AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 465 
SPARMANNIA (named in honour of Dr. Andrew 
Sparmann, 1748-1820, a Swede, who travelled in South 
Africa, and afterwards accompanied Captain Cook in his 
second voyage). ORD. Tiliacew. A small genus (three 
species) of softly stellate-pubescent, greenhouse shrubs 
or trees, natives of tropical or South extra-tropical Africa. 
Flowers white, with numerous discoloured stamens; sepals 
and petals four; cymelets terminal, umbelliform; bracts 
short, involucrate. Leaves cordate, toothed or lobed. 
S. africana, the only species known in cultivation, is a 
beautiful, quick-growing, arborescent shrub, thriving in 
a compost of loam and peat. It may be freely increased 
by cuttings, inserted in sandy peat, under a glass, in 
heat. 
S. africana (African).* African Hemp. fl. conspicuous, on 
elongated, many-flowered peduncles ; sepals lanceolate ; petals 
obovate; barren filaments yellow, with purple tips. May. 
l. long-petioled, cordate, acuminate, 5in. to 6in. long, din. to 4in. 
broad, softly hairy on both sides, unequally toothed. Branches 
terete, patently pate) h. 10ft. to 20ft. South Africa, 1790. See 
Fig. 509. (B. M. S. a. flore-pleno is a handsome, double- 
flowered variety. 
SPARROW-GRASS. A corruption of Asparagus. 
SPARROWS. Among gardeners and farmers, Spar- 
rows have long been a bone of contention; but while, a 
few years ago, the general tendency was to regard them 
as more useful than harmful, this has, of late years, been 
changed; and now Sparrows find few to defend them 
against their many accusers. All are agreed that, at 
certain seasons, these birds are wholly mischievous. By 
eating Peas and other seeds in spring, they often ruin 
the garden produce, or necessitate a second sowing. At 
a later period, they feed upon the young Peas and other 
plants, or pick off the buds from Gooseberry-bushes, and 
other fruit-bearing plants. When seeds are formed, the 
birds still eat Peas, but chiefly live on the various Cereals 
(Oats, Wheat, Barley, &c.). It is, however, asserted by 
the defenders of Sparrows that, in return for these in- 
juries, they do much good by devouring injurious insects 
and their eggs and larve, particularly while there are 
young birds to be fed in the nests; but examination 
of the contents of Sparrows’ stomachs shows that at no 
season do insects form more than a very small portion 
of their food; and that, practically, they do hardly any- 
thing to diminish the number of hurtful insects. By far 
the greater part of their food has been proved to be 
seeds of Cereals. But not only are Sparrows of little 
use in’ destroying hurtful insects; they actually favour 
the multiplication ofthe latter in many places, ‘since, 
by their quarrelsome disposition, they drive away the 
y insectivorous birds, whose slender bills and weaker 
forms do not fit them to fight with Sparrows for their 
nests. The insectivorous birds must feed on insects or 
starve; hence they are very useful, and they cannot injure 
the produce of a garden. Therefore, to have them driven 
away is a serious evil. Swallows and window martins 
are peculiarly liable to be ousted by Sparrows. Where 
the last-named have been kept down, it has been observed 
that the swallows and martins soon become more nu- 
merous, and insects cease to be troublesome. The results 
of inquiries in America and in Australia quite agree 
with the above statements; and a war of extermination. 
has been strongly urged, though, of late, the hostility 
to them has been lessened in New York as they have 
developed a taste for Cicada septem-decim. In England, 
strenuous efforts are now made in many districts to limit 
the number of Sparrows, by shooting the birds, and by 
removing the nests and eggs wherever accessible. These 
measures can be persevered in by owners and occupiers 
of land, and by those whom they authorise, even during 
the “close time,” i.e., from 1st March to Ist August, with- 
out infringing the Wild Birds Protection Acts, 1880, 1881. 
For fuller information, the reader is referred to a work 
entitled “ The House Sparrow and the English Sparrow in 
America,” by Messrs. Gurney, Russell, and others, 1885. 
VoL IIL 
SPARTIANTHUS. A 
(which see). 
SPARTINA (from spartine, a cord; alluding to the 
use of the foliage). Syns. Limnetis, Ponceletia, Bolen- 
achne, Trachynotia. ORD. Graminew. A genus com- 
prising six or seven species of stove, greenhouse, or 
hardy, maritime grasses; two are broadly dispersed over 
the shores of Europe, America, and Africa, two or three 
are North American, one is a native of extra-tropical 
South America, and one is found in Tristan d’Acunha 
and Amsterdam Island. Spikelets one-flowered; spikes 
at the sides of a terminal, erect peduncle, -sometimes 
clustered in a long and dense, spike-like panicle, some- 
times narrow and scattered. Leaves convolute-terete or 
esplanate at base. The genus, which is represented in 
Britain by 8. alternifolia, S. stricta (Cord Grass; Mat 
Weed, &c.), and S, Townsendi, has no horticultural 
merit. 
SPARTIUM (the old Greek name used by Dios- 
corides, and derived from sparton, cordage; the twigs 
of the plant, by maceration, produce a good fibre, which 
is sometimes made into thread). Syn. Spartianthus. 
ORD. Leguminose. A monotypic genus. The species is 
a hardy, deciduous shrub, with Rush-like and often leafless 
branches. It is a very ornamental plant when in blossom, 
and consequently is well adapted for shrubberies. Any 
ordinary soil is suitable. Propagation is usually effected 
by seeds, which ripen in abundance. Young cuttings 
will root, if covered with a hand glass. i 
S. junceum (Rush-like).* Rush or Spanish Broom. fl. yellow 
fragrant, showy, disposed in terminal racemes ; calyx somew: 
spathaceous; standard ample; wings obovate; keel incurved, 
acuminate; bracts and bracteoles minute, prac A caducous. 
ag to September. J. rare, one-foliolate ; stipules wanting. 
h. Oft. to 10ft. Mediterranean region and Canary Isles, 1 
(B. M. 85; S. F. G. 671; B. R. 1974, under name of S. acuti- 
folium.) There is a double form in cultivation. 
SPARTOTHAMNUS (from sparton, cordage, and 
thamnos, a branch; alluding to the use of the plant). 
ORD. Verbenaceew. A monotypic genus. ‘The species is 
a pretty, glabrous or pubescent, evergreen shrub or sub- 
synonym of Spartium 
‘shrub. It requires the temperature of a’ cool, airy green- 
house. A compost of sandy peat and loam is most 
suitable for its culture. Propagated by cuttings, inserted 
in sand, under a glass. HA 
S. junceus (Rush-like). 1. white, very small, solitary in the axils, 
am call arerin e Pairs and corolla five-lobed. August. 
L small and distant, often reduced to small scales, all opposite ; 
when fully developed jin. to jin. long, lanceolate or ovate- 
lanceolate. Branches divaricate, acutely four-angled, Broom- 
- like and appearing almost leafless. h. 2ft. Australia, 1819. 
SPATALANTHUS. Included under Romulea 
(which see). 
SPATALLA (from spatalos, delicate; in allusion to 
the nature of the flowers). ORD. Proteacee. Of this 
genus seventeen species have been described; they are 
greenhouse, Heath-like shrubs, restricted to South Africa. 
Flowers rather small, solitary under the bracts, capitate, 
sessile or shortly pedicellate, forming a loose spike or 
terminal raceme; perianth slender, scarcely dilated to- 
wards the base, the limb straight or incurved, ovoid or 
oblong; hypogynous scales four, subulate. Nuts often 
pubescent or villous. Leaves scattered, filiform or sub- 
ulate, undivided. A selection of the species known to 
cultivation is here given. They all have purple flowers 
and require similar treatment to Protea (which see). 
curva (incurved). jl., involucre three or four-flowered, pubes- 
peng four-leaved ; wal solitary or often aggregate, uncu- 
late, lin. to 2in. long. May. l rather loosely spreading, }in. to 
lin. long, incurved, slender, bristly-mucronate, scarcely attenu- 
ated at base, glabrous; young ones, and branchlets, slightly 
pilose. ‘h. 2ft. 1789. 
ft ., involucre villous, two-leaved ; spike solitary, 
m E A oblong-cylindrical, branched, scarcely lin. 
long. June. l. erecto-patent, seven to eight lines long, e 
and, as well as the slender branchlets, silky-villous. A. 2ft. 1826. 
nivea (snowy). fl, involucre campanulate, one-third the lengi 
-a the A arnet a sub-sessile, erect, dense, er yae in. 
O 
