CRTP] 



Cfje Erca^urg af 23atang. 



354 



anthers of this row open outwardly, while J 

 those of the two outer rows open inwardly, 

 in either case by two valves ; the one-celled 

 ovary is immersed in the calyx tube, which 

 becomes succulent as the fruit ripens, con- 

 cealing the latter, hence the name of the 

 genus. Brazilian Nutmegs are the produce 

 of C. moschata. [M. T. M.] 



CRTPTOCERAS. A section of the fuma- 

 riaceous genus Corydalis, containing a few 

 species from the warmer parts of temperate 

 Asia, They have enlarged fusiform root- 

 stocks, siiuple stems with two opposite 

 leaves, which are ternate with imbricated 

 segments, and very large flowers. [J. T. S.] 



CRYPTOCHILTJS sanguinea. A terres- 

 trial orchid from the cooler parts of India, 

 with leathery lanceolate leaves, and scapes 

 bearing spikes of crimson tubular flowers. 

 There is another species from the same 

 country, the flowers of which are smaller 

 and yellow. 



CRYPTOGAMS. Many names have been 

 applied to the vast class of plants com- 

 prehended under this name, as Asexual, or 

 Flowerless Plants, Acrogens, Agamce, Anan- 

 drse, Acotyledons, Cryptogams, Crypto- 

 phyta, Cellulares, Exembryonata, &c. Some 

 of these have been given to them by 

 authors collectively, while others have 

 been appropriated to one of the two great 

 sections into which Cryptogams are divisi- 

 ble. Of these we have chosen the term 

 Cryptogams as liable to fewer objections 

 than most others, and predicating little 

 that is exposed in the present state of our 

 knowledge to much contradiction. "We 

 have already stated the objections to which 

 some are subject, as Asexual Plants, Acoty- 

 ledons, Anaudrse, and Cellulares ; others 

 will be mentioned hereafter. The great dis- 

 tinctive point of Cryptogams does not 

 consist iu the absence of decided male and 

 female organs, nor in their minuteness, for 

 in the greater part their presence has been 

 ascertained beyond all doubt, and the 

 analogous organs in phasnogams often re- 

 quire the assistance of the lens to make 

 out even their external form clearly. The 

 main point is that the reproductive organs 

 are not true seeds containing an embryo, 

 but mere cells consisting of one or two 

 membranes inclosing a granular matter. 

 These bodies, whether called spores or 

 sporidia, produce by germination a thread 

 or mass of threads, a membrane, a cellular 

 body, &c, as the case may be, which either 

 at once gives rise to the fruit or to a plant 

 producing fruit. Indeed the differences 

 are so great that these spores seem rather 

 to be relatives, or what is technically 

 termed homologucs, of pollen grains, than 

 of true seeds. 



The Cryptogams are divided into two 

 great classes, Thallogens and Acro- 

 gens, whose distinctive characters will be 

 found under those heads. It is scarcely 

 possible to give any general character of 

 the whole except that which we have indi- 

 cated above, as these two divisions are as 

 distinct from each other as Cryptogams 



themselves are from phasnogams. Many of 

 them indeed consist entirely of cells, but 

 so do some more perfect plants, and vas- 

 cular tissue exists in many Cryptogams. 

 The greater part increase from the tips of 

 the threads, but cell division takes place 

 occasionally in other parts ; while even in 

 exogens, the main growth of the cells of 

 which the wood and bark are composed is 

 similar. Again, if they have no true pistils 

 and anthers, they have their analogues, 

 while in several an embryo is at length 

 produced, and in Selaginella something 

 even like cotyledons. Both the embryo and 

 cotyledons are, however, aftergrowths, and 

 not derived immediately from the spore 

 The consideration of the relations between 

 the reproductive organs of phamogams and 

 Cryptogams is one of the most interesting 

 which is to be found in Botany, but it is 

 also one of the most abstruse and difficult, 

 and can be followed out only by those who 

 have an intimate knowledge of the struc- 

 ture and functions in either branch of the 

 vegetable kingdom. Such considerations 

 would be wholly out of place in a work like 

 the present. [M. J. BJ 



CRYPTOGLOTTIS serpyllifolia is a little 

 trailing moss-like orchid growing on trees 

 in the Malayan archipelago. Its flowers 

 are very minute. It is the same as the 

 Hexameria of Brown, and notwithstanding 

 its diminutive dimensions, is nearly re- 

 lated to the showy Angrcecums. 



CRYPTOGRAMMA. A small genus of 

 polypodiaceous ferns of the group Platy- 

 lomecB. They are very closely related to 

 our native A llosorus, with which they are 

 indeed sometimes, and, perhaps rightly, 

 united. The typical species of the present 

 genus, C. acrostichoides, has, however, the 

 spore-cases continued in lines along the 

 course of the veins from the margin a 

 short distance inwards, so as to be uumis- 

 takeably oblong or linear-oblong, andhence 

 has the distinguishing characteristic of the 

 Platylomece ; while in Allosorus, as now re- 

 stricted, the sori are normally punctiform, 

 and therefore polypodioid. They simu- 

 late the Pteridece, in consequence of the 

 reflexed herbaceous margin resembling an 

 indusium. The aspect of the plants is quite 

 that of Allosorus crispus, being of dwarf 

 and tufted habit, with dimorphous fronds, 

 and having the fertile pinnules formed like 

 a silicle or short pod. There are three 

 species, C. acrostichoides, found in Arctic 

 America, G. sitkensis, found in Sitka, and 

 C. Brunoniana, found in India. [T. M.] 



CRYPTOMERIA. A lofty evergreen 

 tree, forming a genus of Coni/erce of the 

 tribe or suborder Cupressinece. The leaves 

 are shortly linear, falcate, rigid and acute, 

 crowded but spreading. The flowers are 

 monoecious, the males in axillary catkins, 

 the peltate scales bearing five anther-cells 

 at their base. The fruits are in small ter- 

 minal globular cones, with palmately-lobed 

 imbricate scales, each one covering four 

 to six winged seeds. C.japonica, the only 

 species known, is a native of North China 



