APPENDIX. 
181 
Catalpa. Catalpa cordifolia. 
The name catalpa is of Indian origin. The show}' flowers 
of this elegant tree grow similarly to those of the horse- 
chestnut. We have but one species indigenous to America. 
Celandine, or Swallow Wort. Chelidonmm majus. 
This acrid plant was long considered a most effectual remedy 
for jaundice. It was also recommended for other diseases; 
but an eminent author says, “We have little doubt but that 
the virtues of celandine have been greatly exaggerated; in 
certain cases, however, we should expect to find it a useful 
remedy, for it evidently possesses active powers.” It grows 
commonly along the roadside, and wherever the stem is broken 
sends out a yellow, milky juice, which stains like iron rust all it 
falls upon. The celandine which Wordsworth has compli¬ 
mented with a poem, was not this plant, but a flower, known 
as the lesser celandine. (Ranunculus Jicaria.) 
Centaury. Chironea centaurea, or Erylhraza centaurium. 
“ Wormwood and centaury their bitter juice 
To aid digestion’s sickly powers refine.” 
Dodsley. 
The centaur Chiron is said to have cured a wound in his 
foot with this plant; hence its name. It is inodorous, but so 
bitter that it was called by the ancients fel terrce, or gall of the 
earth. It has antiseptic properties, and before the discovery 
of the Peruvian bark, was in great esteem as a febrifuge. 
Christmas Rose, or lilac It llellehore. Helleborus niger. 
A native of Austria and Italy. It was introduced into 
Britain in 1596, and is called the Christmas Rose, because, 
in mild weather, it usually blooms at the end of the year. 
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