alti'ssima (tallest). 5. Yellow. July. Jamaica. 

 1816. 



CHAPTA'LIA. (Named after M. Chaptal, 

 a French chemist. Nat. ord., Composites 

 [Asteracese]. Linn., 19-Syngenesia 4- 

 Necessaria. Allied to Cussonia.) 



Hardy herbaceous perennial; division of the 

 roots ; light, sandy soil. 



C. tomento'sa (woolly). $. White. May. N. 

 Amer. 1806. 



CHARCOAL. Soot, a chief constituent 

 of which is charcoal, has long heen known 

 as a vety effective fertilizer; and burning 

 has still longer been known as a mode of 

 reducing stubborn soils to prompt pro- 



ductiveness. But both these sources of 

 fertility might owe their efficiency to 

 other causes than their affording carbon 

 to plants ; and, comparatively, it is only 

 lately that anything like a general know- 

 ledge has been diffused that mere char- 

 coal is a good manure. Charcoal is a 

 most efficient manure to all cultivated 

 plants, especially to those under glass. 

 Heaths, rhododendrons, cucumbers, 

 onions, roses, orchidaceous plants, hy- 

 drangeas, camellias, melons, and pine- 

 apples, have been the subjects of exten- 

 sive and most successful experiments. 

 We think no cultivated plant would be 

 nnbenefited by having charcoal applied 

 to the soil in which it is rooted. It should 

 be broken into small pieces, about the 

 size of a nut, and, for potted plants, may 

 be mixed in the proportions of one part 

 charcoal to twenty parts earth. If ap- 

 plied to the open ground, one-fourth of 

 a bushel may bo sown over a square rod 

 or perch, and dug in just before insert- 

 ing the crop. The reason of charcoal 

 being so useful as a manure is very ap- 

 parent. MM. Scnuebier, Ruckert, Saus- 

 sure, and others, have demonstrated that 

 plants are rendered much more luxuriant 

 and productive by having carbonic acid 

 applied to their roots, than other plants 

 to whose roots no such application was 

 made. Now, charcoal kept moist, as when 

 buried in the soil, slowly combines with 

 oxygen, and emits carbonic acid ; in fact, 

 it slowly dissolves. We are sorry to differ 

 from such an authority as Liebig, who 

 broadly asserts that " carbon never com- 

 bines, at common temperatures, with 

 oxygen, so a? to form carbonic acid." 

 This was long since shown to be other- 

 wise by Count Rumford, and may easily 

 be demonstrated to be incorrect, by con- 

 fining a few ounces of fresh and moist- 

 ened charcoal -powder, mixed with earth, 

 in a glass receiver full of oxygen, over 

 lime-water : carbonate of lime will form, 

 showing the gradual evolution of car- 

 bonic acid. For draining, pieces of char- 

 coal, about the size of filberts and wal- 

 nuts, are among the best that can be 

 employed. 



CHAED. See ARTICHOKE. 



CHARDOON. See CARDOON. 



CHARLES'S SCEPTRE. Pedicula'ris sce'p- 

 trum Caroli'mim. 



CHARLOCK. (Sina'pis arve'nsis.) A well- 

 known weed. 



CHARLWOO'DIA. New Holland Dragon- 



