CHA 



[ 231 ] 



HA 



protection; rich loamy soil. Summer 

 temp., 50 to 80 ; winter, 35 to 45. 



C. exce'lsa (tall). 30. Green, white. Nepaul. 

 1822. 



gra'cllis (slender). 10. Green, white. South 



America. 1822. Stove. 



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



Guiana. 1824. Stove. 



hu' milts (low). 10. Green, white. March. 



South of Europe. 1731. 



hjfstrix (porcupine). 10. Green, white. 



Georgia. 1801. 



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



Carolina. 1801. 



serrula'ta (saw-leaved). 10. Green, white. 



North America. 1809. 



CHAM^NE'RON. (From chamai, dwarf, 

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

 grads [Onagraceae]. Linn., 8-Octandria, 

 l-monogynla. Allied to Epilobium). 

 Hardy herbaceous perennial ; seeds ; di- 

 vision of the roots in spring ; common 

 soil. 



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

 America. 1825. 



CHAMISSO'A. (Named after M. Camisso, 

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

 rantacece]. Linn., 5-Pentandria, \-mo- 

 nogynia). Stove evergreen shrub; cut- 

 tings of ripe shoots in heat, tinder a bell- 

 glass; fibry sandy loam. Summer temp., 

 60 to 85 ; winter, 50 to 55. 

 C. altfssima (tallest). 5. Yellow. July. 

 Jamaica. 1816. 



CHAPTA'LIA. (Named after M. Chap- 

 tal, a French chemist. Nat. ord., Com- 

 posites [Asteraceae]. Linn., V^-Synge- 

 nesia, ^-necessaria. Allied to Cussonia). 

 Hardy herbaceous perennial; division of 

 the roots ; light sandy soil. 

 C. toMcnto'sa (wooly). . White. May. North 

 America. 1806. 



CHARCOAL. Soot, a chief constituent 

 of which is charcoal, has long been known 

 as a very effective fertilizer ; and burning 

 has still longer been known as a mode of 

 reducing stubborn soils to prompt produc- 

 tiveness. But both these sources of ferti- 

 lity 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 charcoal 

 is a good manure. Charcoal is a most effi- 

 cient manure to all cultivated plants, 

 especially to those under glass. Heaths, 

 rhododendrons, cucumbers, onions, roses, 

 orchidaceous plants, hydrangeas, caml- 



lias, melons, and pine apples, have been 

 the subjects of extensive and most suc- 

 cessful experiments. "We think no cul- 

 tivated plant would be unbenefited 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 applied to the 

 open ground, one-fourth of a bushel may 

 be sown over a square rod or perch, and 

 dug in just before inserting the crop. 

 The reason of charcoal being so useful as 

 a manure is very apparent. MM. Sen- 

 nebier, Buckert, Saussure, and others, 

 have demonstrated that plants are ren- 

 dered much more luxuriant and produc- 

 tive by having carbonic acid applied to 

 their roots, than other plants to whose 

 roots nQ' 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 combines at 

 common temperatures with oxygen, so as 

 to form carbonic acid." This was long 

 since shown to be otherwise by Count 

 Rumford ; and may easily be demon- 

 strated to be incorrect, by confining a few 

 ounces of fresh and moistened charcoal 

 powder, mixed with earth, in a glass re- 

 ceiver full of oxygen, over lime water, 

 carbonate of lime will form, showing the 

 gradual evolution of carbonic acid. For 

 draining, pieces of charcoal about the size 

 of filberts and walnuts are among the 

 best that can he employed. 



CHARD. See Artichoke. 



CHARDOON. See Cardoon. 



CHARLES'S SCEPTRE. Pedicular is Seep- 

 trum Car oil num. 



CHARLOCK. Sinapis avemis, a well- 

 known weed. 



CHARLWOO'DIA. New Holland dragon 

 tree ; the species are now united to 6V- 

 dyline. 



CHASCA'NTTM. ^From chasJco, to gape ; 

 referring to the irregular limb of the 

 flower approaching the form of a Lip- 

 wort flower. Nat. ord., Verbenes [Ver- 

 benaceae]. Linn., \k-Didynamia, 2-an- 

 giospermia. Allied to StachytarphetaJ. 

 Greenhouse evergreen. Cuttings in 



