the order of sandalworts. The flowers 

 have both stamens and pistils; the divi- 

 sions of the calyx vaulted and covering the 

 five stamens ; the style, or appendage on 

 the top of the ovary, is very short, ending 

 in a star-like surface. The name is derived 

 from the Greek word signifying a rustic, 

 probably in allusion to the plain aspect of 

 the species. They are natives of New 

 Holland, having the form of shrubs re- 

 sembling our native broom. The leaves 

 are very small and scattered, confined 

 mostly to the vicinity of the flowers, 

 which are also small, white, and sub- 

 tended by four leaflets or bracts. [G. D.] 



CHORION. A carpel; also the pulpy 

 matter which fills the interior of a young 

 seed before impregnation. 



CHORIPETALTTM. A genus of scan 

 dent shrubs or trees of the ardisiad 

 family, distinguished among its allies in 

 its petals being four in number and free, 

 not united, as well as in its racemed 

 flowers. The leaves are alternate, shortly- 

 stalked, and entire, generally about Ave 

 inches long, between ovate and elliptical 

 in form, and furnished with glandular 

 dots. The small white or yellowish flowers 

 are borne in little axillary racemes, and 

 the berries when ripe are scarlet in colour 

 and contain few seeds. Those of C. undu- 

 latn.m are, according to Dr. Hooker, eaten 

 in Sikkim as well as the leaves, which 

 are sour to the taste. This species grows 

 to a straggling tree of sixty feet, and, 

 along with a few others, is a common 

 plant in the temperate regions of the 

 Himalayas. One species is found in Cey- 

 lon ; another, with small leaves, rounded 

 at the apex and narrowed towards the 

 base, is found in Hong Kong, the eastern 

 limit of the genus, Java being the southern, 

 and Bombay the western. [A. A. B.] 



CHORISIA. A genus of small prickly- 

 stemmed trees of the sterculiad family, 

 peculiar to South America. Their leaves 

 are alternate stalked and digitate, made 

 up of five oblong, or elliptical smooth 

 leaflets, each from three to six inches in 

 length. The flowers (one to three in the 

 axils of the upper leaves) are large, rose- | 

 coloured, and composed of a bell-shaped 

 three or five-lobed calyx ; five narrow j 

 petals from one to three inches long, I 

 either entire or with crisped margins, and | 

 covered with silky hairs ; a double sta- 

 minal tube, the outer one short and bear- 

 ing on its apex ten barren stamens, the 

 inner much longer and bearing ten fertile 

 stamens. The number and arrangement 

 of the stamens serve to distinguish the 

 genus from its allies. The fruit is a 

 one-celled pear-shaped capsule, containing 

 many seeds, which are covered with silky 

 or cottony hairs. The tough bark of C. 

 crispiflora is used in Brazil for making 

 cordage; and the white cottony hairs of 

 the seeds of C. speciosa are used by the 

 Brazilians for stuffing pillows and cush- 

 ions. The tree is known by the name of 

 Arvore de Paina in Brazil. M. de St. Hilaire 



remarks, that the cottony hairs which 

 cover the seeds and line the walls of the 

 fruit of many of the plants of this Bombax 

 family, are used wherever they grow— 

 whether in India, Africa, or America, im- 

 precisely similar purposes. [A. A. B.] 



CHORISMA. The only species of this 

 genus, C. repens, a little plant of the com- 

 posite family, grows on the sandy sea- 

 shores, from Loo Choo and Hong Kong to 

 Kamtschatka. The stems, about the 

 thickness of a straw, creep along the sand 

 and emit roots where the leaves are given 

 off; these leaves have stalks about three 

 inches long, and are generally three or 

 five-lobed, but sometimes three-parted 

 with three-lobed segments, the blades 

 much shorter than their stalks and quite 

 smooth. The yellow flower-heads are from 

 one to three, supported on a stalk a little 

 longer than the leaves. This plant is 

 nearly related to the sow-thistles, but the 

 peculiar habit and form of its leaves 

 readily serve to distinguish it. It has 

 been called Cliorisis repens, and is now 

 placed in the genus Ixeris. [A. A. B.] 



CHORISPORA. A genus of Cruciferce, 



allied to Cakile, but differing in the longer 

 cylindrical pod, which breaks across into 

 one-seeded divisions. Annual plants, na- 

 tives of Siberia and the Altai, with purple, 

 white or yellow flowers. [J. T. S.] 



CHORISTES. A genus of much-branched 

 Mexican shrubs, belonging to the Cincho- 

 nacece. The flowers are few in number, 

 with a top-shaped calyx, having four per- 

 sistent, short divisions ; a somewhat bell- 

 shaped corolla; four stamens;- a two- 

 celled ovary, becoming a capsule, dividing 

 from the top into two divisions, to liberate 

 the numerous seeds. [M. T. M.] 



OHORISTOPHYLLOUS. Separate- 



leaved. 



CHORISTYLIS. A South African genus 

 of Escalloniacece, represented by a shrub 

 with panicles of small green flowers, 

 i having five awl-shaped siLky three-nerved 

 : petals, valvate in the bud, and four sta- 

 ! mens with a fleshy connective between 

 the lobes of the anther. The ovary is in- 

 ferior, with two compartments, and sur- 

 mounted by two styles, united partially 

 at first, but ultimately becoming disjoined. 

 The fruit is a capsule bursting into two 

 pieces to liberate the many seeds it con- 

 tains. [M. T. M.] 



CHORIZANDRA. A genus of cyperace- 

 ous plants, belonging to the tribe Scle- 

 rinece. The spikes are many-flowered, and 

 androgynous the exterior flowers male 

 and monandrous, the central ones solitary, 

 female, with two to three-cleft styles. 

 Three species are described of these little- 

 known plants, which are all natives of 

 Australia. [D. M.] 



CHORIZANTHE. A genus of Pohjgo- 

 nacece, of the tribe Eriogonece. Herbs, 

 natives of California, orunder-shrubsfrom 

 Chili. Leaves alternate, crowded at the 



