J31 



Efje CrcaSurii' of 28 a tang. 



[CORI 



tries of Southern Europe, and is described 

 by some authors under the name of Empe- 

 trum lusitanicum. [C. A. J.] 



COREOPSIS. A genus of American 

 herbaceous composite plants remarkable 

 for the singular shape of its seeds, which j 

 are flat on one side, convex on the other, 

 membranous at the edge, and having the 

 pappus furnished with two horns not un- 

 like the antennae of an insect. Hence its 

 name, which in Greet signifies 'bearing 

 resemblance to a bug.' Many species are 

 cultivated, among which C. diversifolia is a 

 perennial with branching stems, small I 

 three to five-lobed leaves and large ter- j 

 minal flowers, the disk of which is purple, 

 and the rays yellow, marked with a purple 

 stain at the base. Several beautiful annual 

 species, as C. tinctoria, C. coronata, C. Aikin- 

 soniana, and C. Brummondii, are now re- j 

 ferred to Calliopsis. C. verticillata is a 

 handsome shrubby perennial, continuing 

 long in flower; its flowers are used in i 

 North America to dye cloth red. [C. A. J.] j 



CORESES. Dark red, broad, discoid 

 bodies, found beneath the epicarp of 



grapes. 



CORETTE POTAGE^RE. (Fr.) Corcho- 

 i rus olitorius. 



CORETHROSTYLIS. A genus of "W. 



Australian bushes belonging to the bytt- 



neriads, remarkable for the form of the 



style, which is elongated and furnished : 



with numerous tufts of recurved hairs, 



giving it the appearance of a bottle-brush, j 



This curious appearance has suggested the j 



name. About seven species are known, J 



all of them having their parts more or less 



covered with rusty-coloured starry hairs. 



. Their leaves are alternate, mostly heart- 



; shaped, and either entire or notched. The 



flowers are in branched racemes, which 



■ arise from opposite the leaves, each flower 



I supported by a bract, and consisting of a 



five-parted petal-like calyx covered with 



| soft hairs; no petals; five stamens with 



; short stalks, and anthers opening at the ; 



apex by a small pore, surrounding a three- 



! lobed ovary, which, when ripe, becomes a 



\ three-celled capsule with three seeds. C. 



J Vracteata is a pretty bush sometimes seen 



in greenhouses : it has heart-shaped entire 



leaves about an inch in length, covered 



like all parts of the plant with rusty hairs. 



The pink starry flowers, with pink bracts, 



appear in great profusion. [A. A. B.] 



CORIACEOES. Having the consistence 

 of leather. 



CORIANDER. Coriandrum sativum. 



CORIANDRUM. A genus of Umbelliferce 

 producing the fruits erroneously called 

 Coriander seeds. There is but one species, 



I C. sativum, a native of Southern Europe, 

 the Levant, &c, and cultivated even in 



> this country, where it is also sometimes 

 met with in a half wild condition. It has 

 a branching annual stem, one to one and a 



I half foot high, with the lower leaves 



pinnately divided into broad or wedge- 

 shaped deeply-cut segments, while the 

 upper leaves are more finely cut. The 

 umbels have five to eight rays without a 

 general involucre, and the partial ones 

 consist of only a few small bracts; the 

 flowers are whitish or pink. The most 

 characteristic feature, however, is the 

 globular fruit, which is crowned by the 

 teeth of the calyx, and has no oil channels 

 on the outer surface, but two on the inner 

 face of each half of the fruit ; the 

 ridges are five and rather indistinct. The 

 two carpels of which the fruit is composed 

 do not readily separate one from the other. 

 Coriander fruits or seeds are carminative 

 and aromatic, and are hence used for 

 flavouring purposes in curries, &c, &c. 

 The odour and taste depend upon a vola- 

 tile oil. The fresh plant has a strong 

 smell of bugs. [M. T. MJ 



CORIARIA. A genus of shrubs of un- 

 certain position, by some made to consti- 

 tute a distinct family under the name of 

 Coriariem. The leaves are opposite, simple, 

 ribbed, and entire. The flowers are in 

 clusters, either hermaphrodite, monoe- 

 cious, or dioecious ; calyx five-parted, bell- 

 shaped; petals five, fleshy, with a promi- 

 nent ridge internally ; stamens ten, arising 

 from beneath the ovary, which consists of 

 five carpels arranged obliquely upon a 

 thickened receptacle ; stigmas five; ovules 

 solitary, pendulous, inverted. Fruit of 

 five crustaceous indehiscent one-seeded 

 carpels, concealed by the membranous 

 sepals and fleshy petals. These shrubs are 

 natives of Southern Europe, the Mediter- 

 ranean, Peru, Nepaul, and New Zealand. 

 C. myrtifolia, the European species, is a 

 low deciduous shrub with myrtle-like 

 leaves. Its fruit is poisonous, and is said 

 to have proved fatal to some French 

 soldiers in Catalonia. The leaves have 

 also been used to adulterate senna— a 

 dangerous fraud, as they are stated to have 

 caused tetanic convulsions, and subsequent 

 coma. C. myrtifolia is also used in dyeing 

 black. C.sarmentosa, theWine berry shrub of 

 the settlers in New Zealand, has pendulous 

 branches, greenish white flowers in long 

 slender clusters, and shining-black berry- 

 like fruits, full of a dark red juice of sweet 

 taste, and free from any deleterious pro- 

 perties, but the seeds if eaten are poison- 

 ous ; thenativesthereforehavingexpressed 

 the juice from the fruits, strain it before 

 they drink it, or soak their baked fern root 

 in it. The ' missionaries at the Bay of 

 Islands,' says Dr. Bennett, from whose 

 Wanderings in Australia this notice is 

 taken, ' make an agreeable wine from the 

 berries of the shrub, which tastes like 

 that made from elderberries.' The effects 

 that result from eating the seeds are con- 

 vulsions and delirium, which continue for 

 several hours, and frequently terminate 

 fatally. The fruit of C. nepalensis is also 

 eaten in Northern India. [M, T. MJ 



CORTNDE. (Fr.) Cardiospermuvi Ealica- 

 cabum. 



