AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



105 



COR 



Americana being bur common Hazel-nut. The 

 fruit is smaller and thicker-shelled than the 

 European species. 



Corymb. A raceme whose pedicels grow grad- 

 ually shorter as they approach the summit, so 



• that the result is a flat-headed inflorescence or 

 flower head, as in Candytuft, etc. A Com- 

 pound corymb is a branched corymb, each of 

 whose divisions is corymbose. «» 



Corymbi'ferae. Corymb - bearing composite 

 plants, a sub-order of the natural order Com- 

 positm, containing plants with numerous 

 flowers on a common receptacle, forming a 

 head surrounded by a set of floral leaves or 

 bracts called an involucre. Such plants as 

 Chamomile, Ox-eye Daisy, Dahlia, Sunflower, 

 Cineraria, Ragwort, Groundsel, etc., belong 

 to this sub-order. 



Coryno'stylis. From koryne, a club, and stylos, 

 a column ; alluding to the club-shaped style. 

 Nat. Ord. Violacem. 



A small genus of very handsome clinibing 

 shrubs, inhabiting tropical America. C. albi- 

 flora, is a beautiful green-house plant 

 of a trailing or climbing habit, producing 

 white, trumpet-shaped flowers, about two 

 inches in length, suspended on long thread- 

 like peduncles. These interesting flowers, 

 taken in profile, present the appearance of 

 some long spurred Tropeeolum, while on the 

 front view they bear a resemblance to those 

 of a gigantic Violet. Increased by cuttings of 

 the young wood, or by seeds. Introduced 

 from Para, in 1870. 



Co'rypha. Fan Palm. From Jeoryphe, the sum- 

 mit; in reference to the leaves growing in 

 tufts on the top of this Palm. Nat. Ord. PaU 

 macem. 



A noble genus of Palms, growing from fif- 

 teen to one hundred and fifty feet high. They 

 are chiefly natives of tropical Asia. The 

 Talipot Palm, C. umhraculifera, is a native of 

 Ceylon and the Malabar coast, where it 

 usually grows sixty to seventy feet high. 

 The leaves have prickly stalks six or seven 

 feet long, and when fully expanded they form 

 a nearly complete circle of thirteen feet in 

 diameter. Large fans are made of these 

 leaves, which are carried before people of 

 rank among the Cingalese. They are also 

 commonly used as umbrellas, and tents are 

 made by neatly joining them together, being 

 the only ones in use for the soldiers of that 

 country. It bears no fruit until the last year 

 of its life, when it throws out great branches 

 of beautiful yellow flowers that emit a most 

 disagreeable odor. The fruit is borne in great 

 abundance, is very hard and round, and about 

 the size of a large cherry. Prom these the 

 plant is propagated, and requires great heat 

 and a humid atmosphere to grow it success- 

 fully. This species was introduced in 1742. 

 C. australis is synonymous with Livistona 

 auatralis. 



Corysa'nthus. From koryos, a helmet, and 

 anthos, a flower ; flowers helmet-shaped. Nat. 

 Ord. Orchidaceee. 



A genus of small but pretty terrestrial 

 swamp orchids, inhabiting Australia and 

 Java, but little seen in cultivation. 



Cosma'nthus. A genus now merged in Phacelia, 

 which see. 



COT 



Cosme'lia. Prom kosmeo, to adorn ; in reference 

 to the beauty of the flowers. Nat. Ord. Epacri- 

 dacecB. 



The only species, C. rubra, is a beautiful 

 dwarf green-house plant, with bright red 

 flowers resembling those of an Epacris, but 

 larger and more swollen in the middle of the 

 tube. It requires to have plenty of air, and 

 is improved by frequent stopping while young. 

 Propagated freely from cuttings. 



Cosmidi'um. A genus of hardy annuals, re- 

 cently formed from Calliopsis, having the 

 same general character, and .under which it 

 is usually described. Syn. Thelesperma. 



Co'smos. From kosmos, beautiful ; in reference 

 to the ornamental flowers. Nat. Ord. Com- 

 posite. 



Mexican plants, generally grown as annuals, 

 but which mostly have tuberous roots like the 

 Dahlia, and may be treated like that plant. 

 The flowers are very showy, and of a reddish 

 purple ; the seeds, when the plants are grown 

 as annuals, should be sown in March or April, 

 in a frame or green-house ; or in autumn, if 

 the young plants can be protected during 

 winter. The plants will grow four or five 

 feet high in any garden soil. The beautiful 

 annual species C. bipinnatua, has very finely 

 cut featherly foliage, and large single Dahlia- 

 like flowers, ranging in color from white, to 

 deep rose. An .excellent autumn blooming 

 sort, and valuable for cutting. If grown in 

 pots, and housed by the end of September, 

 it will give a succession of flowers all winter. 

 Introduced in 1799. 



Cossi'gnia. Named after M. Cossigny, a French 

 naturalist. Nat. Ord. Sapindacem. 



There are but two known species in this 

 genus, both small evergreen trees, with pin- 

 nate leaves, with from one to three pairs of 

 oblong leaflets and an odd one. The upper 

 surface of the leaves is richly veined with 

 golden yellow, the under surface covered with 

 short white down. The flowers are small, 

 white, and are arranged in terminal panicles. 

 They were introduced from the Mauritius in 

 1824. Propagated by cuttings. 



Costa. The midrib of a leaf ; that part which is 

 a direct extension of the petiole, and whence 

 the veins arise ; a leaf may have several eoste. 



Costmary, or Alecost. Tana^tum Balaamita. 



Co'stus. An ancient name adopted from Pliny. 

 Nat. Ord. Scitaminacece. 



A genus of tropical herbaceous perennials, 

 having tuberous roots, somewhat fleshy 

 leaves, and flowers in spikes with over-lapping 

 bracts. C. speciosua is a very ornamental 

 warm green-house plant, with white flowers, 

 and leaves silky beneath. Its roots are used 

 by the natives in India to make a kind of 

 preserve. They are of easy culture and are 

 propagated by division of the roots. 



Cotonea'ster. Prom Cotonea. Pliny's name for 

 the quince, in reference to the downy leaves 

 of this genus being similar to the quince. 

 Nat. Ord. Rosacece. 



A genus of half-hardy, deciduous and ever- 

 green trees, upright and trailing shrubs, in- 

 habiting the northern parts of Europe and the 

 mountains of India. The leaves are small 

 and entire at the edge, downy beneath ; the 

 flowers are white or pinkish, and produced in 

 lateral clusters, like those of hawthorn, or 



