CERC] 



€f)e Crcatfttrg at 2Sfltan». 



256 



over, is dangerous, and is said to be used 

 by the natives of Travancore to destroy 

 dogs ; the teeth of the unfortunate animals 

 being, as is reported, loosened so as to fall 

 out after masticating it. See Plate 6, 

 fig. e. [M. T. M.] 



CERCIDITJM. The mycelium or spawn 

 of certain f ungals. 



CERCIFIX. (Fr.) Tragopogon porrifolius. 



CERCIS. Judas Tree. This tree divides 

 with the Elder the ignominy of being that 

 on which the arch-traitor hanged himself, 

 neither legend being worth the trouble of 

 sifting. It is a native of the south of 

 Europe and several countries of Asia from 

 Syria to Japan, and is a handsome low 

 tree with a spreading head, easily distin- 

 guished among the leguminous order by 

 its simple glabrous kidney-shaped leaves, 

 and by its purple flowers, which are pro- 

 duced abundantly in May before the leaves, 

 not only from the young twigs, but from 

 the matm-ed branches, and even the main 

 trunk. The flowers are succeeded by flat 

 thin brown pods, nearly six inches in 

 length, which remain on the tree all the 

 year." These are not generally produced in 

 this country, unless the tree be planted 

 against a wail, but in a warmer climate they 

 perfect themselves in abundance, and afford 

 a ready means of propagation. The leaves 

 are remarkable for their unusual shape, 

 for the pale bluish green of their upper 

 surface, and for their sea-green hue be- 

 neath. The flowers have an agreeable acid 

 taste, and are sometimes- mixed with salads 

 or made into fritters with batter, and the 

 flower buds are pickled in vinegar. This spe- 

 cies is known as C.Siliquastrum, from the 

 conspicuous appearance of its seed-pods. 



C. canadensis (French Bouton Rouged, 

 bears a general resemblance to the preced- 

 ing, but is smaller and more slender. It 

 may at once be distinguished by its leaves 

 being heart-shaped and pointed. It is a 

 native of North America, from Canada to 

 Virginia, along the banks of rivers. The 

 flowers are less numerous and of a paler 

 rose colour : these are used by the French 

 Canadians in salads and pickles, and the 

 young branches to dye wool of a nankeen 

 colour. The wood of both species is hard 

 and variously marked with black, green, 

 and yellow, on a grey ground. A new spe- 

 cies, C. chinensis, which has been recently 

 introduced from China, has sessile flowers, 

 of which the standard is striped. French, 

 Gamier, Arbre de Judee ; German, Judas- 

 baum. [C. A. J.] 



CERETJS. An extensive genus of Cacta- 

 cece, the species of which are remarkable 

 for their singularity of form, and for the 

 beauty of their flowers. Their stems are 

 fleshy while young, but many of them 

 harden and even become woody in course 

 of time; they vary very much in form, 

 some species having cylindrical and ribbed 

 or fluted stems, whilst others have them 

 nearly square or angular: some grow erect, 

 others creep along the ground or up trees, 

 and send out roots from their sides; 



many are unbranched, while others have 

 numerous branches, and some are jointed. 

 The majority are armed with spines, which 

 radiate from little cushion-like tufts, placed 

 at regular intervals along the ridges or 

 angles of the stems. Their flowers are 

 distinguished by the tube being somewhat 

 funnel-shaped and generally armed with 

 small spines, by the numerous stamens 

 being united only at the base, and nearly 

 as long as the petals, and by the slender 

 thread-like style scarcely exceeding the 

 stamens in length. 



C. giganteus, the Suwarrow or Saguaro 

 of the Mexicans, is the largest and most 

 striking species of the genus. It is a 

 ! native of the hot, arid, and almost desert 

 i regions of New Mexico, extending from 

 ' Souora, in lat. 30° N., to "Williams river, in 

 I lat. 35° N., and found growing in rocky 

 i valleys and upon mountain sides, often 

 I springing out from mere crevices in the 

 , hard rock, and imparting a singular aspect 

 ! to the scenery of the country, its tall 

 , stems with upright branches looking like 

 ' telegraphic posts for signalling from point 

 i to point of the rocky mountains. While 

 young the steins are of a globular form, 

 gradually becoming club-shaped, and ulti- 

 mately almost cylindrical, and from fifty 



Cereus giganteus. 



to sixty feet in height, with a diameter of 

 about two feet at middle height, and gra- 

 dually tapering both upwards and down- 

 wards to about one foot, They are most 

 frequently unbranched, but some of the 

 older ones have branches, which issue at 

 right angles from the stem and then curve 

 upwards and grow parallel with it. The 

 stems are regularly ribbed or fluted, the 

 ribs varying in number from twelve to 

 twenty, and have, at intervals of about an 

 inch, thick yellow cushions bearing five or 

 six large and many smaller spines. The 

 flowers are produced near the summit of 

 the stems and branches, and are about 

 four or five inches long by three or four 

 in diameter, having light cream-coloured 

 petals. The fruits are about two or three 



