CALOSTEMMA (from kalos, beautiful, and stemma, a crown). ORD. Amaryllidaceæ. Handsome greenhouse bulbous plants, natives of New Holland. Flowers funnel-shaped, irregular; perianth with the orifice surmounted by a corona; stamens erect, united by their dilated bases; ovary three-celled, many-seeded. Leaves linear-lorate.
C. album (white). fl. white. May. l. ovate, acute, 3in. to 5in. long, 2in. to 3in. broad. h. 1ft. 1824.
C. luteum (yellow). fl. yellow. November. l. strap-shaped, narrow. h. 1ft. 1819. (B. M. 2101.)
C. purpureum (purple). fl. purple. November. l. like those of C. luteum. h. 1ft. 1819. (B. M. 2100.)
CALOTHAMNUS (from kalos, beautiful, and thamnos, a shrub; in reference to the elegance of the shrubs, from their scarlet flowers and terete leaves). ORD. Myrtaceæ. Greenhouse evergreen shrubs. Flowers scarlet, axillary and solitary, sessile. Leaves scattered, crowded, terete. They require much the same culture as Callistemon. Cuttings of young wood, firm at the base, will root in sand, if covered by a hand glass, which requires to be occasionally taken off and wiped, to prevent damp.
C. quadrifidus (four-cleft). fl. scarlet, somewhat secund; bundles of stamens four, distinct, equal. July. l. glabrous (as well as the flowers). h. 2ft. to 4ft. West Australia, 1803. (B. M. 1506.)
C. villosa (villous). fl. scarlet, quinquefid; bundles of stamens equal, distinct. July to September. l. villous (as well as the fruit). h. 2ft. to 4ft. West Australia, 1823. (B. R. 1099.)
CALOTIS (from kalos, beautiful, and ous, otos, an ear; in reference to the chaffy scales of the pappus, or seed-head). Allied to Bellium. ORD. Compositæ. Greenhouse or half-hardy herbaceous perennials, rarely annuals, all natives of Australia. Receptacle naked; involucre nearly equal, many-leaved, in a single or double row. They may be grown successfully in any ordinary garden soil. Propagated by divisions of the root.
C. cuneifolia (wedge-leaved).* fl.-heads blue, solitary, terminal. July and August. l. cuneate, cut, toothed at end. h. 1ft. 1819. Greenhouse herbaceous perennial. (B. R. 504.)
CALOTROPIS (from kalos, beautiful, and tropis, a keel; literally "beautifully twisted," apparently in reference to the corolla of C. gigantea). ORD. Asclepiadeæ. A genus of stove evergreen shrubs, or small trees. The three species bear large handsome flowers, in interpetiolar umbels. They thrive best in a mixture of loam, sand, and peat. Young cuttings, thinly dibbled in a pot of sand, strike root freely under a hand glass, in heat. Care must be taken that they do not receive an excess of moisture, or they will rot.
C. gigantea (gigantic).* fl. very handsome, a mixture of rose and purple; corona shorter than the gynostegium, obtuse, circinately recurved at the base; umbels sometimes, though rarely, compound, surrounded by several involucral scales. July. l. decussate, broad, wedge-shaped, bearded on the upper side at the base, woolly-downy on the under side, 4in. to 6in. long, 2in. to 3in. broad. h. 6ft. to 15ft. India, &c., 1690. (B. R. i. 58.)
C. procera (tall). fl. white; petals spreading, marked at the top by a purple spot. July. l. obovate-oblong, on short petioles, whitish from wool. h. 6ft. Persia, 1714. (B. R. 1792.)
CALPICARPUM. See Kopsia.
CALPIDIA. A synonym of Pisonia (which see).