chin] 



l&fyt €rta£ury at botany. 



348 



ous seeds. Chequehue is the name given 

 by the Chilians to this plant, which is 

 known to botanists as Crinodendron H'ook- 

 eri or G. Patagua. [A. A. BJ 



CRINTTM. A genus of remarkably hand- 

 some amaryllidaceous plants, well-known 

 in gardens. They are tropical or sub-tropi- 

 cal herbs, generally of large size, with co- 

 lumnar or sphajrical bulbs, lorate-lanceolate 

 leaves, and a solid scape bearing a many- 

 flowered umbel. The perianth has a long 

 slender tube scarcely enlarged at the 

 mouth, and a six-parted limb of nearly 

 equal segments, which are erect, spreading 

 or reflexed. The six stamens are inserted 

 in the mouth of the tube. The ovary is 

 three-celled, containing many ovules ; the 

 style filiform and inclined, and the stig- 

 ma obtuse or obsoletely three-lobed. There 

 are numerous species of Asiatic, Austra- 

 lasian, and South American origin, while 

 one or two are met with in Western 

 Africa, and some of a hardier character 

 in South Africa. Many very fine cross- 

 bred varieties have also been obtained in 

 gardens. One of the best known species 

 is C. amdbile, which Dr. Herbert regards as 

 a spontaneous cross, probably between G. 

 procerum andC. zeylanicum, also stati ng that 

 it is cultivated for its beauty in Sumatra. 

 This plant has thick pyramidal bulbs, and 

 sheathing strap-lance-shaped erect leaves, 

 three to six feet long and three to six inches 

 wide in the centre. The scape is much com- 

 pressed, three to four feet high, and bears 

 an umbel of from twenty to thirty large 

 rosy fragrant flowers, having a tube Ave or 

 six inches long, and a limb of lanceolate- 

 linear lobes as long as the tube, and pale 

 flesh-coloured within. TheSouth African, C 

 capense, is sufficiently hardy to grow in a 

 protected border out of doors in warm 

 situations. This has roundish ovate bulbs, 

 and lanceolate-linear glaucescent leaves, 

 two to three feet long, ending in long nar- 

 row points ; the flowers are pleasantly 

 scented, flesh-coloured, and about six inches 

 long. It is sometimes called C. longifolla. 

 Among the interesting hybrids is one called 

 C. Mitch-amice, raised between australe and 

 capense ; this is a very handsome plant, 

 perfectly hardy in favourable positions, 

 and produces a succession of flower-scapes 

 till the winter. Another is G. Herbertii, 

 raised between scabrum and capense, a 

 plant of great beauty, bearing about a 

 dozen flowers on a scape three feet high, 

 the tube four inches long, the limb three 

 and a half inches, the colour blush with 

 deep-red stripes. See Plate 2, fig. d. 



[T. M.] 



CRISPATURE (adj. CRISPUS). When the 

 edge is excessively and irregularly divided 

 and puckered ; also when the surface is 

 much puckered and crumpled. Good ex- 

 amples are afforded by 'curled' endive, 

 ' curled' kale, and the like. Also a diminu- 

 tive of Bullate. 



CRISTALLINE. (Fr.) Mesembryanthe- 

 mum crystallinum. 



CRISTATE. The same as Crested. 



CRIST ATO-RUGOSE. When the wrinkles 

 of a surface are deep and sharp-edged. 



CRISTE MARINE. (Fr.) Crithmum marir 

 timum. 



CRITHMUM. The Samphire, an umbelli- 

 ferous plant, easily distinguished from all 

 others of the same order by its glaucous 

 twice-ternate leaves, the divisions of 

 which are very succulent and taper to- 

 wards either extremity. The flowers are 

 greenish-yellow and inconspicuous, except 

 from the contrast between their general 

 hue and the blue tinge of the foliage. The 

 whole plant is ' of a spicie taste with a cer- 

 taine saltnesse,' on which account it has 

 been long held in great repute as an ingre- 

 dient in salads, and was declared by Gerarde 

 to be 'the pleasantest sauce, most familiar, 

 and best agreeing with man's bodie for 

 digestion of meates.' For this purpose it 

 is now nearly gone out of use, but it is still 

 so much valued as a pickle that other suc- 

 culent marine herbs are not unfrequently 

 offered for sale under the name of Sam- 

 phire, for example Salicornia and Sumda. 

 All these substitutes, which are worthless 

 for the purpose of pickling, may be in- 

 fallibly detected on a simple examination 

 of the leaf. Samphire is exclusively con- 

 fined to the rocky sea-shore, and, like many 

 other marine plants, has an extensive geo- 

 graphical range, being found on most of 

 the shores of Europe, from the Crimea to 

 the Land's End, and extends even to the 

 Canaries. The best pickled Samphire is 

 made from leaves which have been 

 gathered in May, before the appearance of 

 the flower-stalk; otherwise it is apt to be 

 tough and stringy. The etymology of the 

 name Samphire is somewhat curious; it 

 was formerly written Sampier, a corruption 

 of Saint Pierre ; and, more anciently still, 

 it was called by the French Perce-piierre ; 

 by the Italians, Herba cli San Pietro, and in 

 Latin, Petrus crescentius. Thus a herb pro- 

 perly enough called Rock-cress from its 

 growing in the crevices of rocks, came to 

 be known as Peter's cress (the name Peter 

 meaning a rock). The change to Saint 

 Peter's Herb was an easy one ; the postfix 

 'herb 'being dropped, San Pietro became 

 Sampier and that Samphire. French, Ba- 

 cille; German, Meer/enchel. [C. A. J J 



CRITHO. A genus of grasses belong- 

 ing to the tribe Hordew, not considered 

 I by modern authors to be distinct from 

 Hordeum, under which it is described 

 by Steudel. The only species is the curi- 

 ous Nepal Barley, C. agiceras, which is cul- 

 tivated at great elevations on the Him- 

 alayas and Thibet. The grain has been 

 frequently sent to Europe from those 

 countries, recommended as a very hardy 

 kind, arriving at maturity within an 

 unusually short period after sowing. It 

 has not, however, been found of much 

 value in Britain, where it is chiefly culti- 

 vated in botanical gardens. [D. MJ 



I CRITHOPSIS. A genus of grasses be- 



