708 CEPHAHLIS. 
tranthus signifies ‘ spurred-flower, and alludes 
to the peculiar shape of the flower. 
CEPA. See Onton. 
CEPHAELIS. A genus of ornamental tropi- 
cal plants, of the madder tribe. Hight species 
have been introduced to the hothouses of Bri- 
tain; and about twenty others are known to 
botanists. Six of the introduced species are 
shrubs of from 3 to 15 feet in height, and the 
other two are low trailers. 
the unintroduced species, C. ipecacuanha, furnish 
the chief or best kinds of the ipecacuanha of the 
drug-shop. See the article Ipncacuanua. 
CEPHALANTHERA. A genus of indigenous 
orchidaceous plants, erected, by the French bo- 
tanist Richard, out of the genus epipactis. Three 
species are known, the pale, the red, and the 
sword-leaved, the first and the third with white 
flowers, and the other with purple flowers; and 
| all grow wild in the moist woods of Britain, 
| attain a height of 12 or 15 inches, bloom in 
June, and have a handsome appearance. The 
name cephalanthera is compounded of two words 
| which signify ‘head’ and ‘ anther.’ 
CEPHALANTHUS. See Burron-Woop. 
| CEPHALOTUS. A curious, evergreen, her- 
| baceous, greenhouse plant, of the rosaceous 
order. It forms a genus of itself, and takes for 
| its specific name follicularis. It was brought 
| from Australia in 1822; and is frequently called 
| the pitcher-plant of New Holland. It has white 
| flowers, usually grows to the height of about a 
| foot, and is delicate, and requires a very calm 
| and moist atmosphere. Its natural position is 
| in such shelter among other plants as to enjoy 
| partial shade from sunshine, and constant pro- 
tection from sudden changes of heat or mois- 
ture; and its best artificial position is in a mix- 
ture of charcoal, fibrous peat, and finely chopped 
moss, in a small pot, plunged within a larger pot, 
| and either occasionally under a bell-glass in the 
greenhouse, or constantly in a cool part of the 
stove. 
CERADIA. A genus of plants of the compo- 
site order. Only one species, C. furcata, has yet 
been brought to Britain; and this was quite re- 
cently introduced from the famous guano island 
of Ichaboe. It is nearly related to the fleshy- 
stemmed shrubs, formerly called cucalias, but 
now called kleinias. It is a singular and insig- 
nificant looking dwarfish shrub; its stems are 
fleshy, forked, and very much branched; its 
leaves are succulent, spathulate, and light green ; 
and its flowers are pale yellow, in solitary heads, 
and so small as to be scarcely visible among the 
leaves. A gummy substance is exuded from 
every wound made in its stem, and was at first 
supposed to be the fragrant African olibanum, 
but proves on trial to be considerably different 
from that substance, and quite destitute of fra- 
| grance. The plant has received the popular 
_ name of the coral bush of Ichaboe, 
CERASIN. The gummy substance which ex- 
The roots of one of 
CERATOPHYLLUM. 
udes from cherry-trees, plum-trees, peach-trees, 
apricot-trees, and other trees of the genera cera- | 
sus, prunus, persica, and armeniaca. When acted 
on by heat, it becomes identical with gum arabic; 
and when acted on by nitric acid it yields mucic 
acid. 
CERASTIUM. See Mousz-Har Cuickweep. 
CERASUS. A genus of fructiferous and orna- 
mental trees and shrubs of the rosaceous order. 
Two species, C. avium and CO. padus, grow wild 
in British woods, and have several varieties in 
extensive cultivation ; about thirty species have 
been introduced from foreign countries, princi- 
pally the south of Europe, North America, and 
the east of Asia; and about a dozen other species 
have been scientifically described. Six of the spe- 
cies in Britain, including numerous varieties, are 
cultivated as fruit-trees, under the common name 
of cherry-trees. Hight, including the bird-cherry, 
with its varieties, are ornamental deciduous trees 
of from 15 to 30 feet in height. Ten, the ground- 
cherry, the peach-leaved, the dwarf, the pigmy, 
the depressed, the wintry, the prostrate, the pu- 
bescent, the Japan, and the Chicasaw, are deci- 
duous ornamental shrubs of from one foot to 
twelve feet in height. Four, the mahaleb, the 
Portugal laurel, the common cherry laurel, and | 
the Carolinian or evergreen bird cherry, are well 
known hardy, evergreen, ornamental shrubs and 
trees of from 12 to 30 feet in height. And two, 
the round-fruited, and the West Indian, are hot- 
house evergreens, of respectively 10 and 20 feet 
in height. The whole genus is highly ornamen- | 
tal; and a number of its species engross much of | 
the attention of mercantile nurserymen. — See 
the articles CHERRY, Birp-CHERRY, and LAUREL. 
CERATE. An unctuous medicinal composi- | 
tion, containing a considerable proportion of » 
wax, taking from this ingredient the name of | 
cerate, and possessing a degree of consistence in- | 
termediate between that of a plaster and that of | 
an ointment. | 
CERATOCHLOA,—popularly Horn-Grass. A | 
small genus of grasses, of the fescue tribe. The © 
only species known in Britain is C. undoloides,; | 
and this is a hardy annual, of about 20 inches in 
height, and was introduced from North America | 
in 1788. 
CERATONIA. See Caros-Trex. 
CERATOPETALUM. A beautiful evergreen 
tree, of the cunonia tribe. It forms a genus of 
itself, and takes for its specific name gummifer- 
um. Itisanative of New Holland, and was in- 
troduced to Britain in 1820. It grows to the 
height of about 50 feet, and has horned petals 
and yellow flowers. Its economical properties, if 
it possess any, have not yet been investigated. 
CERATOPHYLLUM,—popularly Hornwort. A 
small genus of indigenous aquatic plants, consti- 
tuting of itself the natural order Ceratophyllez. 
Two species, the demersed and the submersed, 
both perennials of about a foot in height, grow 
in the ditches of Britain, and flower from July 
