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Celastrus (From Kelastros the old Greek)

(from Kelastros, the old Greek name given by Theophrastus to the Privet). Staff-tree. ORD. Celastrineoe. Ornamental, hardy, greenhouse or stove, mostly evergreen shrubs. Flowers green or white, small, disposed in terminal racemes or panicles. Leaves alternate, entire, or serrated with minute prickles. The stove and greenhouse species thrive well in a mixture of loam, peat, and sand; and ripened cuttings will root freely in the same sort of compost if a hand glass is placed over them; those requiring stove temperature, should be placed in heat. The hardy species are well adapted for small shrubberies; they thrive in any common soil, and are easily increased by layering the young shoots in autumn. C. scandens is an excellent plant for covering bowers or trellis-work.

C. cassinoides (Cassine-like). fl. white; pedicels two or three together, axillary, very short. August. l. ovate, acute at both ends, serrated, permanent. Plant erect, smooth. h. 4ft. Canary Islands, 1779. Greenhouse. C. edulis (edible). Synonymous with Catha edulis.

C. lucidus (shining).* fl. white; pedicels axillary, crowded, very short. April to September. fr. three-valved, naked. l. oval or roundish, shining, marginated. h. 1ft. to 3ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1722. Plant erect, smooth, evergreen. Greenhouse. SYN. Cassine concava.

C. scandens (climbing).* fl. pale yellow; racemes terminal. May, June. l. oval, acuminated, serrated, 3in. long, 2in. broad. Berries orange-coloured, three-cornered, three-seeded. North America, 1736. Plant hardy, deciduous, smooth, climbing.

CELERIAC, or TURNIP-ROOTED CELERY (Apium graveolens rapaceum). Biennial. A Turnip-rooted variety of the garden Celery. It is very useful for soups and similar purposes, is easy of cultivation, and tolerably certain as to producing a crop. The seed may be sown in the same way, and at the same time, as the ordinary Celery.