oe sieri, S. Boutignyanum, 
416 
THE DICTIONARY 
OF GARDENING, 
Semeiandra—continued. > 
` comprising only two species of slender, pubescent, green- 
house, evergreen shrubs, inhabiting the mountains of 
Mexico. Flowers scarlet, showy, axillary, solitary, 
pedunculate ; calyx coloured, four-lobed, globose at base ; 
petals four, small, linear-subulate; stamens two, one 
ending in a petal-like expansion, the other with two 
perfect cells. Leaves usually opposite, petiolate, oblong- 
lanceolate, serrated, membranous. One of the species 
has been introduced. It requires culture similar to 
Fuchsia (which see). 
S. a (large-flowered). fl. large and handsome; calyx 
tube funnel-shaped, the limb cut into four very long-linear, acu- 
minate segments, of which three are refiexed and the fourth is 
erect; petals four, linear-subulate. Spring. l ovate or ovate- 
lanceolate, neg Sages acuminate at the apex, penniveined. 
h. 6ft. Mexico, 1853. (B. M. 4727.) 
SEMELE (the name of the mother of Bacchus, after 
whom the genus was named). Syn. Amphion. ORD. 
Liliaceœ. A monotypic genus. The species is an orna- 
mental, greenhouse, evergreen, climbing shrub, thriving 
in any rich soil. It may be multiplied by division of 
the roots. 
S. an (hermaphrodite). j. small, fascicled, six to twenty 
in an umbel; perianth greenish-Wwhite, with a very short tube and 
ovate lobes ; umbels solitary or few, produced from the sides, or 
rarely from the face, of the cladodes, April. Cladodes leaf-like, 
alternate or scattered, solitary at the axils of small, fuscous- 
membranous scales, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, cori- 
aceous, with many slender nerves. Stem branched. Canary 
` Islands, 1713. SYN. Ruscus androgynus (B. M. 1898, 3029). 
SEMI. This term, used in Latin compounds, signi- 
fies half; e.g., Semi-amplexicaul, half-clasping a stem; 
Semi-hastate, hastate on one side only. 
SEMI-LUNAR, SEMI-LUNATE.  Resembling 
a half-moon. The same as Lunate. 
SEMIPAL. Pertaining to seed. 
SEMINIFEROUS. Seed-bearing. 
_ SEMPERVIRENS, SEMPERVIRENT. Ever- 
green, A 
VIVUM (the old Latin name used by 
Pliny, and derived from semper vivo, to live for ever; 
alluding to the well-known tenacity of the species). 
House Leek. Including Æonium and Greenovia. ORD. 
-~ Crassulacee. A genus comprising fifty or more species 
of greenhouse or hardy, thick, fleshy herbs or sub- 
shrubs, of variable habit, often stemless, arid emitting 
young plants from the axils, sometimes caulescent and 
leafy ; they inhabit the mountains of Central and Southern 
Europe, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Asia Minor, Nubia, 
Abyssinia, and the Western Himalayas. Flowers white, 
pink, greenish, yellow, or purplish, in paniculate, often 
dense cymes; calyx cut or parted into six or numerous 
segments, rarely five-cleft; petals six or numerous, free, 
or connate at base, and adhering to the filaments, oblong 
or lanceolate, acute or acuminate ; stamens twice as many, 
or rarely the same number, as the petals, free; filaments 
filiform. Leaves alternate, thickly fleshy, often revolute. 
8. tectorum is found growing on walls and houses in 
_ Britain, but it is not indigenous. Sempervivums succeed 
im any sandy soil, and may be readily propagated from 
seeds, or by the young plants which appear round old 
ones at the base. All the hardy species are admirably 
adapted for planting on rockwork; and the greenhouse 
ones, S. tabuleforme, for instance, are valuable for succnu- 
lent and carpet bedding during summer. 
Mr. J. G. Baker’s admirable classification of the hardy 
species in cultivation (published in the “ Gardeners’ 
Chronicle,” n. s., vol. xii.) is appended. By its help, 
the names of any of the hardy species here described 
may be readily determined. Mr. Baker says that the 
following eleven forms “cannot be regarded as more 
than varieties or sub-species belonging to one variable 
specific type”: 8S. arvernense, S. atlanticum, 8. Bois- 
S. calcaratum, S. calcarewm, 
Sempervivum—continued. 
S. glaucum, S. Lamottei, 8. Schottii, S. tectorum, and 
S. triste. 
Sub-genus I, Sempervivum proper, 
Parts of the flowers usually in twelves. Open flower bell-shaped. 
RHODANTHA.—Flowers reddish. 
Group 1. Ciliata. Leaves of the barren rosette glabrous on the 
face when mature, shortly ciliated on the edges only. | 
Leaves large, green or slightly glaucous, with a conspicuous, 
red-brown tip: S. arvernense, Boissieri, S. Boutiany- 
anum, S. calearatum, S. tectorum, : * 
Leaves large, green or glaucous ; red-brown tip none or very 
obscure : S. atlanticum, S. glaucum, S. Lamottei, S. Schottii. 
Leaves large, purplish-brown throughout : S. triste. J 
Leaves large, very glaucous, with a distinct red-brown tip: 
S. caleareum. 
Leaves small, green, with a distinct red-brown tip: S. parvu- 
lw : 
mM. 
Leaves small, glaucous, with a distinct red-brown tip: 
S. Greenii. 
Leaves, small, green; red-brown tip none or very obscure : 
S. Funckii, 8. Verloti. : 
Group 2. Pubescentia. Leaves of the barren rosette pubescent on 
the face, as well as ciliated on the edges, not tipped with a tuft 
of spreading hairs. * 
Flower small; stamens two-thirds as long as the petals: 
S. assimile. 
Flower large; stamens half as long as the petals: S. ano- 
malum, S. flagelliforme, S. montanum, 
Group 3. Barbatula. Leaves of the barren rosette strongly ciliated 
on = a and furnished with a tuft of short, straight hairs 
t the tip. 
. Moderately tall: S. Fauconneti, S. fimbriatum, S. Pomelii. 
Dwarf: S. barbatulum. 
Group 4. Arachnoidea. Dwarf species, with the tips of the inner 
leaves of the rosette connected by fine, fleecy threads, like a 
spider’s web. i 
Arachnoid threads many: S. arachnoideum, S. Mogoridgei. 
Arachnoid threads few: S. Doellianum, S. oligotrichum. ; 
CHRYSANTHA.—Flowers yellow. 
Leaves obovate-cuneate, glabrous on the face: S. Wulfeni. 
Leaves obovate-cuneate, hairy on the face: S. Braunii, S. grandi- 
Jorum, S. ruthenicum. 
Leaves oblanceolate, very hairy on the face: S. Pittoni. 
Sub-genus II. Diopogon. 
Parts of the flower usually in sixes. Flowers always yellowish. 
Expanded flower spreading widely. 
Flowers small ; pe not fimbriated on the edge and keel: 
: S. Heuffelii, S. Reginw-Amalie, 
Flowers large ; petals fimbriated on the edge and keel. 
New rosettes rolled up into round balls: S. arenarium, 
S. soboliferum. 
New rosettes not rolled up into round balls: S. hirtum. 
The best-known species are described below. Except 
where otherwise stated, they are hardy perennials. 
S. aizoides (Aizoon-like). jf. yellow, corymbose; petals five to 
eight, spreading. May to re l. scattered, bene: flat, quite 
entire, glabrous. Stem erect, branched. k. 1ft. Madeira. Green- 
house, evergreen shrub. 
S. anomalum (anomalous). fl. four to eight in a dense head, 
all sessile or sub-sessile; corolla bright mauve-purple, lin. in 
diameter, very hairy on the outside. June. Z. thirty to forty to 
a rosette, oblanceolate, cuspidate, green, with pubescent faces, 
hairy-edged, the outer ones only tinted with red-brown, iin. 
to żin. long. Flowering stem 3in. to 4in. long, its leaves hairy 
all over and tinted with red-brown, the lowest 4in. to jin. long. 
Barren rosettes not exceeding lin. in diameter. A garden 
species. $ 
S. arachnoideum (cobwebby).* fl. nine to twelve-parted 
than lin. in diameter; petals bright red, hnos e AA 
bright purple ; panicle dense, few-flowered, clothed with slightly 
fragrant, glandular hairs. June. Z about fifty to a rosette, 
oblong-cuneate, obscurely cuspidate, minutely glandular-pubes- 
cent above, the tips connec by long, soft, white hairs ; outer 
leaves reddish-brown at back, gin. long. Flowering stem 3in. to 
4in. long, its leaves furnished at tips with tufts of soft hairs. 
Barren rosettes żin. to fin. in diameter. Pyrenees and Central 
Europe, 1699. (B. M. 68; J. F. A, (App.) 42.) 
S. a. Laggeri (Lagger’s).* A large variety, having fully-deyel 
vonnttes lin. in Giataster. Ber. Fig. 474. ie ay ck ae ame 
S. arboreum (arborescent). Jl. golden-yellow, disposed in a loose 
panicle: petals nine to eleven. March to December. l. cunei- 
form, glabrous, ciliated, spreading, and rosulate at the tops of 
=~ — ege Bryana smooth, branched. h. 3ft. to 
. Portugal, &c., . Greenhouse, evergreen shrub. 
99; S. F. G. 475.) Er wg 
S. a. atropurpureum (dark le). Z blackish-purple. : 
very effective variety when pull ag a a sunny position. Ta 
