408 
THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
Seed—continued. 
they come into contact, and, by their union, form a tissue 
that quite resembles those formed by ordinary cell- 
divisions, and that does itself increase in size in this 
way. The endosperm, also called the albumen, is formed 
in all Seeds ; but in many it disappears, as it is used up 
in the growth of the embryo, e.g., in the Seed of an Apple, 
or of a Bean. Such Seeds are called “ exalbuminous.” 
In many Seeds a considerable, or even a large, albumen 
exists in the ripe Seed, with the embryo lying in it (Poly- 
gonum), or around it (Lychnis), or at the base (Carez), 
or on one side of it (Grasses). Besides the endosperm, 
another form of albumen, known as “ perisperm,” occurs 
in many plants. This is formed in the tissue of the 
nucleus, outside the embryo-sac. Perisperm is less 
common than endosperm, but co-exists with the latter in 
the ripe Seeds of a few plants (Nymphea), and occasionally 
replaces it (Canna). The albumen may contain starch, 
oil, cellulose, or other materials for nourishment of 
the young plant; and its texture varies accordingly. 
The presence and nature of the albumen afford important 
characteristics of Natural Orders. Under Ovule, it was 
pointed ont that the form of the ovule might remain 
orthotropous, or might become campylotropous or ana- 
po vaesa The ripe Seeds show corresponding differences 
in form, 
Seeds generally possess two coats, the outer called 
“ testa,” and the inner “ tegmen.” ‘The latter is usually 
thin and membranous. The testa is very often thick 
and hard, e.g. in Brazil Nuts. It often bears outgrowths 
in the form of warts or ridges, hairs (Cotton), or wings, 
which are sometimes of large size (Pinus, Bignonia). 
All these ontgrowths bear reference to the modes of 
_ distribution of Seeds, fitting them to adhere to the bodies 
of birds or quadrupeds, or to be distributed by wind. 
Occasionally, the testa has an outer layer of cells, which 
_ become mucilaginous on contact with water, and cause 
Seeds, when moist, to adhere to the bodies of animals, 
On the onter surface of the testa is the hilum, or scar, 
-indicating the point of attachment of the Seed to its stalk. 
_ Many Seeds possess what resembles a third coat when 
-~ ripe, In some, this coat, the “arillus,” grows up from 
the placenta around the Seed; in others, it grows from 
_ the micropyle downwards, and it is then distinguished as 
the “arillode.” An ou is often seen in anatropous 
ovules (e.g., in Violets) over the funiculus (the adherent 
stalk); it is called a“ caruncle.” This third coat, whether 
arillus, arillode, or caruncle, in some Seeds is fleshy 
(e.g, mace of Nutmeg), serving as an inducement to 
animals to swallow the Seeds, and thus to secure wide 
distribution in their excrements; in others, it forms 
_ & tuft of hairs, and serves as a float for the Seed. In 
size and form, Seeds vary greatly in’ different plants, 
from the minute, dust-like Seeds of Orchids to the large 
Seed of the Cocoanut. The number produced by different 
plants is also very variable; bnt into these and similiar 
matters it is not possible to enter here. 
SEED-BEDS. A term applied to narrow strips of 
land prepared for the raising of seedling plants that are 
intended for transplanting into their permanent quarters, 
instead of being sown and allowed to grow there from 
the first. In all cases it is advisable to select a position 
_ for Seed-beds where the soil is friable and in good work- 
ing order, and to render the surface smooth and fine 
before scattering the seeds over it. It is an easy matter 
to mark off any requisite width, according to the quantity 
of seed to be sown. | 
SEED-SOWING. See Propagation. 
SEEMANNIA (named after 
1825-1871, a botanist and traveller). ORD. Gesneracea. 
A monotypic genus. The species is a strigose-pubes- 
_ cent, stove, perennial herb, with a creeping rhizome, 
closely allied to Achimenes and Isoloma. For culture, 
see 
Berthold Seemann, 
Seemannia—continued. 
S. Benaryi (Benary’s). A synonym of S. silvatica. 
S. silvatica (sylvan). fl. of a bright scarlet, on solitary, axillary 
pedicels; calyx with an adnate tube and five narrow lobes; 
corolla tube shortly gibbous at base, the limb of very short, 
erecto-patent lobes; stamens affixed to the base of the corolla. 
Winter. l. three or four in a whorl, very shortly petiolate, often 
canescent beneath; upper ones gradually reduced to bracts. 
h 3ft. A 4ft. Peru. Syns. S. Benaryi (R. G. 814), S: ternifolia 
S. ternifolia (ternate-leaved). A synonym of S, silvatica. 
SEGMENT. One of the divisions into which a leaf 
or other flat organ may be cut. 
SEGO. A common name for Calochortus Nuttallii. 
SEGREGATE. Separated. The reverse of Aggre- 
gate. 
SELAGINEZ. A natural order of shrubs, under- 
shrubs, or annual or perennial herbs, inhabiting extra- 
tropical regions, Australia excepted. Flowers white, blue, — 
or rarely yellow, rather small, hermaphrodite, irregular, 
bracteate, ebracteolate, in dense, globose, oblong, or elon- 
gated, terminal or very rarely axillary spikes; calyx 
tive-cleft or five-parted, or, owing to some of the parts 
being connate or deficient, three-parted, two-parted, or 
spathaceous ; corolla gamopetalous, shortly or slenderly 
tubular at base; limb four or five-lobed, one or two- 
lipped, or sub-regular, spreading ; stamens four, didyna- 
mous, or two. Fruit small, indehiscent. Leaves alter- 
nate, or the lower ones rarely opposite or radical, entire 
or toothed. The order comprises eight genera and about 
140 species. Examples: Globularia, Hebenstretia, Selago. 
SELAGINELLA (diminutive of Selago, the old name 
for another Lycopod). Orp. Lycopodiacee. A vast genus 
(upwards of 300 species) of stove, greenhouse, or hardy, 
evergreen plants, much resembling Mosses. “The genus 
is concentrated in the tropical zone, and has its head- 
quarters in tropical America. Only two species extend 
their range into Europe ; and the Selaginellas of the Cape, 
temperate Australia, and South temperate America, are 
neither numerous nor remarkable. ... . Habit entirely 
of Lycopodium, from which it differs by its dimorphic 
spores and sporangia, somè of the species, small and 
fugacious, resembling Hepatice, with not more than two 
vascular bundles on the main stems. Stems copiously 
branched, the ultimate branching usually flabellate- 
dichotomons, trailing, sub-erect, sarmentose, or scandent, 
with the root-fibres confined to the base, or in the trailing 
species extended to the upper nodes; in shape more or 
less distinctly quadrangular, the faces ed (stems— ` 
goniotropous, Spring) or the faces flat (stems pleuro- 
tropous, Spring); nodes sometimes distinctly articulated. 4 
4 
Leaves small, furnished only with a single central vein, | 
usually tetrastichous and dimorphous, and more or less 
oblique, the two rows of the lower plane larger and 
more spreading, the two rows of the upper ascending, 
adpressed to the stem and imbricated ; in the sub-genus 
Euselaginella multifarious, or, if tetrastichous, all alike. 
Spikes usually tetrastichous and ‘often sharply square, 
but in two sub-genera dimorphic on the same plan as 
the leaves, but mostly resupinate (i.e., the small bracts 
on the same plane as the large leaves, and vice versd) ” 
(J. G. Baker, to whose admirable monograph of Selagi- 
nella, in the “Journal of Botany,” 1883-5, we are in- 
debted for the appended descriptions of the species 
best known to cultivation in this country). Selaginellas 
grow freely in any light soil, which should be kept open 
by intermixing charcoal, or small “potsherds, through it. 
They require to be kept quite moist at all times, and 
prefer shade. Propagated readily from cuttings, made 
from the creeping stems, which emit roots at nearly every — 
joint. S. Kraussiana is the well-known Lycopod so useful _ 
for edgings to greenhouse beds, and for decorative pur- _ 
poses in pots. This may be propagated in quantity at 
any season. Cuttings for preserving a collection of the 
