AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 423 
Serapias—continued. 
one extending as far as the Azores. Flowers often 
rather large, few in a spike; sepals erect, connivent or 
coherent in a tube; petals sometimes smaller, sometimes 
scarcely shorter, but much narrower; lip three-lobed, the 
lateral lobes erect, the middle one tongue-shaped and 
pendulous. Leaves narrow. Tubers undivided. In habit 
the species much resemble those of Orchis (which see 
for culture). 
S. cordigera (heart-bearing).* Heart-flowered Orchis. f. brown 
and lavender ; lateral segments of the lip obtuse, erect, con- 
nivent ; middle one longer, ovate, often cordate at base, acumi- 
nate, the disk pilose, the basilar callus deeply bilobed; bracts 
often longer than the flowers; spike at first crowded. h. 1ft 
92) Europe, 1806. (A. B. R. 475; B. M. 58684; S. F. G. 
S. Lingua (tongue-lipped). Tongue-flowered Orchis. . fl. reddish- 
brown ; lateral segments of the lip ovate, obtuse; middle one 
longer and narrower, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate ; basilar callus 
obscure, sulcate or flat ; bracts shorter than the flowers; pe 
at first loose. h. lft. South Europe, 1786. (B. M. 5868B; 
H. E. F. 111; L. B. C. 655; S. F. G. 931.) The variety luteola 
has yellowish and purplish flowers. 
S. papilionacea-lingua (a natural hybrid between Orchis pa- 
pilionacea and S. Lingua). fl. five or six toa spike; sepals and 
= pale Pg and pale pple; veined ; petals erect, free, 
road, spreading, and recurved ; lip bright purple, large, broadly 
cordate, the margins crenulate, the base with two tubercles on 
the very short claw. /. narrow-lanceolate, acuminate, pale green, 
unspotted. Stem 1ft. or more high. South of France, 1876. 
(B. M. 6255.) 
SERENOA (named in honour of Sereno Watson, 
a distinguished North American botanist). ORD, 
Palme. A monotypic genus. The species is a handsome, 
greenhouse, dwarf, unarmed; tufted palm, closely allied 
to Sabal (which see for culture). 
S. serrulata (serrulated).* Saw Palmetto. fl, petals scarcely 
united; style slender; spadix densely tomentose, much shorter 
than the leaves. June. jr. black, eight to nine lines long. J. 2ft. 
to 4ft. high, circular in outline, fan-shaped, bright green ; divi- 
sions fifteen to thirty, erect, slightly cleft at the apex, and with- 
out thread-like filaments in the sinuses; petioles plano-convex, 
slender, more or less spiny-edged, longer than the leaves. Stem 
4ft. to 8ft. long, creeping, branching. Southern United States, 
1840. SYN. Sabal serrulata. — 
SERIAL, SERIATE. Disposed in rows or series. 
SERIANA. A synonym of Serjania (which see). 
SERICEOUS. Silky ; covered with closely-pressed, 
soft, straight pubescence. 
SERICOCARPUS (from serikos, silken, and karpos, 
a fruit; alluding to the silky hairs on the achenes). 
White-topped Aster. Orp. Composite. A genus com- 
prising five species of hardy, erect, perennial herbs, 
natives of North America. Flower-heads mediocre or 
small, corymbose or paniculate; involucral bracts rather 
broad, in many series; ray florets white ; disk pale yellow, 
rarely changing to purplish; achenes silky-pilose; pappus 
bristles copious. Leaves alternate, sessile, entire or ser- 
rated. For culture of the under-mentioned species, see 
Aster (under which they are erroneously classed in 
some garden works). 
S. conyzoides (Conyza-like). Silk Frait. (f.-heads sometimes 
solitary and pedicellate, but usually sessile in small clusters ; 
involucre somewhat turbinate; pappus ferruginous. June 
August. l. ciliated, glabrous beneath, veiny, rather firm, lin. to 
Sin. long. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1778. 
S. solidagineus (Solidago-like). /l.-heads small, glomerate at 
the extremities of the fastigiate peduncles; involucre cylindrical ; 
pappus white. July to September. Z. linear-oblanceolate or linear, 
obtuse, tapering to the base, entire, with serrulate - scabrous 
margins, obscurely dotted. h. 2ft. 1699, 
SERICOGRAPHIS. Included under Jacobinia 
(which see). 
SERINGIA (named in honour of Nicholas Charles 
Seringe, 1776-1858, Professor and Director of the 
Botanical Gardens at Lyons). Syn. Gaya. ORD. Stereu- 
liacee. A monotypic genus. The species is an interest- 
ing, greenhouse, evergreen shrub, somewhat resembling a 
Commersonia in habit. A compost of sand, loam, and 
peat is most suitable to its culture. Propagation may 
Seringia—continued. 
be effected by young cuttings, inserted in similar soil, 
under a glass; or by seeds. 
S. platyphylla (broad-leaved). /l. white, disposed in dense, ter- 
minal or leaf-opposed cymes, which are much shorter than the 
leaves ; calyx about iin. long; petals none; stamens five, alter- 
nating with the calyx lobes. June. J. ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 
acuminate, coarsely toothed, 3in. to 4in. or even Sin. long, often 
oblique at base, glabrous or sprinkled with minute, stellate hairs 
above, densely tomentose beneath. Branches loosely whitish- or 
rusty-tomentose. h. 10ft. Australia, 1822. 
SERINGIA (of Sprengel). A synonym of Ptelidinm 
(which see). 
SERIPHIUM. Included under Steebe (which see). 
SERISSA (a name altered from the old Greek Seris, 
used by Dioscorides). Syns. Democritea, Dysoda. ORD. 
Rubiacee. A monotypic genus. The species is a pretty, 
greenhouse, branched shrub, highly glabrous or with 
puberulous branchlets, the bark fœtid. It succeeds best 
in a mixture of loam, peat, and sand. Propagation may 
be effected by cuttings, inserted in sand, under a glass, 
in heat. 
S. foetida (stinking). f/f. white, axill or termi soli or 
ers ay RAS, obconical, PETER? i te ea er- 
sistent ; corolla funnel-shaped, pilose within the throat, the limb 
of four to six short, obtusely three-lobed, erecto-patent lobes. 
Summer. J, rather small, opposite, sub-sessile, often fascicled on 
shortened branchlets, sub-coriaceous, ovate, acuminate, nerved. 
h. 2ft. India, China, Japan, &c., 1787. (B. M. 361, under name 
of Lycium japonicum.) There is a variety with double flowers (a 
rare occurrence in this order), and another with gold-margined 
leaves (I. H. ser. i. $ 
SERJANIA (named in honour of Paul Serjeant, a 
French friar and botanist). Syn. Seriana. ORD. 
Sapindacee. A large genus (about sixty species) of 
stove, climbing or twining shrubs, all natives of tropical 
and sub-tropical South America. Flowers yellowish; 
sepals five (or four and two of them connate), imbri- 
cated, concave; petals four; racemes or panicles axil- 
lary, often bearing two tendrils. Leaves alternate, ex- 
stipulate (or with minute stipules), ternate, biternate, or 
impari-pinnate, often pellucid-dotted. A few of the 
species have been introduced, but they boast of no 
particular beauty, and are probably only cultivated in 
botanical gardens. f 
SEROTINUS. Comparatively late. 
SERPENT WITHE. A common name for Aristo- 
lochia odoratissima. 
SERPENT-WOOD. A common name for Rauwolfia 
serpentina. 
SERPICULA (from serpo, to creep; alluding to the 
habit of the species). Syn. Laurembergia. ORD. Halo- 
ragee. A genus comprising from two to four species of 
small, greenhouse, decumbent or creeping, branched herbs, 
inhabiting marshes in the warmer parts of Asia, Africa, 
and America. Flowers minute, usually fasciculate. Leaves 
opposite and alternate, sub-sessile, linear or lanceolate, 
entire or toothed. S. repens, a native of South Africa, 
the only species introduced, is now probably lost to 
cultivation. 
SERPYLLOPSIS. Included under Trichomanes. 
SERRATE, SERRATED. Beset with antrorse 
teeth. 
SERRATULA (from serrula, a little saw; alluding 
to the serrated foliage). Saw-wort. ORD. Composite. A 
genus comprising about thirty species of hardy, perennial 
herbs, natives of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Flower- 
heads purplish, violet, or rarely white, solitary or 
corymbose ; involucral bracts many, imbricated, the outer 
ones shorter, the inner ones more or less scarious at the 
tips; receptacle densely bristly; florets regular, five- 
lobed; pappus hairs many-seriate, coloured. Leaves alter- 
nate, toothed or lyrate-pinnatifid. The genus is repre- 
sented. in Britain by S. tinctoria, the herbage of which 
