C o n v a ll a r ia m a ja lis , Linné.
Europe, Northern and Middle Asia to Japan. The “ Lily of the
Valley.” F a r famed as a lovely fragrant spring-plant, desirable
for naturalisation iu any temperate forest-regions ; quite a trade-
plant for bouqnet-sellers; reintroduced into medicine also latterly,
partioularly in the treatment of cardial affections and dropsy. Both
root and flowers have also stcrnutatorian properties.
C o n v o lv u lu s f lo r id u s , Linné fil.
Canary-Islands. A shrubby species, not climbing or winding.
With C. sooparius it yields the Atlantic Rosewood from stem and
root.
C o n v o lv u lu s S o am m o n ia , Linné.
Mediterranean regions and Asia Minor. A perennial herb. The
purgative drug, Scammonia-resin, is obtained from the root, which
will grow to 2 feet in length. P lan ts readily raised from seeds. To
obtain the drug, a portion of the root is laid bare, and into incisions
made some shells are inserted, to collect the juice, which is daily
removed [Maw]. From Scanderoon in Syria in 1890 were exported
350,000 lbs. dried roots and 3,500 lbs. of the resin; the latter can be
extracted from the dried root by alcohol.
C o p e rn io ia o e r if e r a , Martins.*
Brazil, extending into Bolivia and Argentina. This magnificent
Fan-palm has been proved to be hardy as far south as Sydney, by
Mr. Charles Moore. I t resists drought in a remarkable degree, and
prospers also on a somewhat saline soil. The stem furnishes starch;
the sap yields sugar ; the fibres of the leaf-sheets are converted into
ropes, which resist decay in water; the leaves can be used for mats,
hats, baskets and brooms, and many other articles are prepared from
them. The inner part of the leaf-stalks serves as a substitute for
cork. This palm however is mainly valued for the Carnauba-wax,
with which its young leaves are coated, and which can be detached
by shaking. Tbis is barder tban bees’ wax, and is used in the manufacture
of candles. Each tree furnishes about 4 lbs. annually. Ia
1862 no less than 2,500,000 lbs. were imported into Great Britain,
realizing about £100,000.
C o p r in u s o om a tu s , Fries.
Europe, Asia, - South-Eastern Australia. Included by Dr. L.
Planchón among the Champignons for French kitchens. Other
species elsewhere are probably quite as good, hut they all can only
be used for food in a very young state. More important are the
deliquiesoent species of Coprinus, such as C. atramentarius, C. ovatus,
C. cylindraceus (Fries), for the preparation of a black water-colour
and also ink, both indelible [Wilson’s Rural Cyclop.]; the black fluid
emitted needs the addition of some antiseptic to preserve it. Various
Coprini are also common in Victoria.
C o ro h o ru s a c u t a n g u l u s , Lamarck.
Tropical Africa, South-Asia and North-Australia. This plant is
specially mentioned by some writers as a jute-plant. A particular
machine has been constructed by Mr. Le Franc, of New Orleans, for
separating the jiite-flbre. With it a ton of fibre is produced in a day
by four men’s work. This apparatus can also be used for otlier fibre-
plants. The seeds of the Corchorus, which drop spontaneously, will
reproduce the crop.
C o ro h o ru s c a p s u la r is , Linné.»
From India to Jap an ; also in North-West Australia. One of the
principal jute-plants. An annual, attaining a height of about twelve
feet, when closely grown, with almost branchless stem. A nearly
allied but lower plant, Corchorus Cunninghami (F. v. Mueller), occurs
in tropical and sub-tropical Eastern Australia. Ju te can be grown,
where cotton and rice ripen, be it even in localities comparatively
cold in the winter, if the summer’s warmth is long and continuous.
The fibre is separated by steeping the full-grown plant in water from
five to eight days; it is largely used for rice, wool- and cotton-bags,
carpets and other similar textile fabrics and also for ropes. In 1884
Great Britain imported 5,111,000 cwt. of jute, valued a t £3,600,000.
In 1883 the quantity amounted even to 7,372,000 cwt., of the value
of £4,520,000, and a large quantity is also sent to the United States.
In late years about 60,000 people have been employed in Indian
Jute-factories, the raw material for these being annually nearly three
million cwt. [ “ Journal of the Society of Arts,” Ju ly , 1893]. Ju te is
sown on good land, well ploughed and drained, but requires no irrigation,
although it likes humidity. The crop is obtained in the course of
four or five months, and is ripe when the flowers are replaced by frmt-
capsules. Good paper is made from the refuse of the fibre. Ju te
has been found, like hemp, to protect cotton from caterpillars, when
planted around fields [Hon. T. Watts]. In India jute often alternates
with rice and sugar-cane; as a crop it requires damp soil. I t does
not require drained land, according to Mr. C. B. Clarke. Unlike
cotton, it will bear a slight frost. Under favorable circumstances
2,000 to 7,000 lbs. may be obtained from an acre, according to quality
of soil. I t is best grown on temporarily flooded ground, as otherwise
it proves an exhaustive crop. Two hundred million pounds of jute
were woven in 1876 in Dundee, and fifty million gunny-bags were
exported from Britain in one single year, according to kS. Waterhouse.
C o rc h o ru s o l ito r iu s , Linné.*
South-Asia and North-Australia. Furnishes, with the foregoing
species, the principal supply of jute-fibre. As it also is an annual,
it can be brought to perfection in the summers of the warm temperate
zone. Can even be grown on mud-banks. I t is cut or pulled before
much fruit has been formed. The average yield from an acre is