207 



Eije Erea^urg ai 2Sotan». 



CAME 



by violent inflammation of the bowels. 

 Dr. Christison thinks that the fatal effects 

 •which sometimes follow the use of Morri- 

 son's Pills arise from the large amount of 

 gamboge in their composition. A detailed 

 account of the gamboge is given by Drs. 

 Christison and Graham, in Hooker's Com- 



\ portion to the Botanical Magazine (ii. 193, 

 233). Cambogia and Hebradendron are now 



'■ generally referred to the genus Gasclsia : 

 which see. [A. A. BJ 



! CAMBON. An Indian name for the grain 

 1 of Pennisetum typhoideum, the Holcus spi- 

 | catus of Linnaeus. 



CAMBUT. The fruit of a species of Eu- 

 genia. 



CAMEL'S HAT. Andropogon Schcenan- 

 thus. 



CAMEL'S THORN. Alhagi Camelorum. 



I CAMELE'E. (Ft.) Daphne Cneorum. 



CAMELLIA. A small genus of cruci- 

 ferous plants (Brassicacea?), containing two 

 or three European and North American 

 species. They ai e dwarf annual or peren- 

 nial herbaceous plants, with stem-clasping 

 leaves, and terminal racemes of yellow 

 flowers. The fruit or pod is somewhat 

 egg-shaped, with the broad end upwards, 

 and has a broad partition parting it in 

 two, each half being very convex, dis- 

 tinctly marked by a central rib or nerve, 

 and having its edges flattened so as to 

 form a narrow border round the pod. The 

 seeds are numerous, and have their radicle, 

 or rudimentary root, folded over upon the 

 back of one of the cotyledons, or rudi- 

 I mentary leaves. 



The most interesting species is the Ca- 

 ' rnelina sativa. This plant is found growing 

 in cultivated and waste places in Central 

 i and Southern Europe, and the temperate 

 ! parts of Russian Asia ; it is generally 

 I enumerated amongst the indigenous plants 

 of the British Isles, but it is a very ques- 

 : tionable native, being found only in corn 

 1 and flax fields in England and Ireland, 

 i having most probably been introduced 

 | along with foreign seeds. It is an annual 

 plant, growing about two feet in height 

 and having a somewhat branching stem ; 

 its leaves are lance-shaped, and about two 

 inches long, with their margins entire or 

 slightly toothed, the lower ones having 

 stalks, whilst those higher up have their 

 bases shaped like those of arrow heads and 

 clasp round the stem. The flowers are in 

 long loose racemes, and produce pear- 

 shaped pods, about a quarter of an inch 

 long, containing numerous small seeds. 

 The English name of the plant is Gold of 

 Pleasure, but why it is so called is un- 

 known. It is cultivated in some parts of 

 the Continent, both on account of the fibre 

 of its stems and the oil obtainable from 

 its seeds, and it has been recommended 

 for cultivation in this country, but it is 

 not likely to prove a profitable crop. The 

 seeds are sometimes imported under the 

 name of Dodder seed, but they have no- 



thing to do with the true dodder, which 

 belongs to a widely different natural order. 

 By pressure they yield a clear yellow- 

 coloured oil, smelling something like com- 

 mon linseed oil ; and the residual cake has 

 been recommended as a food for cattle, but 

 it is of too acrid a nature to be applied to 

 such a purpose. The stems contain a con- 

 siderable proportion of fibre, and are com- 

 monly used for making brooms in many 

 parts of Europe. [A. S.] 



CAMELLIA. A well-known genus be- 

 longing to the tea family (Ternstriimiacece), 

 and so nearly related to the teas (ITiea)asto 

 be with difficulty distinguished from them. 

 The differences that do exist consist in the 

 number of the parts and in the position 

 of the flower. In Camellia the calyx leaves 

 are numerous and fall early, the interior 

 stamens twice the number of the petals, 

 the styles generally five, and the flowers 

 sessile and erect ; while in Thea the calyx 

 leaves are five in number, the interior 

 stamens equal in number to the petals, 

 and the flowers are stalked and drooping. 

 These are generic distinctions as given by 

 Dr. Seemann, and they involve the removal 

 to the teas of a number of plants which 

 have been known as species of Camellia. 



Camellias are found in the eastern por- 

 tion of the Himalaya, Cochin China, a great 

 portion of China Proper, and Japan ; two 

 species, moreover, are found, the one in 

 Java, the other in Borneo and Sumatra. The 

 genusis named in honour of George Joseph 

 Kamel, a Jesuit, who travelled in the East, 

 the name being Latinised into Camellus. 

 The first species cultivated in European gar- 

 denswastheJapanese Camellia, C.japonica. 

 It is said to have been introduced in 1739, 

 by Robert James, Lord Petre ; this was 

 the single red flowered or normal form of 

 the species. It was not until 1792 that any of 

 the double-flowered varieties were brought 

 to this country: then the double white 

 and the striped were introduced, both from 

 China; they were shortly followed by the 

 double red. Many more were subsequently 

 introduced, and with these introductions, 

 and the varieties produced from them, 

 through the exertions of cultivators, we 

 have now an endless variety of forms of 

 this beautiful plant. The most marked 

 among them are the double white, the 

 fringed white, which is the only variety 

 with fringed petals, and the anemone 

 flowered or Waratah Camellia, which has 

 a margin of broad petals and a raised 

 centre of smaller ones, somewhat like the 

 flower of a double hollyhock. 



The net-veined Camellia, C. reticulata, a 

 native of Hong-Kong, is the largest- 

 flowered of the species. The flowers are 

 sometimes six inches or more in diameter, 

 and not unlike those of a Poeonia. The 

 petals are not so closely set as in the other 

 species, but it is highly probable that cul- 

 tivators will be able to do as much for this 

 species as they have done for the Japanese 

 one, although it is said to be difficult of 

 propagation. 



C. Sasanqua (Sasanqua is the Japanese 



