

ST 



ixickiurcvid.s, to prevent the wind from ralfing the pa- 

 per, wh.ich would focn tear it when it became loofe. 

 The above defcription, too;ether v/ith the annexed 

 plan, it is hoped will be fullicient iniirueT:ions for any 

 one who is dciirous of makinLi thicfe covers ; and what 

 has been before mentioned under the article Melon', 

 will be direelions enough for tlie ufe of thenn fo that 

 I (hall only add one caution which may be necefHiry 

 to repeat here, which is, not to keep thcfe covers too 

 clofe down over the "plants, left it draw them too 

 weak, fo that air iliould always be admitted to the 

 plants at all times in proportion to the warmth of the 



feafon. 



l^hefe covers of oiled paper are not only ufeful for 

 covering of Melons, but are the beft things to cover 

 cuttings of exotic plants, when planted, that can be 

 contrived, and are alfo capable of being ufed for ma- 

 ny other purpofes. 



The paper will feldom laft longer than one feafon, fo 

 it will require a new covering every fpring ; but if 

 the frames are well made, and when they are out of 

 ufe, laid up in Ilielter from the wet, they wall laft 

 feveral years, efpecially if there is a band of ftraw 

 laid round the Melons, upon which the frames may 

 ftand •, fo they will not reft upon the ground, and the 

 flraw-bands will prevent the damp from rifing fo 

 as to rot them. Thcfe ftraw-bands are fuch as are 

 recommended for the hot-beds of Afparagus in winter. 



STRAMONIUM. See Datura. 



STRATIOTES. Lin. Gen. Plant. 607. Abides. 

 Boerh. Ind. alt. Plant. 2. p. 172. Water Soldier. 



The Characters are. 

 It has one fioiver indcfed in a comprejfed oh t ufe /heathy 

 compofed of two leaves which are keel-fi 



7ient, 

 fid 6 



f the flower is of one leaf 



€rr 



ftze of 



almoft heart-fh. 



fpreadtng^ and ahout twenty ftamina inferted in the re- 

 ceptacle of the flower^ terminated by fingle fummitL ^he 

 germen is fituated under the empalement^ fupporttng Jix 

 Jlyles divided in t%vo parts ^ crowned by fmgle JligmaS. "The 

 germen afterward becomes an oval capfule^ narrowed on 

 every fide ^ having fix angles^ and as many cells filled with 



oblong incurved feeds. 



This genus of plants is ranged in the fixth fei5tion 



' of Linnaeus's tmrteenjh clafs, which inclpdes thofe 



* plants whole flowers have many ftamina and lix ftyles. 



We know but one Species or this orenus, viz.. 



Stratiotes {Abides.) Lin. Flor. Lap. 222. Water 



dier^ Water Aloe ^ or Frefh Water' Soldier. ' Aloe 



luftris. C. B. P. 280. Mar fh Aloe. ■ ! 



This plant is in fhape like the Aloe^'tiit fKe' leaves 



are thinner, and ferrated on the .edges^. very fharply ; 



they ^re of a p;rayiih colour, and about ^ foot long •, 



between the leaves, from the center of the plant, 



::'\ arife one, two, and fometimes three ftalks, 'almoft the 



?- length of the leaves, each being terminated by a 



.^-"three-forked ifheath, out of which burfts' one "white 







- h 



H?-^ 



flower compofed of three foundilli heart-fhaped petals, 

 with many yellow ftarhiham'tlie middle. ,Below the 

 flower is fituated a contcd gernien which isreverfed, 

 the broad end ftahding upward and the narrow do^yn- 

 ^'ard. This beconi.es a fix-angled capfule, having fix 



» _ 



l"iy 



the 



■"feeds ripen in September.'^Tr grows plentifully in 

 ftanding waters in the Ifle of Ely, and many places in 

 ^'the North of England, from whence young plants may 

 '-be procured in fpring, when they firft rife on the fur- 

 ■ face of the water-, and thefe being placed in large 

 ponds or canals, will ftrike down their roots, "and 

 -rprop^gate without any farther care.' . In autumn the 

 ^'plants fink down to the bottom of the water, and rife 

 "again in the fpring. 



STRAWBERRY. 



1- . _ 



See Fragaria. 



AWB 



See Arbutus. 



STYLE.'; The Style of a flower is a body accompa- 

 nying the germen, either arifing from the top of it, 

 or ftanding as an axis in the middle of the germen, 

 and fupportV'the ftigma, which is fuppofed the fe- 



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.V %^Ali „ 



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irjalc organ by v/hlch tl'iC farina is received an;', c-^n- 

 vev^d to tiie o-ermen. 



SI' YR AX. 'i'ourn. Infr. R.. II. 59S. tab. jt-y. Li:;. 

 Gen. Plant. 527. Scorax-trce. 



Th.c Characti-.rs are, 

 'The fewer has a fnort cylindrical enip.iJrmcnt cf cue l:r^^ 

 indented in five parts •, // has one funnel-f:apcd pcuu^ 

 vilh a floor t cylindrical tube the length of lb: cnipdc:nr):t^ 

 whofe brim is cut into five Icrge chtnfc fe-rrnons wliih 

 fpreadopen-, it hasten or twelve awl- fbaped ftanima d:-'- 

 pcfed circularly^ which are inferted in the petals^ a?ui ter- 

 minated by ob/cng fwnmits^ and a roundifj germen^ f,t:- 

 pcrting a f.nglc ftyle the length of the ftamina^ crowned 

 by a ragged frigma, 11:e germen afterward Lurns to a 

 roundifj fruit with one cell including two nuts^ which 

 are plain on one fide and convex on the other. 

 This genus of plants is ranged in the firil feaion of 

 Linna^us's eleventh clafs, which contains the plants 

 whofe flowers have twelve ftamina and one llyle. 

 We know but one Species of this genus, viz. 



Styrax {Officinale.) Hort. Cliff. 187. The Stcrax-trcc. 

 Scyrax folio mali cotonei. C. B. P. 452. The ^ui nee- 

 leaved Storax-tree. 



This plant grows plentifully in the neighbourliood 

 of Rome, and alfo in Palcftine, and icvcral cf the 

 ifiands in the Archipelago, from whence the fruit has 

 been brought to England, where there have been 

 many plants raifed of late years in fome curious 

 gardens. 



It has a woody flalk which rifes twelve or fourteen 

 feet high, covered v/ith a fmooth grayifh bark, and 

 fends out many (lender ligneous branches on everv 

 fide, which are garnifhed with oval leaves about two 

 inches long, and one inch and a half broad, of a 

 bright green on their upper fide, but hoary on their 

 under; they are entire, and are placed alternately on 

 fliort foot-flalks. The flowers come out from the 

 fide of the branches, upon foot-flalks which fufcaia 



^ five or fix flowers in a bunch; thefe have one very 

 white petal which is funnel-fhaped, the lower part 

 being tubulous and cylindrical ; the upper part is di- 

 vided into five obtufe fegments which fpread open, 

 but not flat, rather inclining to an angle. Thefe appear 

 . in Jqne, and are fometimes fucceeded by berries in 



.-.England, which ripen in autumn. 

 It may be propagated by fowing the feeds in pots 



,_filled with frefh light earth, and plunged into a mode- 



'^:^-rate hot-bed. This fliould be done as foon as pofii- 



'ble when the feeds are procured, for if they are 

 fown the latter end of fummer, and the pots kept in 

 a moderate hot-bed of tanners bark all the winter, the 

 plants will come up the fucceeding fpring ; whereas 



.' thofe fown in the fpring, often remain in the ground a 



. whole year before the plants come up, 

 .When the plants are come up, they fliould be harden- 



,-^^#*- 



L ► 



^ed gradually to the open air, into which they fhould 

 be removed in June, placing them in a flieltered fitu- 

 ation, obfervirig to keep them clean from weeds, as 

 alfo to fupply them with water duly in dry weather. 

 In this place they may remain till autumn, when they 

 Ihould be placed under a common hot-bed frame, 

 where they may be fcreened from hard frofl in win- 

 ter, but in mild weather enjoy the free air as much 



■ 1. 1 



as pofllble, for if they are kept too clcse their tops 

 ' are very fubjedt to grow mouldy. The leaves of thefe 

 plants fall off in autumn, and in the fpring, before 

 they begin to flioot, they (hould be fliaken out of the 

 pots, and their roots carefully parted, and each tranf- 

 planted into a feparate fmall pot filled with light 

 frefli earth, and plunged into a very moderate hot- 

 bed, obferving to water and fliadc them until the/ 

 have taken root ; after which they fliould be inured 

 to the open by degrees, into which they mufl: be 

 removed in June, placing them in a warm firuation -, 

 in which pUice they may remain till the end of Octo- 

 ber, at which time they fliould be removed intofhel- 

 ter for the winter feafon. Thefe plants are tolerably 

 hardy, and only require to be flieltered from fevere 



frofl: v/hile they are young ; for in Italy they grow 



' ■ ' • cxtremelv 



' ' 



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1 



