Sopubia—continued 
to be the only species introduced to our gardens. It is 
a handsome perennial, thriving in peaty soil; it may be 
increased by cuttings, inserted under a glass, or by seeds. 
S. delphinifolia (Delphinium-leaved). fl. rose-coloured, sub- 
sessile; corolla aS ag one lin. to liin. long, lin. in 
diameter. July. Z. lin. long, pinnatisect; segments almost as 
long, few, filiform, flexuous. Stem erect, four-grooved, 3ft. to 
4ft. high, spotted with purple. India, 1800, Syn. Gerardia 
delphinifolia. 
SORANTHE. A synonym of Sorocephalus (which 
see). 
SORBUS. Included under Pyrus (which see). 
SORDID. Any dirty or muddy colour. 
SOREDIATE. Bearing small patches on the surface. 
SOREMA. A synonym of Nolana (which see). 
SOREMA. A heap of carpels belonging to the same 
flower. 
SORGHUM (said to be from Sorghi, the Indian name). 
Millet Grass. Syn. Blumenbachia (of Koeler). ORD. 
Graminee. A genus consisting, according to the authors 
of the “Genera Plantarum,” of only a couple of species 
of half-hardy or greenhouse, annual or perennial grasses, 
inhabiting the warmer parts of the globe, and more or 
less extending into temperate regions, one being nearly 
. cosmopolitan. Spikelets numerous, ternate, the central 
one sessile, the lateral ones pedicellate; panicle terminal, 
ample, dense or effuse. Leaves flat, often long and broad. 
S. vulgare (Indian Millet) has been tried in England as 
a general crop, but the climate has been found too cold 
and damp for the proper ripening of its seeds; the plant 
is frequently grown in botanic gardens, but has no interest 
from a horticultural point of view. It is extensively 
cultivated as an article of food in warmer countries. 
S. halepense is a handsome, hardy species, thriving in 
ordinary garden soil. Increased by seeds, or by divisions. 
S. pense T ish; panicle 3in. to 12in. or 
nee toe Ose Cait eee ae Denied. l. long and flat, 
often rather broad, the midrib usually white and poe 
Stems erect, 2ft. to 10ft. high, the nodes glabrous. Med 
iterranean 
region, &c 
SORINDEIA (said to be the native name in Mada- 
gascar). © ORD. Anacardiaceœ. A genus comprising about 
half-a-dozen species of small, stove, glabrous trees, natives 
of tropical Africa, Java, and Madagascar. Flowers purple 
or yellow, small; calyx cup-shaped, five-toothed; petals 
five, rarely more, valvate; stamens in hermaphrodite 
flowers, five, in males ten to twenty; panicles terminal, 
branched, bracteate, sparse-flowered. Drupes compressed, 
one-seeded. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate; leaflets 
entire. S.. madagascariensis is the only species intro- 
duced. Its fruits have been described as “of a pleasant, 
Sweet-sour, mango taste, but acrid also. These groups 
grow in a remarkable and interesting way, not only from 
the branches, but chiefly from the main trunk of the 
tree, looking as if they were air-roots with fruit upon 
them, or like parasites. There may be 200 of the 
tempting fruits hanging in great bunches, 2ft. in length.” 
For culture, see ium. 
S. madagascari Madagas . purple, small, in 
axillary racemes. arc 5 on BS olson T 10ft. Mada- 
gascar, 1828. 
SOROCEPHALUS (from soros, a heap, and kephale, 
a head; alluding to the clustered heads of flowers). Syn. 
Soranthe. Orp. Proteacew. A genus embracing about 
ten species of greenhouse, erect or rarely diffuse, Heath- 
like, densely leafy shrubs, confined to South Africa. 
owers in small heads, clustered in corymbose or 
capitate spikes ; perianth slender, the limb globose or 
oblong. Leaves scattered, clustered, or nearly imbricated, 
lanceolate or narrow, sometimes subulate, entire, or the 
lower ones dissected. A selection of the best-known 
Species is here given. Some of them should be seen in 
every collection. For culture, see Protea. 
AN ENCYCLOPADIA OF HORTICULTURE. 
r 
461 
Sorocephalus—continued. i 
S. diversifolius (variable-leaved). jl. purple ; heads as large as 
a small plum, solitary, sessile, ovate, obtuse. June. J. spathu- 
late-lanceolate, smooth, glabrous; lowest ones 2in. long, trifid- 
bipinnatifid, channelled; upper ones 4in. long, undivided, im- 
bricated, slightly obtuse, sub-concave. Stem slender, nearly 
simple, pubescent above. h. 2ft. to 6ft. 1803. 
S. imbricatus (imbricated). fl. lilac, four to five lines long, the 
lamina bearded ; heads sub-ovate, as large as a plum, often two 
or three aggregate; peduncle scarcely żin. long. June. l. im- 
bricated, oblong -lanceolate, acute, inflexed -mucronulate, at 
length somewhat spreading, four to five lines long, scabrous- 
dotted on the back. Branches slightly pilose, at length glabrous. 
h. 3ft. 1794. An elegant shrub. SYN. Protea imbricata (A. B. R. 
517). 
S. lanatus (woolly). fl. purple, plumose-bearded, in heads as 
large as a hazel-nut; involucre five to seven-leated, coloured ; 
peduncle short, with or nearly without bracts. August. 4 im- 
bricated, subulate-linear, four to eight lines long, channelled 
above, obtusely carinate at back, or rounded, slightly scabrous- 
dotted, pilose-ciliated. Branches slightly pilose. A. 2ft. 1790. 
S. setaceus (bristly). /l. purple, the claw rather loosely tomen- 
tose, the lamina bearded ; heads varying in size between a cherry 
and a plum; spike sessile, ovate. uly. J, bristly, slender, 
smooth; lin. to lin. long, . mucronate, and, as well as the 
Ser: sagt pubescent. Branches straight, slightly tomentose. 
1 
h. 2ft. 
SOROMANES. Acrostichum 
(which see). : 
SOROSE. Heaped, or bearing sori. 
SOROSIS. A fleshy mass formed by the consolidation 
of numerous flowers, seed-vessels and their receptacles : 
e.g., Bread-fruit, Mulberry, Pineapple. 
SORREL (Rumer). Two or three species of Rumes 
are cultivated in gardens under the name of Sorrel; the 
common species (R. Acetosa) is a native of Britain. All 
are hardy perennials. Their leaves are used in salads 
and culinary preparations, and as a substitute for Spinach. 
Any kind of Sorrel succeeds best in a rather deep soil 
and moist situation. Plants may be raised from seeds, sown 
in drills about 15in. apart, in autumn or spring; or by 
dividing the rootstocks in March and April. When the 
Included under 
Fig. 502. SORREL. 
seedlings are about 3in. high, thin them out to 12in. 
apart, and keep the ground occasionally hoed between 
afterwards. A plantation will last three or four years. 
Some leaves may be gathered for use in about two 
months from the time of seed-sowing. Besides the com- 
mon species, R. Acetosa—of which there are numerous 
forms that have received distinctive names, indeed several 
have been described as species by continental botanists 
—there is the French Sorrel (R. scutatus), which has 
leaves more acid. This latter is distributed throughout 
Europe, but is not truly native in Britain ; it is, however, 
naturalised in many places in the British Isles. 
SORREL-TREE. ‘See Oxydendron arboreum. 
- TREE. A common name for 
Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. . 
