cata] 



&fyt HTxcKSnxy at 3Sotang, 



238 



the circumstance that there are only two 

 florets in each spikelet. The British spe- 

 cies, 0. aquatica, is a handsome grass, hut 

 not of much agricultural importance. It 

 is not uncommon in shallow ditches and the 

 furrows of wet fields. [D. M.] 



CATACLESIUM. A one-celled, one- 

 seeded fruit, inclosed within a hardened 

 calyx, as in Mirabilis. 



CATALEPTIQUE. (Fr.) Physostegia. 



CATALPA. A genus of Bignoniacece 

 containing four or five species of trees, 

 natives of the West Indies, North America, 

 Japan, and China. They have large simple 

 petiolate and opposite or terno-verticillatt; 

 leaves, and' flowers in terminal panicles. 

 The calyx is deeply two-lipped ; the corolla 

 is hell-shaped, with a swollen tuhe and an 

 undulate five-lohed spreading limb, irregu- 

 lar, and two-lipped. There are two or 

 sometimes four fertile stamens, the one to 

 three others being sterile and rudimentary ; 

 the anthers consist of two vertically di- 

 verging cells. The ovary is free, bearing a 

 long slender style with a two-lipped 

 stigma. The capsule is very long and 

 slender, nearly cylindrical and two-celled, 

 with the partition contrary to the valves. 

 The seeds are numerous, broadly winged 

 on each side, the wings being cut at their 

 extremities into a fringe. On account of 

 the beautiful and showy panicles of this 

 genus, the species are cultivated in the 

 various countries where they are found, as 

 ornamental trees. They have been intro- 

 duced into Europe ; they thrive in Prance 

 and Germany, and when planted in pro- 

 tected situations do well in the south of 

 England, though they are very liable to be 

 cut off by frosts or north-east winds. They 

 grow rapidly. The wood is remarkably 

 lisht of a grayish-white colour, and fine in 

 texture, capable of receiving a brilliant 

 polish, and when properly seasoned is very 

 durable. The bark is said to be tonic, 

 stimulant, and antiseptic; and the honey 

 from its flowers poisonous. [W. C] 



CATANANCHE. A genus belonging to 

 the chicoraceous tribe of compound flowers 

 distinguished by its scariose involucre and 

 the awned chaffy scales which crown its 

 fruit. C. ccerulea is a perennial herbaceous 

 plant with slender stalks, long narrow 

 leaves which are somewhat toothed at the 

 base, and larjre heads of sky-blue flowers 

 the scaly involucre of which is silvery-whi te 

 tipped with rCddish-brown. It is a native 

 of the south of Europe, and as a border 

 plant flourishes best in a light dry soil in a 

 sheltered situation. Varieties are also 

 cultivated with white or double flowers. 

 C. lutea is an annual species with yellow 

 flowers, a native of Candia. French, 

 Cupklone ; German, Basselblume. [C. A. J.] 



CATAPETALOUS. Having the petals 

 slightly united by their inner edge near 

 the base, as in the mallow. A form of 

 polypetalous. 



CAT APOD ITJM. A genus of grasses 

 belonging to the tribe Festucece. The 



species which were included in this genus 

 are described by Steudel under Festuca, in 

 the Synopsis Graminearum. 



CATAPUCE. (Fr.) Euphorbia Latliyris. 



CATASETUM. A numerous genus of 

 fleshy-stemmed terrestrial orchids from the 

 tropical parts of the New "World, where 

 they form masses of considerable extent 

 on decayed leaves, twigs, or other frag- 

 ments of vegetation. The leaves are 

 plaited and membranous. The flowers, 

 always more or less green, spring in erect 

 or drooping racemes from the base of great 

 oblong fleshy stems, marked by circular 

 scars, showing the places whence leaves 

 have dropped away. The sepals and petals 

 are of a firm leathery texture, sometimes 

 converging into the form of a hood, some- 

 times spreading backwards. The lip is a 

 fleshy body, not at all jointed with the co- 

 lumn ; sometimes it assumes the form of a 

 casque, in other cases it is flat, lobed, and 

 broken up into fleshy fringes : the first be- 

 ing characteristic of the original Catasetum, 

 the second of what has been called Myan- 

 thus. The column is an erect fleshy body, 

 terminating in a horn, and bearing about 

 its middle a pair of long deflected feelers 

 or tendrils, except in a few instances, 

 when the species without feelers have been 

 called Monachanthus. In all cases the two 

 fleshy pollen masses are ejected with con- 

 siderable force by the sudden contraction 

 of a glutinous gland, by which they adhere 

 to surrounding objects. Among the most 

 singular circumstances connected with 

 this genus is the manner in which, upon 

 the same spike, flowers of extremely 



Catasetum Naso (flower) 



different structure are produced. This was 

 first noticed in Demerara by Sir R. Schom- 

 burgk, who published in the Linn. Soc. 

 Transactions (xvii. 551) an account of the 

 production o£ the three supposed genera, 

 Monachanthus, Myanthus, and Catasetum, 

 upon the same spike ; and he expressed 

 his opinion that the Catasetum was the 

 female of these, because he found it pro- 

 ducing seeds abundantly, while Monachan- 

 1 thus was uniformly sterile. Afterwards a 



