341 



1S\)t Crea^urg of 3Batang. 



[COUE 



pus. — , NATAL. A textile material re- 

 sembling true cotton, obtained from the 

 pods of a species of Batatas. — , SILK. 

 A common name for Bombax. B. pentan- 

 druni is called the Indian cotton-tree. 



COTTONIA macrostachya is an orchide- 



ous epiphyte from the Madras presidency 



' and Ceylon, with a few greenish purple- 



j lipped flowers at the end of- a long lateral 



| slender peduncle. The foliage is that of a 



, Saccolabium or Tanda, so that the name of 



V. peduncularis has been applied to the 



plant. Another species, C. Championi, found 



on both Victoria Peak Hong Kong, and 



the Khasya mountains, has smaller dirty 



lemon-coloured flowers in racemes little 



longer than the distichous leaves, which 



are mucronate and even serrate at the 



point. 



COTTON-GRASS. The common name 

 for Eriophorum. 



COTTON-ROSE. A common name for 

 Filago. 



; COTTON-RTTSH. A name sometimes 

 given to Eriophorum. 



COTTON-SEDGE. A name given by 

 Bentham to Eriophorum. 



COTTON-THISTLE. A common name 

 for Onopordum. 



COTTON- WEED. Biotis maritima. 



COTTON- WOOD. An American name for 

 Populus monilifera and P. angulata. 



COTTTLA. A genus of weedy compound 

 flowers allied to Anthemis, from which it is 

 distinguished by its hemispherical naked 

 receptacle, four-cleft florets of the disk, and 

 by the ray being almost wanting. There 

 are numerous species, of which one only, 

 C. coronopifolia, is found in Europe. There 

 is no British example. Cotula is a diminu- 

 tive of Cota, the old name of some species 

 ; of Anthemis. [C. A. J.] 



COTYLEDON. A genus of shrubs and 

 • herbaceous plants belonging to the Cras- 

 sulacece, among which they are distin- 

 j guished by their Ave sepals, tubular five- 

 j cleft corolla bearing ten stamens, and a 

 scale at the base of each of the five carpels. 

 I The only British species,C. Umbilicus, Navel- 

 wort, or Penny-wort, is a common weed 

 in the west of England and some parts of 

 I "Wales and elsewhere, growing on the sides 

 or in the crevices of damp rocks and walls, 

 i where it is conspicuous during the winter 

 i and spring months by its orbicular concave 

 peltate exceedingly succulent leaves, called 

 by children Penny-pies. In summer it 

 sends up a stalk, the lower portion of 

 which bears succulent leaves,which gradu- 

 ally lose their peltate form and pass into 

 bracts. The stalk, when the plant grows 

 in a dry situation, is from four to six 

 inches long, and bears a simple spike of 

 drooping green flowers ; but in a more 

 ; genial situation grows to the height of a 

 foot or more and is branched. After the 

 i seeds have ripened, the stems wither and 

 , turn brownish red, but retain their form 



during a great part of the winter. Of 

 the foreign species several are natives of 

 the Cape of Good Hope ; these are ever- 

 green under-shrubs, and are sometimes 

 found in the green-houses of the curious. 

 C. orbiculata, which is the one most fre- 

 quently cultivated, has thick and succulent 

 leaves tinged at the edge with purple. The 

 flowers are large drooping, and have the di- 

 visions revolute and of a reddish hue : they 

 last from June to September. C. lutea is 

 by some authors enumerated among British 

 plants, but without due grounds. It is a 

 native of Portugal. [C. A. J.] 



COTYLEDONS. The seed-lobes; the 

 primordial leaves in the rudimentary plant 

 or embryo. 



COTYLIFORM. Dished. Resembling ro- 

 tate, but with an erect limb. 



COUCH-GRASS. Triticum repens. 



COFCOU. (Fr.) Primula officinalis. 



COUCOURZELLE. (Fr.) A kind of 

 gourd. 



COUDRIER. CFr.) Corylus Avellana. — 

 DU LEVANT. Corylus Colurna. 



COUEPIA. A genus of the chrysobalan 

 family, whose distinguishing characters 

 are its one-celled ovary, which adheres to 

 the calyx tube, and its numerous stamens 

 (twenty to forty or more), which arise from 

 one side only of the mouth of the calyx, 

 or are disposed round it in a perfect ring. 

 The genus comprises upwards of a dozen 

 species, all of them trees of South America, 

 generally small, but sometimes attaining a 

 height of fifty feet. Their leaves are en- 

 tire, usually oblong, and very often covered 

 with short white down underneath. The 

 flowers, numerous and seldom more than 

 half an inch in diameter, are either white 

 or cream-coloured, and when in bud have 

 a shape exactly like that of a clove ; they 

 are disposed in terminal or axillary panicles 

 or racemes, and are composed of a tubu- 

 lar calyx with a five-parted border, five 

 petals, numerous stamens, and an ovary 

 with a simple style arising from near its 

 base. The oval stoned fruits of a number 

 of species are eaten. C. chrysocalyx is a 

 beautiful tree of a pyramidal form, branch- 

 ing to the base, and attaining a height of 

 thirty feet. According to Mr. Spruce, it 

 grows plentifully all along the Amazon 

 river from the Barra upwards. The Indians 

 plant it also near their houses for the sake 

 of its edible fruits, and a large puebla on 

 the Maranon of Cucama Indians derives its 

 name 'Paranari' from the abundance of 

 this tree, so called. Its oblong pointed 

 or blunt leaves have a smooth upper sur- 

 face, and are covered underneath with short 

 white down. The flowers, about an inch 

 in length, have a calyx covered with yel- 

 low down, and are borne in axillary racemes 

 much shorter than the leaves. C. guianen- 

 sis is, according to Aublet, a tree of sixty 

 feet high, with grey shining bark, and dark 

 red-coloured wood, which is durable and 

 heavy. The leaves are oval, acute, and 



