CROS] 



€3)e {feagurg of 3Sfltaug. 



350 



coloured, and three to five-nerved ; within 

 them is a 'crown' consisting of one row 

 of filaments. The ovary is placed on a 

 short stalk which is expanded into a disc- 

 like mass, with five short acute teeth at 

 the margin, alternating with the five sta- 

 mens which arise from the same place ; it 

 is terminated by a slender style with a 

 dilated stigma, and is internally one-celled 

 with several ovules attached to the walls 

 of the ovary. [M. T. M.] 



CROSSOSTYLIS. A genus of trees 

 placed by Lindley and others among Lecy- 

 thidacece, but by Bentham referred to 

 Rhizophoracece. The trees are natives of 

 the Society and Feejee Islands. They have 

 opposite entire leaves ; flower-stalks ar- 

 ranged somewhat umbel fashion, jointed 

 in the middle ; flowers greenish with four 

 or five segments to the calyx, and as many 

 shortly-stalked petals ; stamens about 

 twenty on a short disc alternating with an 

 equal number of sterile stamens ; ovary 

 superior, with five to twelve compart- 

 ments, in each of which are two ovules ; 

 fruit fleshy, but ultimately opening by 

 two valves. [M. T. M.] 



CROSSOTOMA. The name of an Austra- 

 lian shrub, of the order Goodeniacece, sepa- 

 rated by Don from Sccevola, but by others 

 ranked with the latter,from which it differs 

 in the calyx being imperfectly developed 

 or obsolete, and in the segments of the 

 corolla being fringed. [M. T. M.] 



CROSS-SPINE. Stauracanthus aphyllus. 



CROSSWORT. The common name for 

 Crucianella ; also applied to Galium or 

 VaiUantia cruciata, and to Eupatorium per- 

 foliatum. It is further sometimes applied 

 to the cruciferous family. 



CROTALARIA. A very extensive genus 

 of papilionaceous leguminous plants, con- 

 taining between 250 and 300 species, na- 

 tives of the tropics and sub-tropics of both 

 hemispheres. They are either herbs or 

 small shrubs, some having simple and 

 others compound leaves. Their flowers are 

 I produced in racemes, either opposite the 

 leaves or at the ends of the branches, and 

 are usually of a yellow colour. They have 

 a somewhat two-lipped calyx ; a papiliona- 

 ceous corolla, the upper petal or standard 

 being heart-shaped, and the lower or keel 

 sickle-shaped ; and the stamens united into 

 a column which is split down one side. 

 The legume or pod is curved inwards, 

 and of an oblong form, with its sides 

 puffed or swollen out. 



C. Burhia is a small shrub with nume- 

 rous spreading stiff branches, slightly 

 armed with spines, growing in arid sandy 

 places in Sindh. Its leaves are of an ob- 

 long form and wide apart on the branches ; 

 and the whole plant is covered with silky 

 hairs. The tough twiggy branches are used 

 in Sindh for twisting into tough ropes. 



C. Espadilla, a harsh shrubby plant about 

 a foot high, growing in sandy places in 

 Venezuela, has bluntly lance-shape leaves, 

 covered with stiff, close-pressed, shining 



hairs, and when young of a fine golden 

 colour. This plant is a common domestic 

 medicine in Venezuela ; a decoction of it is 

 a sudorific, and it is used in fevers. 



C. juncea, the Sunn-hemp of India, is 

 a shrubby plant growing from eight to 

 twelve feet high, with a branching stem 

 marked with longitudinal furrows; when 

 cultivated, however, it is sown close, so as 

 to prevent branching as much as possible. 

 Its leaves are on short stalks, and are 

 either bluntly lance-shaped, or very nar- 

 row and sharp-pointed, from two to six 

 inches long, thickly covered with shining 

 silky white hairs, which give them a silvery 

 appearance. The flowers are of a beautiful 

 bright-yellow colour, resembling those of 

 the common broom ; they are produced in 

 long racemes at the ends of the branches, 

 and are succeeded by club-shaped stalk- 

 less pods about two inches long, contain- 

 ing numerous kidney-shaped seeds. This 

 plant is extensively cultivated in different 

 parts of Southern Asia, particularly in 

 India, on account of the valuable fibre 

 yielded by its inner bark ; and which is 

 known by the names of Sunn-hemp, Bom- 

 bay-hemp, Madras-hemp, Brown-hemp, &c. 

 The stems after being cut are steeped in 

 water for two or three days in order to 

 loosen the bark, they are then taken out 

 in handfuls and bent so as to break the 

 interior wood without injuring the fibre ; 

 the operator then beats them upon the 

 surface of the water until the fibrous part 

 is entirely separated, when it is washed 

 and hung upon bamboo poles to dry, and 

 afterwards combed to separate the fila- 

 ments from each other. The fibre thus 

 obtained is very strong, and is considered 

 to be equal if not superior to some kinds 

 of Russian hemp : it is employed for cord- 

 age, canvas, and all the ordinary purposes 

 of hemp. A variety produced at Jubbul- 

 pore in Malwah, and called Jubbul pore- 

 hemp, has been supposed to be the produce 

 of a different species, C.tenuifolia, but that 

 species is now united with the present. 

 Besides its use as a fibrous plant, it is 

 grown in the Madras territories as a food 

 for milch cows, and is said to be very 

 nourishing. 



C. retusa, a native of the East Indies, but 

 naturalised in the West Indies and Brazil, 

 is an annual plant with smooth branching 

 stems, from four to six feet high, and ob- 

 long wedge-shaped leaves notched at the 

 top, smooth upon the upper surface, but 

 covered with short silky hairs underneath. 

 This is cultivated for its fibre in the Ma- 

 dras territory. [A. S.] 



CROTON. An important genus of Eu- 

 plwrbiacece, among which it may be known 

 by the flowers being monoecious, with a 

 five-parted calyx. The male flowers have 

 five petals, and ten stamens, and the fe- 

 male flowers are destitute of petals, but 

 have three styles, divided into two or more 

 branches. The fruit consists of three car- 

 pels separating one from the other, and 

 each containing one seed. The species are 

 numerous and vary very much in general 



