CACALIA, in botany, a genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia class and order. Natural order of Composite: Corymbiferae, Jitssieu. Essential charac ter : calyx cylindric, oblong, at the base only subcalycled ; down capillary ; recep tacle naked. There are thirty-three species, of which we shall only give a short description of two or three. C. ca pillaris, or rough stalked cacalia, has the foot stalk very strong and thick, and is set round on every side, being destitute of leaves, with three truncated foot stalks, and thus is the stem defended in a singular manner from external injuries. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and is cultivated in England, but has ne ver yet produced flowers. C. suaveolens, sweet-scented cacalia, has a perennial creeping root, sending out many stalks ; these rise to the height of seven or eight feet, are streaked, quite simple, and ter nated by corymbs of a hite flowers ; the peduncles above the ramifications have bristle-shaped bractes scattered over them, which are smooth. It is a na
tive of Virginia and Canada ; flowering in August, and ripening its seeds in Octo ber. The roots which have been cast out of the Chelsea gardens have been carried by the tide to a great distance, and lodg ed on the banks of the rivers, and fasten ed themselves to the ground, where they have increased so much as almost to ap pear as if they were natives. C. articu lata, jointed stalked cacalia, is an elegant plant, smooth and glaucous, of an un pleasant flavour : stems many, fleshy, round, upright, but weak, marked with scars from the fallen leaves, and painted with lines of a deep green ; florets twen ty-five, a little longer than the calyx, white, with border acute, and spreading much ; anthers dark purple ; stigma bifid, yellow ; seeds linear, crowned with a white sessile egret. Found at the Cape of Good Hope. It flowers in Novem ber.