2i: 



Qfyz Erra£ur» ni 33 tang. 



[cAPfi, 



or valvate ; petals f oar, arranged crosswise, , 

 sometimes eight : stamens usually numer- 

 ous, and a multiple of four placed at the 

 top of a stalk-like receptacle ; disk much 

 developed. Ovary usually supported on a 

 stalk and one-celled, with parietal placen- 

 tas. Fruit either pod-like and opening, or 

 berried ; seeds often kidney-shaped, with- 

 out albumen. The order is divided into 

 two suborders : 1. Cleomece, with dry 

 dehiscent (splitting) fruit. 2. Capparece, 

 fruit a berry. The plants are chiefly 

 tropical. They abound in Africa and India. 

 Some are found in Europe and in Canada. I 

 They ha ve pungent and stim ulant qualities, 

 and have been recommended in scurvy, j 



i In their properties they resemble crucifers. 



I The flower-buds of Capparis spinosa con- ; 

 stitute capers. C. cegypMaca is considered 

 by some as the hyssop of Scripture. \ 



' There are thirty-three known genera, and [ 



| 355 species. Illustrative genera: Cleome, 

 Polanisia, Capparis, Cratceva. [J. H. B.] 



! CAPPARIS. The genus so called gives ! 

 its name to the natural order Capparidacece. I 



j It consists of shrubs having simple leaves, 



j frequently with two little spines at their 



i base, and showy flowers with a four-parted I 



! calyx, four petals, and numerous stamens, J 



I succeeded by a berry elevated on a long 



: slender stalk. The most generally known , 



, plant of this genus is the common Caper, 



I C. spinosa, which grows on walls, etc., in 



j the South of Europe and Mediterranean j 



regions. In its mode of growth it re- I 



j sembles the common bramble. The flower- | 



; buds, and in some parts of Italy, the 



unripe fruits, are pickled in vinegar, and 



! form what are commonly known as capers. 



They are chiefly imported from Sicily, 



though the plant is also largely cultivated 



iu some parts of France. All the species 



Capparis spinosa. 



contain, in greater or less quantity, an 

 acrid principle, so that the bark of the 

 root of some of them acts as a blister 

 when applied to the skin ; and the fruits of 

 some of the Brazilian species are reported 



to be very poisonous. C. Sodada is de- 

 scribed by Dr. Barth as forming one of the 

 characteristic features in the vegetation of 

 Africa from the desert to the Niger ; the 

 small berries have a pungent pepper-like 

 taste, and when dried constitute an im- 

 portant article of food, whilst the roots, 

 when burned, yield no small quantity of 

 salt. Several species are in cultivation in 

 this country, principally natives of warm 

 and tropical climates. [M. T. M.] 



CAPBEOLUS. A tendril. 



CAPBIEB COMMUN. (Fr.) Capparis 

 spmosa. 



CAPRIFICATION. A fertilisation of 

 flowers by the aid of insects, as that of the 

 garden fig by a small fly. 



CAPRIFICUS. The -Wild Fig. This, 

 according to Theophrastus and Pliny, is a 

 tree of a wild kind which never ripens its 

 fruit, but has the power of conferring on 

 other trees a virtue which it has not in 

 itself. Since, in accordance with the laws 

 of nature, life springs from putrefaction, 

 from the abortive fruit of the Wild Fig are 

 generated certain winged flies,which,failing 

 to find food in the corruption which gave 

 them birth, fly to a tree of an allied species, 

 and penetrating the fruit of the true fig, 

 make a way for the admission of the heat 

 of the sun and genial air, consume the 

 immature juices, and help the fruit to 

 ripen. To pi - omote this end, the Capriflcus 

 is planted among fertile fig trees, or cut 

 branches of the one are tied to growing 

 boughs of the other. Fig trees growing 

 in a poor soil exposed to the winds, and 

 especially dust, do not, they say, need this 

 assistance, as the fruit under these circum- 

 stances dries up of itself sufficiently to 

 ripen. See Pliny Nat. Hist., lib. xiv. cap. 

 xix., and Tlieoplirastus de plantis, end of 

 lib. ii. This last passage is curious as 

 containing an early recognition of the 

 presence of sexes in plants. [C. A. J.] 



CAPRIFOLIACE.3E. (Lonicerece, Capri- 

 foils, the Honeysuckle family. - ) A natural 

 order of gamopetalous calycifloral dicoty- 

 ledons belonging to Lindley's cinch onal 

 alliance. Shrubs or herbs, often twining, 

 with opposite leaves which have no sti- 

 pules ; calyx adherent to the ovary, its limb 

 four to five-cleft, usually with small leaves 

 (bracts) at its base; corolla supei'ior, 

 regular or irregular ; stamens four or five, 

 alternate with the lobes of the corolla. 

 Ovary usually three to five-celled ; stigmas 

 three or five. Fruit generally a berry, 

 with one or more cavities, and crowned by 

 the calyx-lobes ; albumen fleshy. Natives 

 of the northern parts of Europe, Asia, and 

 America, found sparingly in Northern 

 Africa, and unknown in the Southern 

 hemisphere. Some of the plants are 

 astringent; others have emetic and pur- 

 gative qualities. Many have showy and 

 fragrant flowers. The common honey- 

 suckle or woodbine (Lonicera Periclyme- 

 nuni), one of the plants of this order, 

 twines round the branches of trees, and 



