COLCHICUM 
3ii 
The thin testa is lined with white endosperm, enclosing a large cavity, 
partly filled with a milky fluid which may serve as a water-supply in 
germination. This palm furnishes many of the necessaries of existence 
to the natives of tropical regions, and its products are largely exported 
from Ceylon and elsewhere. The stems are used in building; the 
outer wood (porcupine wood) is hard and is used in making orna- 
ments, &c. The leaves (woven into cadjans) are used for thatching; 
the apical bud may be eaten as a palm-cabbage. The seed is edible ; 
coconut oil is obtained by crushing the endosperm fresh or dried 
(copra). By pressure, the oil separates into a solid part (stearine, 
used for candles) and a liquid (oleine) ; the remains of the endo- 
sperm (coconut cake or poonac) are used for cattle-food. The infl.- 
axis when tapped (cf. Agave) yields a sugary fluid, toddy, used 
fermented or not ; its evaporation yields sugar or jaggery, its 
distillation arrack. 
Codiaeum A. Juss. Euphorbiaceae (A. 11. 5). 4 sp. Polynes., Austr. 
C, vciriegatum Blume (“ Croton” of tropical gardens; many vars.) 
is cultivated for its handsome and often curious leaves. 
Codonopsis Wall. Campanulaceae (1. 1). 13 sp. As. 
Coelebogyne J. Sm. = Alchornea Sw. 
Coelia Lindl. Orchidaceae (13). 5 sp. trop. Am. 
Coeloglossum Hartm. = Habenaria Willd. [C. (H.) viride Hartm.] 
Coelogyne Lindl. (incl. Pleione D. Don). Orchidaceae (7). 60 sp. 
Indo-Mal., S. China. 
Coffea Linn. Rubiaceae (11. 14). 30 sp. palaeotrop. (Frohner in 
Bot. Jahrb. xxv. 233). C. arabica L. (Arabian coffee) is largely 
cult, in the tropics, esp. in Brazil and Java ; the great industry formerly 
existing in Ceylon has been destroyed by attacks of a fungus {Hemileia 
vastatrix) and insects. C. liberica Hiern (Liberian coffee) and other 
sp. are also used. The fruit, a 2-seeded drupe, is like a cherry; the 
pulp and endocarp are mechanically removed, leaving the ventrally- 
grooved seeds or coffee-beans. [Raoul, Culture du Cafeier , Paris.] 
Coix Linn. Gramineae (1). 4 sp. India, China. C. Lachryma L., 
Job’s tears, cult, as a cereal in the Himal., a drug in Chi. The 
curious inverted pear-shaped body at the base of each infl. is the 
sheath of the bract of the infl., hollowed out and containing the 
1 -flowered ? spikelet ; the <? spikelets project. 
Cola Schott et Endl. Sterculiaceae. 14 sp. Afr. The seeds of C. 
vera K. Sch., C. acuminata P. de Beauv., and perhaps others, are 
the Kola nuts, used by the negroes as a condiment ; they contain 
much caffeine and confer the power of sustaining fatigue [cf, Ery- 
throxylon). 
Colchicaceae (Warming) = Liliaceae (sub-order I). 
Colchicum Linn. Liliaceae (1). 30 sp. Eur., W. As., N. Afr. C. au- 
tumnale L., autumn crocus or meadow saffron, in Brit. Below the 
