329 



Qfyt €rca£urw at 33otang. 



[coed 



! commerce ; no less than "38,085 ewt.,valued 

 at 019,668?., having been imported to this 

 country alone in 1858. The plant is largely 

 cultivated in India ; also by the Malays arid 

 | Chinese. The fibre is separated by the or- 

 I dinary process of steeping in water. It is 

 frequently as much as twelve feet in length, 

 I very soft, silky, and separable into fine fila- 

 • nients, which are easily spun. Jute is 

 j much used in the manufacture of carpets, 

 I and some kinds of cloth ; but is not suit- 

 | able for cordage, as it will not bear expo- 

 | sure to wet. Its most important use, 

 l however, is for the manufacture of the 

 I gunny-bags, so extensively used for packing 

 | cotton, rice, and other dry goods, enormous 

 quantities of them being exported from 

 India to the United States for that pur- 

 pose. Very good paper is made from the 

 refuse fibre, and also from worn-out guu- 

 ! ny-bags ; and a kind of whisky, resembling 

 corn-spirit, has been distilled froni the 

 waste ends of the stems. 



ft olitorius, is a native of India, but is now 

 naturalised in all parts of the tropics, and 

 extends as far north as the shores of the 

 Mediterranean. It is an annual plant much 

 resembling ft capsularis, the principal dif- 

 ference existing in the fruit, which in this 

 species is two inches long, almost cylin- 

 drical, and about the thickness of a quill. 

 The young shoots of this species are com- 

 monly used as a pot-herb in tropical coun- 

 ( tries, as are those of ft capsularis ; it is 

 much grown for this purpose in Egypt and 

 Syria, and being used by the Jews, it has 

 obtained the name of Jews' Mallow. It 

 yields part of the Jute of commerce. 



ft siliquosus, a common species in the 

 West Indies and tropical America, is an 

 herbaceous plant about two or three feet 

 high; its leaves differ from those of the two 

 last in not having bristles on the two bot- 

 tom teeth, and there is usually a line of 

 minute hairs along the stem. The negroes 

 in the West Indies use it for making be- 

 soms, and the inhabitants of Panama drink 

 an infusion of the leaves as a substitute 

 for tea : hence they call it te. [A S.] 



CORCULUM. The embryo; and also, the 

 small axis of growth in such dicotyledon- 

 ous ernbryos as the walnut. 



CORDATE. A plane body, having two 

 round lobes at the base ; the whole resem- 

 bling the heart in a pack of cards. 



CORDATO-HASTATE. Between cordate 

 and hastate. 



CORDATO-OVATE. Between cordate and 

 ovate. 



CORDATO-SAGITTATE. Between cord- 

 ate and sagittate. 



CORDELYSTYLIS. A little known genus 

 of Indian orchids described by Falconer in 

 the Journal of Botany (iv. 75). It seems to 

 be related to Spiranthes. 



CORDIA (including Myxa, Pilicordia, 

 Rhabdocalyx, and Sebestena). A genus of Bo- 

 r«ginaceo>., containing nearly 200 species of 

 plants scattered over the tropical and sub- 



| tropical regions of the world. They are : 

 trees or shrubs with alternate rarely sub- 

 opposite petiolate and entire or subden- 

 ' tate leaves, and flowers variously arranged, 

 sometimes polygamous, or monoecious from 

 the abortion of parts. The calyx is tubular 

 j with four or five teeth ; the corolla is f un- 

 I nel-shaped with the limb four to five-parted, 

 i rarely six to twelve-lobed ; the stamens are 

 as numerous as the divisions of the corolla, 

 and are inserted in the tube ; the ovary is : 

 four-celled, and bears a doubly-bifid style, ! 

 with a stigmatic surface on each division. I 

 | The drupaceous fruit is ovate or globose, 

 pulpy, generally surrounded by the per- 

 sistent calyx, and four-celled or one to 

 three-celled from the abortion of one or 

 more cells ; there is a single seed in each 

 cell. This large unwieldy genus has been 

 divided into the following sections from 

 characters obtained from the calyx ; and it 

 would be well if these sections were raised 

 into genera :— 



Gerascanthus, having a cylindrical ten- 

 grooved calyx. 



Pilicordia, with an oblong or cylindrical 

 ten-striate calyx. 



Physoclada, having a membranaceous 

 calyx, hispid at the apex with sette, and at 

 length irregularly torn. 



Sebestenoides, having a cylindrical or | 

 ovate smooth three to ten-toothed calyx. 

 Myxa, the calyx not grooved, four to 

 I five-toothed, the teeth short or rarely awn- 

 shaped. 

 I Cordiopsis, with an obovate or oblong 

 calyx terminating in five setaceous divi- 

 sions. 

 The fruit qf some species is eaten, as of 

 ! ft latifolla and ft Myxa, two Indian species j 

 which have succulent mucilaginous and j 

 ! emollient fruits. From their mucilaginous i 

 Equalities, combined with some astringency, I 

 they have been employed as pectoral medi- I 

 f cines, under the name of Sebestens. The 

 fruit of ft abyssinica is used in the same j 

 way in Abyssinia. The bark of ft Myxa is i 

 a mild tonic, and is used in India for astrin- j 

 gent gargles. Some species supply useful | 

 and ornamental timber ; the wood of ft j 

 Rumphii is brown, beautifully veined with 

 black, and smells of musk, ft Gerascanthus \ 

 yields a timber of importance in the West j 

 Indies. The wood of ft Myxa is soft, and \ 

 of little use except for fuel. It is reckoned j 

 one of the best kinds for kindling fire by i 

 friction, and it is said to be the wood j 

 which was used by the Egyptians in con- i 

 structingtheir mummy-cases. See Plate 6,c, i 

 and Plate 10, e. [W. C] 



CORDIACE.33. A tribe or suborder of | 

 Boraginacem, often considered as forming 

 a distinct family. They differ from true 

 BoraginecE, but agree with Ehretiacece in 

 their concrete entire ovary internally di- 

 vided into four or more cells ; and are dis- 

 tinguished from both of those suborders by 

 their branching style, and most frequently 

 by their plaited cotyledons. They are trees, 

 shrubs, or rarely herbs, with alternate 

 rough leaves ; their flowers are in terminal 

 cymes, sometimes gyrate as in true Bora- 



