Cordia
(named after Euricius Cordus, whose true name was Henricus Urbanus, 1486-1535, and Valerius, his son, 1515-1544). SYN. Varronia. ORD. Boragineae. A very large genus, comprising about two hundred species of stove or greenhouse evergreen trees and shrubs, of considerable beauty. Inflorescence terminal. Flowers sessile, in dichotomous scorpioid cymes, spikes, or densely-packed heads; corolla funnel-shaped or campanulate, five-toothed. Leaves quite entire, or toothed. They thrive in a mixture of loam, peat, and sand, or any light rich soil. Cuttings strike root readily when planted in sand, with a hand glass placed over them, in heat.
C. decandra (ten-stamened).* fl. white, large, very showy, fragrant, disposed in a terminal leafy corymb; corolla ten-toothed. l. linear-lanceolate, attenuated, scabrous, sessile, with revolute edges, hoary from down. h. 3ft. Chili, 1875. A very handsome greenhouse shrub. (B. M. 6279.) C. Gerascanthus (Spanish Elm). fl. large, verticillate, sessile; racemes usually four together, 3in. to 4in. long; corolla white, throat villous; calyx ten-furrowed, ten-striped, downy. May. l. ovate-oblong, acute, quite entire, glabrous, unequal at the base, 3in. to 4in. long. h. 30ft. West Indies, 1789. Tree.
C. glabra (glabrous). fl., corolla white, 1 1/2in. long, campanulately funnel-shaped, glabrous; cymes bifid or trifid, scorpioid, terminal, but at length lateral. Autumn. l. scattered, opposite, and three in a whorl, on short petioles, lanceolate, narrowed at both ends, 6in. long, membranous, flat. Brazil, 1868. Shrub. Tops of branches, inflorescence, and petioles, scabrous from small bristles or stiff hairs. (B. M. 5774.) C. Myxa (Myxa).* fl., divisions of corolla revolute; panicles terminal and lateral, globular. l. oval, ovate, or obovate, repand, smooth above, but rather scabrous beneath, 2in. to 3in. long, 1 1/2in. to 2in. broad. h. 10ft. to 15ft. India, 1640. Tree.
C. nivea (snowy). fl. white, borne in heads or spike-like clusters at ends of branches; calyx clothed with white hairs. l. petioled, ovate or ovate-oblong, crenate, dentate. Branches, leaf-stalks, and peduncles tomentose. h. 3ft. Brazil. Shrub.
C. Sebestena (Sebestena). fl., corolla orange-coloured, funnel-shaped; limb spreading, five to seven-parted, with crenately undulated edges; peduncles terminal, corymbose. June to August. l. ovate, acute, or elliptic, quite entire, hispid, scabrous above, 4in. to 5in. long. h. 10ft. to 35ft. Cuba, 1728. Tree. (B. M. 794.) C. superba (superb).* fl., corolla white, campanulately funnel-shaped, large, showy; cymes at first terminal, then lateral, pedunculate. l. cuneate-oblong to oblong-elliptic, acuminated, acute, toothed in front; the largest are 6 1/2in. long and 2 1/2in. broad. Brazil. Tree. (B. M. 4888.)