343 



CI)e CrraSurg at ISntang. 



[CRAN 



esting shrub, about two feet high when 

 mature, with alternate small narrow leaves, 

 the edges turned down, covered with 

 glands on the upper surface, and on the 

 lower, white with fine down. The flowers 

 are numerous and of a yellow colour, very 

 much resembling those of certain species 

 of Potentilla. [G. D.] 



COTVB.AJE. Cicuta virosa; also an 

 American name for Archemora. 

 COWBERRY. Vaccinium Vitis idcea. 

 j The name Cowberry is also applied in some 

 1 parts of Scotland to the fruits of Coma- 

 rum palustre. 

 COW-GRASS. Trifolium medium* 

 COWHAGE-CHERRY. The fruitof Mal- 

 pighia urens. 

 COW-HERB. Saponaria Vaccaria. 



COWITCH, COWAGE, or COWHAGE 

 The hairs of the pods of Mucuna pru 

 riens, which are used as a mechanical an 

 thelmintic. 



COW-PARSLEY. Reracleum Panaces ; 

 also commonly applied to Chcerophyllum 



COW-PARSNIP. A common name for 

 any Eeracleum. 



COW-PLANT, CEYLON. Gymnema lac- 

 tiferum. 



COW-QUAKES. Briza media. 



COWRIE PINE. Dammara australis. 



COWSLIP. Primulaveris. —AMERICAN. 

 The common name for Dodecatlieon. — 

 VIRGINIAN. Mertensia or Pulmonaria 

 virginica. 



COW-TREE. The Palo de Vaca of South 

 America, Brosimum Galactodendron, some- 

 times called Galactodendron utile ; also the 

 Hya Hya of the same continent, Tabernce- 

 montana utilis. The name has besides been 

 given to Fines Saussureana, and other 

 species of figs ; and is, according to M. Des- 

 vaux, applied to Clusia Galactodendron. 



COW- WEED. Clicerophyllum sylvestre. 



COW-WHEAT. A common name for 

 Melampyrum. 



CRAB. Pyrus Malus. -.QUEENSLAND. 

 Petalo stigma quadrilocularis. — ,SIBERI AN. 

 Pyrus baccata and P. prunifolia. 



CRAB OIL. The oil obtained from 

 Carapa guianensis. 



CRAB'S EYE LICHEN. Lecanora palles- 

 cens, which was formerly gathered under 

 this name in the north of England for the 

 dyers. [M. J. B.] 



CRAB'S-EYES. The seeds of Abrus pre- 

 catorius. 



CRAB-WOOD. The timber of Carapa 

 guianensis. 



CRACCA. The name given to a few 

 slender perennial herbs or small bushes of 

 the pea family, which were at one time 



placed in the genus Tephrosia, from which 

 they differ in having no cup-shaped disc 

 round the ovary. Six species are enume- 

 rated, all of them confined to tropical 

 America. Their leaves are unequally 

 pinnate, with four to twelve pairs of small 

 opposite leaflets mostly elliptical in form, 

 and the flowers (about the size of those of 

 a vetch) are arranged in axillary racemes. 

 The straight narrow pods are thin, smooth, 

 and contain a number of seeds. [A. A. B.] 



CRAKE BERRY. Empetrum nigrum.— 

 PORTUGAL. Corema alba. 



CRAM DES ANGLAIS. (Fr.) Cochlearia 

 Armoracia. 



CRAMBE. A genus of Cruciferce, con- 

 sisting of several species, of which two are 

 edible, namely, C. maritima and C. tatarica. 

 The former is our well-known Sea Kale. 

 The latter is the Tatar Kenyer or Tarta- 

 rian bread of the Hungarians, of which an 

 interesting account is given in Loudon's 

 Encyclopaedia of Plants, v. 557; but we are not 

 aware of any attempt having been made to 

 cultivate it in this country, although the 

 plant is stated to have been introduced in 

 1789. 



The Sea Kale, C. maritima, is a hardy 

 native perennial, found on various parts of 

 the coast, growing among sand and shingle. 

 It is easily recognised by its broad wavy 

 toothed gray-coloured leaves, which, with 

 the stem, have a peculiar appearance, from 

 being glaucous, or covered with a very 

 fine bloom. The flowers are white and 

 have a strong smell of honey. It appears 

 to have been known to the Romans, who 

 gathered it in its wild state, and preserved 

 it in barrels for use during long voyages. 

 From a remote period it has also been 

 used in this country by residents near the 

 sea, but its introduction into our gardens 

 is comparatively of recent date, although 

 it is recorded that bundles of it were 

 exposed for sale in Chichester market in 

 1753. It was not known about London 

 until 1767, when Dr. Lettsom cultivated it 

 at Camberwell, and was the first to bring 

 it into general notice. It has now become 

 a common vegetable, and when blanched, 

 the young shoots and leaves, before their 

 complete development, are cut and tied 

 up in small bundles for boiling. When 

 thoroughly dressed they are served like 

 Asparagus, and are esteemed exceedingly 

 choice and delicate. [W. B. B.] 



CRANBERRY. The fruit of Oxycoccus 

 palustris,a.]so sometimes applied, according 

 to Lindley , to those of Vaccinium Vitis idoea. 

 — ,AMEP>,ICAN. Oxycoccus macrocarpus. 

 — ,TASMANIAN. Astroloma humifusum 



CRANE'S BILL. The common name for 

 Geranium. 



CRANICHIS. A rather numerous genus 



of American orchids, mostly tropical, with 



the habit of Spiranthes, but with a dorsal 



I concave not convolute lip. The flowers 



; are insignificant, and the species scarcely 



i more than weeds. 



