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344 



CRANIOLARIA. A genus of Pedaliads, 

 distinguished from its congeners by the 

 somewhat hell-shaped calyx, which is cleft 

 or five-toothed, and by the tube of the co- 

 rolla widening to ward the upper part, where 

 it is hell-shaped and two-lipped, the upper 

 lip of two pieces, the lower of three, the 

 middle piece of the latter longer than the 

 other two. The name of the genus was 

 given in allusion to some resemblance 

 which the ripe fruit has to the skull, in 

 Latin 'cranium.' The species are herba- 

 ceous, natives of the tropical parts of Ame- 

 rica, usually very hairy and viscid ; the 

 leaves are opposite angled or five-lobed, 

 the flowers from the axils of the leaves or 

 terminal, the corolla being generally pale, 

 with the throat variegated. The genus 

 was originally formed to comprehend a 

 plant known as the Martynia Craniolaria, 

 first introduced in 1733, and which is now 

 Craniolaria annua : a handsome green- 

 house plant, easily cultivated, attaining a 

 height of two feet, with leaves somewhat 

 heart-shaped, five-lobed and toothed, the 

 tube of the corolla longer than the calyx, 

 which has at the base two leaflets or bracts. 

 Dr. Lindley states 'that its fleshy and 

 sweet root is preserved in sugar by the 

 Creoles as a delicacy. In the dry state it is 

 said to be a hitter cooling medicine.' 

 Another species is the C. unibracteata, 

 which is perennial ; the tube of the corolla 

 is as long as the calyx, which has one bract. 

 The flowers ai*e in clusters, sulphur 

 yellow, with purple dots. [G. D.] 



CRANTOSPERMUM. A small genus of 

 Siberian herbs belonging to Boraginacece. 

 They are hairy with obovate or linear 

 leaves, and rather small rose-coloured 

 flowers with a five-parted calyx, a tubular 

 corolla, five-cleft at the mouth, the seg- 

 ments erect, the throat without scales ; 

 stigma capitate; nuts four, obliquely de- 

 pressed at the apex, affixed to a four-sided 

 pyramidal central column, the disk sub- 

 concave with a narrow margin. [J. T. S.] 



CRANSOX. (Fr.) Cochlearia officinalis. 

 — RUSTIQUE. Cochlearia Armoracia. 



CRAPAUDINE. (Fr.) Any Sideritis. 



CRAQUELIN. (Fr.) Fragaria collina. 



CRASPEDARIA. A name given hy 

 Link and others to various polypodiaceous 

 ferns, now referred to the genera Gonio- 

 phlebium, Niphobolus, &c. [T. M.] 



CRASS. Something thicker than usual. 

 Leaves are generally papery in texture ; 

 the leaves of cotyledons, which are much 

 more fleshy, have been called crass. 



CRASSULACE^. {Sempervivcc, Succu- 

 lentce, House-leeks, Stonecrop family.) A 

 natural order of polypetalous calycifloral 

 dicotyledons, included in Lindley's violal 

 alliance. Succulent herbs or shrubs with 

 exstipulate (no stipules) leaves, and clus- 

 tered flowers, which are often turned to- 

 wards one side ; sepals three to twenty, 

 more or less combined ; petals three to 

 twenty, separate or united ; stamens equal 



I in number to the petals or twice as many ; 

 ovary composed of numerous one-celled 

 carpels, having scales at their base ; fruit 

 consisting of follicles. Natives of dry places 

 in all parts of the world. They are found 

 on naked rocks, old walls, or hot sandy 

 plains, alternately exposed to the heaviest 

 dews of night, and the fiercest rays of the 

 noon-day sun. Acridity prevails in many 

 plants of this order. Some species are 

 cooling in their properties, others are 

 astringent. Sedum acre is very acrid, and is 

 hence called Wall-pepper ; it is abundant on 

 sandy shores. Sempervivum tectorum, the 

 Houseleek, is so called from being grown 

 on the tops of houses. Bryophyllum caly- 

 cinum has the property of producing leaf- 

 buds along the margin of its leaves. There 

 are about 470 species, distributed among 

 twenty-four genera, of which Crassula, 

 Bryophyllum, Sedum, Sempervivum, and 

 Penthorum are examples. [J. H. B.] 



CRASSTTL A. A well-known genus giving 

 its name to the order Crassulacea*. It con- 

 sists of herbs or shrubs, with, for the most 

 part, more or less fleshy leaves and stems, 

 and white or pink flowers in loose cymes 

 or compact heads. The form and disposi- 

 tion of the leaves vary in the different 

 species ; frequently the two opposite leaves 

 are conjoined at the base, as in C.perfoliata. 



Crassula perlbliata (stem and leaves). 



The sepals are five, shorter than the Ave 

 petals ; the stamens are five, perigynous ; 

 there are also five hypogynous scales; 

 the ovaries are five, distinct one from the 

 other, and ripening into as many few or 

 many-seeded follicles. Some of them are 

 found in the Mediterranean region, but 

 the head-quarters are at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. Numerous species are in cultivation, 

 some of them frequently produce little 

 leaf-buds in place of flowers on their in- 

 florescence. [M. T. M.] 



CRATAEGUS. A well-known family of 

 moderate-sized trees, commonly called 

 thorns, belonging to the sub-order Pomece, 

 of rosaceous plants, closely allied to the 

 medlar, Mespilus, from which it is distin- 

 guished by the small (not leaf-like) seg- 

 ments of the calyx, and hy the different 

 form of the fruit. The thorns are natives 

 of Europe, North America, and the tempe- 

 rate regions of Asia and Africa, bearing 

 for the most part a great resemblance to 

 one another in habit of growth, and agree- 



