:o, 



&f)S €rra£tir» ai ISntang. 



[CATA 



two-lobed. The corolla-tube is included in 

 the calyx ; the upper lip is long and nar- 

 row, arched, keeled and flattened laterally, 

 and incloses the stamens ; the lower lip is 

 short and three-lobed. There are four sta- 

 mens with oblong-linear unequal anther 

 cells, the outer attached by the middle, 

 the inner pendulous. The pod contains 

 numerous seeds. [W. C] 



CASTILLIER. (Fr.) Ribes rubrwm. 



CASTILLOA. A Mexican tree belonging 

 to the Artocarpacece, and having male and 

 female flowers alternating one with the 

 other, on the same branch. The male 

 flowers have several stamens, inserted into 

 a hemispherical perianth, consisting of 

 several united scales. The female flowers 

 consist of numerous ovaries in a similar 

 cup. The tree contains a milky juice, 

 yielding caoutchouc. [M. T. M.] 



CASTOR-OIL PLANT. Ricinus com- 

 munis. 



CASTRATTTS. When an important part 

 is missing, as in the case of filaments 

 which have no anthers. 



CASUARINACE^E. A group of about a 

 score of species of jointed leafless trees or 

 shrubs, which, in their striated internodes 

 and toothed-ribbed sheaths, have some 

 resemblance to Equisetums, whilst in 

 other respects they are allied in some 

 measure to Ephedra and the Coniferce, under 

 which they were formerly classed, and 

 still more with Hyricacem and other amen- 

 taceous groups, near to which they are 

 now placed as a small distinct family. 

 Their flowers are unisexual, the males in 

 distinct whorls forming a cylindrical spike ; 

 each stamen is enclosed in four scale-like 

 leaflets, the two outer ones considered as 

 bracts, persistent at the base of the stamen, 

 while the two inner ones or sepals, firmly 

 cohering at the tips, are carried upwards 

 by the anthers as the filament is produced. 

 The female flowers are in dense axillary 

 heads without any perianth. The ovaries, 

 sessile within the bracts of the head, are 

 one-celled, with a single ascending ovule, 

 and bear two styles united at the base ; the 

 winged nuts are collected in a cone hidden 

 under the thickened bracts. The Casua- 

 rinas are natives of Australia, of New 

 Caledonia, or of the Indian Archipelago. 

 They are too tender for this climate, but 

 one species is occasionally planted in 

 Southern Europe for its elegant drooping 

 habit. 



CASUARINA. A group of curious trees 



constituting of themselves a distinct 



family, Casuarinacece. They have very 



much the appearance of gigantic horse 



tails (Equisetace(B\ being trees with thread- 



I like jointed furrowed pendent branches, 



i without leaves, but with small toothed 



sheaths at the joints. The male flowers 



are in spikes with two bracts, and two 



J sepals, which adhere at their points and 



j are carried up like a hood by the anther of 



the single stamen. The female flowers are 



on the same plant, and are collected in 

 dense heads ; they have no calyx, but a 

 one-celled ovary with one ascending ovule, 

 and two styles : this ripens into a cone of 

 woody bracts enclosing the seed-vessels, 

 which are winged ; the seeds are coated 

 densely with spiral vessels. 



These singular plants are met with most 

 abundantly in tropical Australia, less 

 frequently in the Indian Islands, New 

 Caledonia, &c. In Australia they are said 

 by Dr. Bennett to be called Oaks. Their 

 sombre appearance causesthem tobeplant- 

 ed in cemeteries, where ' their branches 

 give out a mournful sighing sound, as the 

 breeze passes over them, waving at the 

 same time their gloomy hearse-like plumes.' 

 The wood is used for fires, as it burns 

 readily, and the ashes retain the heat for 

 a long time. It is much valued for steam- 

 engines, ovens, &c. The timber that is 

 furnished by these trees is valuable for its 

 extreme hardness. From its red colour, it 

 is called in the colonies Beef -wood. The 

 wood of C. suberosa is made use of for 

 shingles to cover houses, and for other 

 purposes where lightness, toughness, and 

 durability are required. For further 

 particulars of the Australian species, see 

 Bennett's Gatherings of, a Naturalist in 

 Australia. 



C. muricata is a native of Southern 

 India, where it is valued for its showy 

 wood, whose weight, however, forms an 

 objection to its use. The bark furnishes a 

 brown dye. The young branches of some 

 of the species have a grateful acid flavour, 

 much relished by cattle. C. equisetifolia 

 is found in the South Sea Islands, the 

 Indian Archipelago, and India. Its bark 

 is astringent, and was formerly used by 

 the South Sea Islanders to dye their cloth. 

 The ashes of the tree yield a quantity of 

 alkali, which is now used in the manufac- 

 ture of a coarse soap. The wood furnished 

 by it is called iron-wood, from its colour, 

 hardness, and durability. The natives 

 avail themselves of these properties to 

 make clubs, &c, of it. In Australia this 

 species is called the Swamp Oak, though all 

 the species thrive best in damp localities. 

 Dr. Berthold Seemann mentions in a letter 

 to the Athenceum, that the Fiji Islanders, 

 or rather those among them that are 

 cannibals, eat human flesh with forks made 

 of the hard wood of a Casuarina, while 

 they eat every other kind of food with 

 their fingers. ' Every one of these forks is 

 known by its particular often obscene 

 name, and they are handed down as heir- 

 looms from generation to generation.' So 

 highly are they valued that it was difficult 

 to obtain one. Several species of Casua- 

 rina are grown in greenhouses for the sake 

 of their singular appearance. [M. T. MJ 



CASSUMUNAR. The roots of Zingiber 

 Cassumunar. 



CAT. (Fr.) Celastrus edulis. 



CATABROSA. A genus of grasses be- 

 longing to the tribe Festucece. The genus 

 scarcely differs from Glyceria, except in 



