_ tal, annual plants, of the cruciferous tribe. 
_ sea-rocket species, Cakile maritima, abounds on 
CAKILE. 
pellucid, and volatile, and has a very pleasant 
odour, similar to that of cardamoms but stronger ; 
and, as sold in Britain, it shows a greenish col-. 
our from the copper vessels in which it is im- 
ported, and has an odour somewhat like that of 
camphor. It is often adulterated with other 
volatile oils and with oil of turpentine, and col- 
oured with resin of milfoil. The genuine oil is 
a stimulant, antispasmodic and diaphoretic; it 
produces a sense of heat in the stomach, quickens 
the pulse, and causes a flow of perspiration ; it is 
internally exhibited in cases of dropsy, palsy, 
colic, hysteria, chronic rheumatism, and various 
spasmodic and nervous affections; and it is ex- 
ternally applied, in dilution with olive oil, as an 
embrocation for rheumatism, gout, and enfeeble- 
ment from sprains. But all doses of it require 
to be very minute. 
CAKILE. A small genus of hardy, ornamen- 
The 
the sandy sea-shores of many parts of Great Bri- 
tain Its stem and branches are very twisted 
and flexuous; its leaves are pinnatifid, obtuse, 
fleshy, and somewhat glaucous; and have a salt- 
ish bitter taste ; its flowers are rather large, pur- 
plish or bright lilac, growing in dense corymbs, 
_ and blooming from June till September ; its usual 
height is about 9 or 12 inches; and its general 
form is ramose, spreading, and bushy. The 
Egyptian and the American species have been 
introduced from respectively Egypt and America; 
and they are a little taller than the sea-rocket 
species, and produce purple flowers from June 
till August. The wrinkly and the perennial spe- 
cies are now assigned to the genus rapistrum. 
CALABA,—botanically Calophyllum calaba. An 
Indian evergreen timber-tree, of the calophyllum 
genus, and guttiferous tribe. It usually attains 
a height of about 30 feet, and is distinguished by 
the beauty of its foliage. Some plants of it have, 
for sixty years past, been in Britain. Another 
species of calophyllum, C. spurium, has sometimes 
been called Calaba. 
CALABASH - TREE, —botanically Crescentia. 
A small genus of curious evergreen trees, of the 
nightshade tribe. The cujete species, Crescentia 
cujete, was introduced to the hothouses of Britain 
from Jamaica toward the close of the 17th cen- 
tury. Its trunk is thick, and covered with a 
whitish bark, and usually attains a height of be- 
tween 20 and 30 feet; its branches deflect in 
large numbers from the upper part of the trunk, 
spread out in every direction, and form a large 
and regular head; its leaves are nearly 6 inches 
long, about 13 inch broad, and tapering at both 
ends,—they have a lucid green colour, and stand 
on very short footstalks,—and they come out ir- 
regularly, in some places singly, and in other 
places in groups; its flowers are greenish-white 
and monopetalous, and are produced on long 
footstalks from the side of the large branches, 
and sometimes from the trunk; and its fruit is 
CALADIUM. 615 
very large and of different shapes, often spheri- 
cal, sometimes oval, and occasionally with a con- 
tracted neck and a distended body like a bottle. 
The fruit consists of a thin greenish-yellow cu- 
ticle or skin, a hard ligneous shell, and a pale 
yellowish soft pulp, of a tart unsavoury flavour, 
and containing a large number of flat heart- 
shaped seeds. The natives peel off the skin, and 
throw it away; they clean out the pulp, and 
either reject it as waste, or merely give it to 
cattle at times of great drought ; and they dress 
up the ligneous shell, sometimes with handles, 
sometimes with silver mountings, sometimes with 
excision of parts, and sometimes with merely a 
coarse polishing, into a drinking-cup, a spoon, a 
ladle, a bottle, a jewel-case, or any one of some 
hundreds of other utensils. The Indians of both 
the North and the South Seas store the pearls of 
the pearl fisheries into calabashes ; and the Afri- 
cans use calabashes for keeping their gold-dust. 
The timber of the cujete calabash-tree is hard 
and smooth, and is often used for making saddles, 
stools, and other articles.—The gourd-fruited 
species, Crescentia cucurbitina, was introduced to 
Britain from the West Indies in the former part 
of the 18th century. It usually attains a height 
of about 15 feet, and has hard, white, and useful 
timber.—The acuminate species, Crescentia acu- 
minata, was introduced from Cuba in 1822. It 
usually attains about the same height as the 
cujete species——Four other species have been 
scientifically described, but have not yet been 
brought to Britain. 
CALADENIA. A genus of beautiful, tuberous- 
rooted, greenhouse-plants, of the orchis tribe. 
The oldest-known species, Caladenia alba, was in- 
troduced to Great Britain from New Holland in 
1810; and nine or ten other species have been 
introduced, from the same part of the world, 
during the last twenty-three years. 
very variously coloured in their flowers; they 
obtain their generic name, which signifies “a 
beautiful gland,” from the appearance of the 
disk of their labellum ; and they constitute a 
fine accession to our very large and wondrous 
store of orchidaceous beauties. 
CALADIUM. A genus of usefuland ornamental 
tropical plants, of the tribe aroideze. Its species 
present a somewhat close resemblance to some of 
those of the arum genus; and are frequently 
confounded with them by inexpert botanists. 
The root of Caladium esculentum is in high re- 
pute, and extensively cultivated, in several ori- 
ental countries. It is shaped somewhat like the 
yam; and, when well boiled, and afterwards 
roasted, is not inferior to that esculent in flavour. 
It is the common food of the inhabitants of Tra- 
vancore ; and is there the produce of a superior 
variety of the plant, with broad, purple-coloured 
leaves. It grows to a large size in the country 
of the Worriahs, and is called by them cutchoo. 
It is held in high estimation by the Malays of 
the Indian archipelago. It grows abundantly in 
They are 
