193 



Cf)£ Crca^tirp at 23fltan». 



[CAXE 



gether, rarely alternate, either entire 

 toothed or deeply cut, often more or less 

 hairy, the flowers variously grouped and 

 distributed, the prevailing colours, yellow 

 white or purple. They are natives of 

 South America, confined either to the 

 western side of the Andes, or to the 

 southern extremity of the mainland and 

 the adjacent islands. Some are found only 

 , near the level of the sea, and others are 

 ; inhabitants of the higher parts of the 

 Cordilleras ; hence it is that, among the 

 numerous introduced species in our collec- 

 tions, a few are more or less hardy, others 

 require protection. C. floribunda, for in- 

 stance, is a native of the vicinity of the 

 city of Quito, at an elevation of 11,000 

 feet above the level of the sea, and several 

 occur at low altitudes in the Falkland 

 Islands, &c, forming a prominent feature 

 of the native vegetation. In the Flora 

 Antarctica, Dr. Hooker thus alludes to the 

 C. Fothergillii of Port Famine : ' Though 

 inferior in stature and beauty to many 

 of its congeners, this is among the pret- 

 tiest of the wild flowers of the Falklands, 

 and the attention of the voyager who is 

 familiar with the genus Calceolaria only in 

 the conservatories of Britain, must be 

 attracted by its appearance on the exposed 

 shores of these inhospitable islands.' 

 Many of the original pure species have 

 been modified by hybridising, and are not 

 now so common in collections. Thehybrids 

 are numerous and some of them greatly 

 prized ; not only is the size of the flower 

 modified but the colour as well, the shades 

 of yellow and purple being highly varied, 

 as also the characters of the spots on the 

 slipper-like portion. The handsome as- 

 pect of different species and crosses has 

 always recommended them to the attention 

 of cultivators, and acted as a stimulus to 

 the exercise of ingenuity in discovering 

 the proper method of treatment. The 

 results have been such, that on plants 

 attaining a height of two feet or little 

 more, the flowers may sometimes be 

 counted by hundreds, expanded about the 

 same time. [G. D.] 



CALCEOLATE. Having the form of a 

 slipper or round-toed shoe. 

 CALCECS. Dead-white, like chalk. 



CALCITRAPA. The Star Thistle, Cen- 

 taurea Calcitrapa. 



CALDASIA. A genus of Polemoniacece 

 containing annual herbs from Mexico with 

 glandular hairs, branched stems, and alter- 

 nate crenate-serrate leaves. Peduncles 

 axillary, in pairs, one-flowered ; calyx 

 five-sided, five-toothed at apex, scarious in 

 fruit ; corolla violet blue, funnel-shaped, 

 with a five-parted limb, the lobes notched 

 at the apex, and two of them apart from 

 the other three ; stamens five, protruding, 

 bent down ; capsule three-celled ; seeds in 

 each cell with a spongy coat. [J. T. S.] 



CALDCLTTVTA. A genus of Cwnoniacem, 

 containing a small tree from Chili, with 

 opposite simple lanceolate serrated leathery 



leaves, glaucous below; stipules lanceo- 

 late, deciduous; flowers in axillary pan- 

 icles ; calyx deciduous, four or five parted ; 

 petalsfour or five, inserted on a disk which 

 has as many glandular notched lobes as 

 there are petals ; stamens eight or ten, 

 inserted within the disk; ovary free, two 

 or three-celled ; ovules numerous ; styles 

 two or three, becoming reflexed. [J. T. S.] 



CALEA. The species of this genus, 

 which belongs to the composite family, 

 are natives of tropical America, extending 

 from Mexico to South Brazil. They are 

 herbs or small shrubs with opposite or 

 whorled entire or toothed leaves, generally 

 three-nerved and very rough on the sur- 

 face, many of them resembling those of the 

 common nettle in form. In one group the 

 species are dwarf and unbranched, bearing 

 a long-stalked terminal flower-head, about 

 an inch in diameter, containing both strap- 

 shaped and tubular florets, the former 

 having pistil only, the latter both stamens 

 and pistil. In another group the plants 

 are larger, the flower-heads small and nu- 

 merous, disposed in corymbs at the ends 

 of the branches, and bearing tubular florets 

 only. The flowers of most of them are 

 yellow and the pappus is made up of from 

 five to twenty lanceolate pointed scales. 

 Upwards of thirty species are known. 

 C. Zacatechichi, a Mexican species with 

 nettle-like leaves and small flower-heads, is 

 known there by the name of 'Juralillo,' 

 and is said to contain, in a fresh state, a con- 

 siderable quantity of camphor, and to be 

 employed against fevers, and the powdered 



! leaves for healing wounds. The leaves of 



I C. jamaicensis are said to be powerfully 

 bitter, and steeped in wine or brandy are 



j used asa stomachic in the West Indies ; but 

 this account is thought to apply rather 



| to Neurolaina lobata. [A. A. B.] 



CALEAXA. A few brown-flowered ter- 

 restrial orchids confined to New Holland 

 : bear this name. They have simple filiform 

 I roots terminated by a small tubercle, soli- 

 tary radical leaves, and a slender few- 

 flowered scape. The column is broad, thin, 

 and concave ; the sepals and petals narrow 

 and reflexed ; the lip posticous, peltate, 

 unguiculate, and highly irritable. In fine 

 weather or when undisturbed, this lip 

 bends back and leaves the column un- 

 covered; but if it rains or the plant is 

 jarred, down goes the lip over the column, 

 which it securely boxes up. See Dra- 

 kjea and Spicul^a, in which a similar 

 phenomenon occurs. 



CALEBASSE. (Fr.) The Bottle Gourd, 

 Lagenaria vulgaris. 



CALEBASSIER. (Fr.) The Calabash tree, 

 Crescentia Cujete. 



CALECTASIA. A genus of Juncacem 

 containing a small branched shrubby 

 plant from South Australia, with needle- 

 shaped leaves sheathing at the base, and 

 soli tary flowers on short terminal branches, 

 having a salver-shaped perianth with a six- 

 parted limb of petaloid blue segments 



