359 



W$z CrcaSuri? of Bnfaitg. 



[cull 



mer and autumn it forms one of our com- 

 mon vegetables. 



The Melon Pumpkin, C. maxima, is one 

 of the largest examples of the gourd tribe. 

 It is a native of the Levant, and is recorded 

 to have been introduced in 1547. The 

 stems are angular, rough and trailing, with 

 large heart-shaped flve-lobed tooth-letted 

 rough leaves. The flowers are large bell- 

 shaped deep-orange. The fruit is roundish, 

 often flattened at top and bottom, slightly 

 ribbed, of a pale buff or salmon colour, and 

 thickly netted over its surface with nar- 

 row vermicular processes. When dressed 

 it has a peculiar flavour not unpleasant to 

 the taste, and forms an excellent substi- 

 tute for carrots or turnips. It is the 

 Potirmi of the French, who use it largely 

 in soups, as well as mashed in the manner 

 of potatoes. In North America it is exten- 

 sively cultivated as an article of food, and 

 as it keeps well it affords a supply through 

 a great part of the winter. The fruit often 

 attains a large size. One grown at Lus- 

 combe in Devonshire is mentioned in the 

 Gardener's Magazine (vii. 102), as having 

 weighed 245 lbs. Another, grown at Lord 

 Rodney's in 1834, weighed 212 lbs., and was 

 8 ft. round. Yellow, green, and grey varie- 

 ties are cultivated. 

 Besides the gourds just noticed as being 

 I the sorts that have been longest cultivated 

 i and best known in this country, there are 

 ; many other sorts well deserving of atten- 

 tion. Among these we would particularly 

 mention the Custard Marrow Squash, and 

 ! the improved Custard Marrow or Bush 

 Squash, both of which are prolific and 

 ' highly esteemed for their superior excel- 

 ' lence, as well as for the peculiar form of 

 their fruit, which for culinary purposes 

 are remarkably handsome and in great 

 ! request. Many kinds of gourds are also 

 exceedingly ornamental. [W. B. B.J 



CUDBEAR. A name given in Scotland 

 ' to a crimson dye prepared from Lecanora 

 I tartarea and some other lichens, by treat- 

 '■ ing them with alkaline substances. The 

 i collection of the lichen formerly employed 



a great number of hands, but it is now 

 i much neglected. A person so employed 

 1 could earn fourteen shillings a week, the 



lichen being sold at about three halfpence 

 j a pound. It is now principally procured 

 j from Sweden and Norway, the manufac- 

 I ture being chiefly in the hands of the 

 j English. The name was derived from Dr. 

 I Cuthbert Gordon who first introduced the 

 i manufacture in Glasgow. [M. J. B.] 



CUDRANIA. Climbing spiny shrubs, 

 belonging to the Artocarpacea? ; they are 

 natives of the Moluccas, Philippines, and 

 India, and have entire dioecious flowers, 

 the females in globose or oblong heads, 

 each with a four-leaved perianth, and a 

 pendulous ovule. CM. T. M.J 



CUDvTEED. The common name for 



Gnciphalium. 



CUTCHUNCHULLI. Ionidium micro- 

 'phyllura. 



CUITLAUZINA. Odontoglossum. 

 CUJUMART BEANS. The fruits of 

 Aydendron Cujumary. 



CULANTRILLO. The Chilian name for 

 Tetilla, an astringent plant. 



CULCASIA. A little known genus of 

 Aracece, comprising a tropical African spe- 

 cies, with entire stalked leaves, and a 

 brownish spathe enclosing a spadix bear- 

 ing male and female flowers, and interme- 

 diate rudimentary organs. Ovaries crowded, 

 each with one ovule. [M. T. M.J 



CULCITA. Bicksonia Culcita. The 

 name has sometimes been used generically 

 to separate this species from the rest of 

 the genus Dicksonia. [T. M.J 



CULCITIUM. A genus of Composite, 

 composed of woolly herbs or small bushes 

 found in the Andes of Peru and Columbia 

 near the snow limit at an elevation of 

 14,000 or 15,000 feet above the level of the 

 sea. The name derived from Culcita, a 

 cushion, is given, because all parts of the 

 plants, except the upper surface of the 

 leaves of a few, are covered with dense 

 white or rusty coloured woolly hairs, 

 which serve as beds for those travellers 

 who may be forced to spend the night in 

 the open air at this great elevation. The 

 manner of making the bed is, by first 

 amassing a quantity of the plants, and 

 after taking the soft woolly pappus from 

 the flowers, laying the branches, with the 

 leaves attached, on the ground. On this 

 first layer the soft warm pappus hairs are 

 scattered, then a third layer is placed of 

 leaves only, and, lastly, another layer of 

 pappus hairs. On this couch the traveller 

 reposes after the toils of the day without 

 fear of frozen limbs. The genus Espeletia 

 also belongs to this family, and growing 

 on the high Andes, bears much resem- 

 blance to this in the woolly clothing of the 

 leaves and stems, but the present is easily 

 distinguished from it, the florets being all 

 tubular, while in Espeletia there is an 

 outer row of strap-shaped florets in the 

 flower-head. Their nearest relationship is 

 to the groundsels, Senecio, from which they 

 may be at once recognised by their appear- 

 ance. About a dozen species are known, 

 some attaining a height of five or six feet, 

 and having lance-shaped root leaves from 

 six inches to a foot in length clasping 

 the stem with their sheathing bases ; these 

 are sometimes called Lion's ear. [A. A. B.J 



CULEN. A Chilian name for Psoralea 

 glandulosa. 



CULILAWAN BARK. The bark of Cin- 

 namonium Culilawan, or Clove Bark. 



CULLUMIA. A genus of little Cape 

 bushes belonging to the composite family, 

 and distinguished from its allies by the 

 achenes being destitute of pappus, as well 

 as by the curiously spinous margins of the 

 leaves. These are seldom more than an 

 inch long (generally much shorter), oblong 

 in form, sessile, and often closely pressed 



