1235

u.

THE CITRON TREE.

ref er] .ej^ a \P-) calls it malum citreum. It is probable that the citron isvijj . j the Old Testament on several occasions [Cant, ii., vii., andployg.i °?L 1- ) where, in our translation, the word apple has been em-B ot '^ ar penter, Script. Nat. Hist.)

part s ^ EN - Char. — Flotvers usually with a quinary proportion of

hcem ° . urce °late, three- to live-cleft. Petals five to eight. Stamenspf)l v ^ lo sixty; filaments compressed, more or less united at the base,hous ; anthers oblong. Style terete ; stigma hemispherical.rn ac cate, seven- to twelve-celled ; cells many-seeded, pulpy. Sper-(b. q ( R eed coats) membranous; auricles of the cotyledons very shortlertni ''Tyrees or shrubs, with axillary spines. Leaves reduced to oneUa leaflet at the apex of the petiole, often winged. The rind of thefruit is regarded by Decandolle as a kind oftorus, by Dr. Lindley as the union of the epicarpand sarcocarp. In the external yellow portion{flavedo or zeste) of it are the rounded or vesi-cular receptacles containing volatile oil; theinner white portion is spongy. The cells of77 ✓'-'Itr A. -na-\ tlie fruit are filled with small pulpy bags, readily'/ separable from each other, and containing the

acid juice. Seeds exalbuminous, marked exter-nall y with the raphe; inner coat stained at oneextremity, indicating the place of the chalaza.

Sp. Char. — Petioles naked. Leaves oblong,j acute. Flowers with forty anthers, often without

pistils. Fruit oblong, rugous, with a thickrind and acidulous pulp ( D. C.) — Tree. Youngnedica. branches violet. Leaves subserrate. Petals ex-

JoUu ternally purplish. Fruit large, violet-red when

°douj lln ® yellow when mature; its rind adherent, with an agreeablew' Sso {Ann. du Mus. d'Hist. Nat. xx.) enumerates three varieties.

‘ A native of Asia. Cultivated in the South of Europe .

Pig. 228.

//

Citrus

1)

Vtr.

e scr Ipt

^lts J •

T10N, &c. —The fruit of this tree is the citron (malumUs A • 11 sometimes attains a weight of more than 20 lbs. ThoseS ° l, Sht U P Teserve their pistilla are called pitima. llisso says they aretaiw allcr by the Jews , who suspend them to palms at the feast of they The flavedo of the citron abounds in volatile oil, which

ft) a,'

al s

(Hi

?° th.

obtained either by expression or distillation.

The leaves, asdistillationare inter-

res

e flowers, of the citron-tree, yield a volatile oil byPo^H Journ. de Pharm. Aout 1834, p. 437). The leanVoy tween linen, to which they communicate a fragrant odour:er they are said to keep away insects.

l° latile 0 *l s ) known respectively as the essence or essential oil of citron, and the

r *$SentinJ _ A ___J : n _ T>„a.l_U„kl,- {Varrrnnt

th

“III

'Host ? Ssen tial oil of cedra, are employed in perfumery. Both are highly fragrant,. °urless, and lighter than water. They are distinguished by their odour:the ***»-•.- - ’*• -- These two

V * re Usii a || Sence of cedra combining the odours of citron and bergamot. -- - -

of" 1 »nucil a ^ c T onf °nnded by pharmacological writers. From their apparent freedomtie> of th ** C Resume boti; have been Procured by distillation. The composition** "hli that 6 r 1)6611 as . ce rtained, by Dumas (Traiti de Chimie, v. 672), to be iden-jj t of the essential oil of lemons—viz. Cm H 8 .

°* a hg e ann GICAL ® FFECTS AND Uses.—A nalogous to those of thelemon The fruit is seldom brnnsrlit to the table in the raw

the