C £ R 
Falefline, Egypt, Cyprus, Candia, Sicily, Apulia, Spain, 
See. Cultivated i 570. Ignorance-of caftern manners and 
natural hiftory, induced tome perfons to fancy that the 
loculls on which John the baptift fed, were the tender 
{hoots of plants, and that the wild honey was the pulp in 
tlie pod of the carob, whence it had the name of St. 
John's bread: there is better reafon to fuppofe tliat the 
ihells of the carob pod might be the hulks w'hich the pro¬ 
digal fon defied to partake of with the fwine. 
Propagation and Culture. This tree is propagated from 
feeds, which, when brought over frdh in the pods, will 
grow very well, if they are fown in the fpring upon a mo¬ 
derate hot-bed; and when the plants are come up they 
ihould be carefully tranfplanted each into a feparate final! 
pot filled with light rich earth, and plunged into another 
moderate hot-bed, obferving to water and (hade them 
until they have taken root; after which you mult let them 
have air, in proportion to the heat of the weather. In 
June you muft: inure them to the open air by degrees ; and 
in July they Ihould be removed out of the hot-bed, and 
placed in a warm fituation, where they may remain until 
the beginning of October, when they fliould be removed 
into the greenhoufe, placing them where they may have 
free air in mild weather ; for they are pretty hardy, and 
require only to be fheltered from hard frofts. When the 
plants have remained in the pots three or four years, and 
have gotten ftrength, fome of them may be turned out of 
the pots in the fpring, and planted into the full ground, 
in a warm fituation, near a fouth wall, where they will 
endure the cold of our ordinary winters very well,, but 
muft have fome {belter in very hard weather. The leaves 
always continue green, and, being different in fhape from 
thole of moll other plants, afford an agreeable variety 
when intermixed with oranges, myrtles, &c. in the green¬ 
houfe. See Mimosa. 
CERATOPHYL'LUM,^. [idpa? and <fa>x*o!>, Gr. horned 
leaf.] In botany, a genus of the clafs monoecia, order po- 
lyandria, natural order inundatae. The generic charafters 
are—I. Male flowers. Calyx : perianthium many-parted ; 
divifions fubulate, equal. Corolla none. Stamina : fila¬ 
ments double the number of divifions of the calyx (fix- 
teen to twenty), hardly conlpicuous. Anthers oblong, 
ereft, longer than the calyx. II. Female flowers, on the 
fame plant with the males. Calyx : perianthium many-part¬ 
ed ; divifions fubulate, equal. Corolla none. Piftillum: 
germ ovate, comprefled ; ftyle none; ftigma obtule, ob¬ 
lique. Pericarpium none. Seed: nut ovate, unilocular 
acuminate.— EJj'ential Character. Male. Calyx: many- 
parted ; corollanone; ftamina fixteen to twenty. Female. 
Calyx : many-parted ; corolla none : piftillum one : ftyle 
none; feed one, naked. 
Species. 1. Ceratophyllum demerfum, or prickly-feeded 
liornwort : leaves two-fold dichotomous ; fruits three- 
thorned. Root perennial, ftriking deep in the mud ; Item 
much bl anched ; leaves in whorls, about eight in a whorl, 
the lower whorls about half an inch diftant, but clofer 
upwards, and extremely crow'ded tow'ards the top; flow¬ 
ers few', in the bofoms of the leaves ; feed-veflel with one 
long thorn at the extremity, and two fliorter on the oppo- 
fite fides near the bafe. Grow's in ditches and flow ftreams, 
flowering in Auguft and September, in Europe ; alfo in 
Japan ; common in Jamaica, called there morafs-weed, 
and ufed to cover fifli, See. when carried to any diftance. 
2. Ceratophyllum fubmerfum, or finooth-feeded horn- 
wort : leaves three-fold dichotomus; fruits thornlefs. 
Linnaeus allows this to be fi> nearly allied to the foregoing, 
as to be little elfe than a variety. Villars fays, that it Is 
thicker than the other, that it feems to creep wholly at the 
bottom of the water, and that it is whiter by means of a 
varnifh of mud that covers it. Found in the ditches on the 
fide of the road from Chichefter to. the 5 fie of Selfey. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe plants can be cultivated 
ingardens, no other way than by fowing the feeds or 
planting them in ponds, muddy ftreams, pots or boxes, 
with earth at bottom and filled with water. 
VOL, IV. No. 176. 
C E R 37 
CERAU'NIA, [from xegawoc, Gr. thunder.] The 
thunder-ftone; fo called becaufeit w'asfuppofed to be pro¬ 
duced by thunder. See Thunder-bolt. 
CER'BERA, f. [from Cerberus ; fo named on account 
of its poifonous qualities.] In botany, a genus of the 
clafs pentandria, order monogj-nia, natural order of con¬ 
torts;. The generic characters are—Calyx: perianthium, 
five-leaved, acuminate, fpreading; leaflets ovate-lanceolate. 
Corolla: monopetalous, funnel form. Tube clavated ; 
border large, five-parted ; divifions oblique, obtufe, more 
gibbous on one fide than the other; mouth of the tube 
pentagonal, five-toothed, converging in the form of a 
itar. Stamina : filaments five, fubulate in the middle of 
the tube. Anthers ereCt, converging. Piftillum : germ 
roundifh ; ftyle filiform, fnort; ftigma headed, bilobate. 
Pericarpium : drupe very large, roundifh, flelhy ; exca¬ 
vated on the fide by a longitudinal furrow', and with two 
fpecks or points. Seed : nut two-celled, four-valved, rev- 
tufe.— EJfential Character. Contorted; drupe one-feeded. 
Species. 1. Cerbera ahouai, or cval-leaved cerbera : 
leaves ovaPe. The firft fort grows naturally in the Brazils, 
and alfo in the Spanifh Welt Indies in plenty ; and there 
are fome of the trees growing in the Britifh Wand's of Ame¬ 
rica ; this rifes with an irregular Item to the height of eight 
or ten feet, fending out many crooked diffufed branches, 
which toward their tops have thick fucculent leaves about 
three inches long, and near two broad, of a lucid green, 
fmooth, and very full of a milky juice, as is every part 
of the fhrub. The flowers come out in loofe bunches at 
the end of the branches; they are of a cream colour, 
having long narrow tubes cut into five obtule fegments, 
which feem twilled, fo as to ftand oblique to the tube ; 
thefe when they fpread open have the appearance of the 
flowers of oleander. It flowers in July and Auguft, but 
never produces fruit in England. The wood of this tree 
ftinks molt abominably, and the kernels of the nuts are a 
moll deadiy poifon : the Indians are not acquainted with 
any antidote to it; nor will they ufe the wood for fuel. 
They put fmall Hones into the empty nuts, firing them, 
and fallen them about their legs when they dance. Culti¬ 
vated 1739, by Mr. Miller. 
2. Cerbera manghas: leaves lanceolate, nerves tranf- 
verfe. A milky tree. Leaves alternate, fcattered at the 
tops of the branches, broad-lanceolate, petioled, fmooth 
quite entire, afoot in length; flowers in terminal, branch¬ 
ed, unequal racemes. Seeds refembling large cheftnuts, 
poifonous and vomiting. According to Miller, it rifes 
to the height of twenty feet, fending out many branches 
towards thetop. Native of the Eall Indies, fome parts o? 
the SpanifliwM Indies, and of the Society Iflands. 
3 . Cerbera thevetia, or linear-leaved cerbera: leaves 
linear, very long, crowded. This is an elegant fhrub or 
fmall tree, about twelve feet in height; the Item is round, 
unarmed, abounding in a poifonous milky juice, dividing 
at top into many weak branches, which are generally Am¬ 
ple, loofe, round, fmooth, covered with fears from the 
leaves which have dropped, and covered with a green 
fmooth bark, which as they grow older becomes rough, 
and changes to a grey or afti-colour. Leaves on very fliort 
petioles, fcattered at the ends of the branclilets. Native 
of the Weft Indies, in woods or coppices near the coaft. 
Miller fays, that he received it from our iflands there by 
the name of French phyfic-nut; that it flowers here in 
July and Auguft, but never produces fruit in England. 
It was introduced in 1735, by Mr. Robert Millar. 
cl. Cerbera parviflora: leaves ftellate obovate. Native 
of the Friendly Iflands, and Savage Ifland, in the South 
Seas. 
5. Cerbera falutaria : leaves and fruits oval. This is a. 
middle-fized tree, with a milky juice, and fpreading bran¬ 
ches. Flowers white, inodorous. Seed not poifonous. 
Native of Cochin-China, near the coaft. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe plants may be propa¬ 
gated from their nuts, which muft be procured from the 
countries where they grow naturally; thefe fliould be put 
L into 
