466 
TAE DICTIONARY OF 
GARDENING, 
_ Spatalla—continued. 
to l4in. long. June. l imbricated, eight to ten lines long, 
slender, acute, straight or slightly curved; younger ones (and 
branches) slightly silky-pilose. h. 2ft. 1806. 
S. unculata (long-peduncled). 
volucre sub-campanulate, bilabiate, cano-tomentose, at length 
labrescent ; spike solitary, lin. to 2in. long, at length rather 
oose ; peduncle lin. to isin. long, with a few adpressed, 
carinate-subulate bracts. April. J. much incurved, nearly lin. 
long, triquetrous-filiform, rather obtuse, much attenuated at 
base, incurved-faleate above; young ones straight, slightly silky- 
pilose. h. 2ft. 1822. 
S, prolifera (proliferous). fl., involucre sub-sessile, four-leaved ; 
spikes sessile, conico-capitate, leafy-bracted. July. 1. erect, or 
at length spreading, clustered, imbricated, five to eight lines long, 
slender, straight or scarcely incurved, setaceous-mucronulate ; 
younger ones (and branchlets) silky. Branches reddish, nearly 
glabrous. h. 2ft. 1800, 
S. dalis (pyramidal). jl. yellowish-pubescent ; involucre 
shortly pedicellate, pubescent, four-leaved ; spike lin. to 1żin. 
long, solitary, sessile, erect, oblong-pyramidal, dense, sometimes 
branched at the base. June. J. much crowded, erecto-patent, 
six to ten lines long, slender, very acute, straight, at length 
na recurved, slightly pilose. Branchlets umbellate. h, Sft. 
SPATHACEOUS. Bearing, or having the nature of, 
a spathe. 
SPATHANTHEUM (from spathe, a spathe, and 
anthos, a flower; the flowers are seated on the midrib 
of the spathe). Including Gamochlamys. ORD. Aroidee 
(Aracee). A small genus (two species) of stove, tuberous- 
rooted perennials; one is found in Bolivia, and the 
other is a native of Africa. Flowers spread over the 
whole length of an inappendiculate, semi-cylindrical 
spadix, adnate to, and shorter than, the spathe, mone- 
cious, all perfect; spathe oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 
membranous, at length opening, longitudinally nerved 
_and reticulated, persistent; peduncle slender, nearly 
equalling the leaves. Leaves on long and slender pe- 
tioles, cordate or sagittate-ovate, entire or pinnatifid- 
lobed. 8. heterandrum (the only species in cultivation) 
thrives in a well-drained soil, composed of rich loam 
and peat. Plenty of water is necessary during the 
growing season. Propagation may be effected by offsets, 
or by division of the tubers. 
S. heterandrum (various-anthered). fl., spathe green, fleshy, 
boat-shaped, acute, 4in. to 5in. long; spadix half as long as the 
a adnate through its whole length ; peduncle rather shorter 
t the petiole, firm, erect, sub-terete. /. cordate-ovate, bright 
green, glabrous, rather fleshy, 1ft. long, deeply pinnatitid, the 
_ divisions acute ; petioles 2ft. long. Rootstock bearing a solitary 
leaf. Africa, 1876. Syn. Gamochlamys heterandra. 
SPATHE (from spathe, a broad blade; in allusion 
to its form in most Palm-trees). A large bract, situated 
on the flower-stalk below the inflorescence, and sur- 
_ rounding the latter until the flowers are ready to open. 
_ There may be only one bract for each inflorescence 
(e.g., Narcissus, Arum, &c.); but often (in many Palms) 
there are two or more, the outer ones being smaller and 
epen at the top, and hence called incomplete. Spathes 
vary in texture, from branous (Narcissus) to leafy 
(Arum, see Fig. 507, page ), or fleshy, or woody, as 
in many of the larger Palms\(Cocos, Maximiliana, &c.), 
in which the part that incloses, flowers may reach a 
length of over 3ft., and a thickness of over in. 
SPATHEGASTER. A group of Gall-flies, that form 
galls on Oak. Most conspicuous of these is the Currant 
Gall, so common in the early summer on the male cat- 
kins, and on leaves, of the common Oak, throughout 
Britain. The experiments of Dr. Adler, and of other 
entomologists, have, of late years, given grounds for the 
belief that the insects originally grouped in the genus 
Spathegaster, are only stages in the development of 
what were formerly regarded as distinct species of a 
different genus, Newroterus, which make galls in autumn, 
very different from those of Spathegaster in appearance. 
For an account of what are now believed to be the rela- 
tions between the insects and galls, see Oak Galls. 
‘fl., claw tomentose; in- 
SPATHELIA (from spathe, a Palm-tree; alluding to 
the similarity of habit). Orp. Simarubee. <A genus 
comprising only three species of tall and showy, stove, 
evergreen trees, with simple trunks, inhabiting the West 
Indies. Flowers rather large, shortly pedicellate, dis- 
posed in ample, terminal, elongated, branched panicles, the 
ultimate branchlets of which are sub-cymose; calyx five- 
parted; petals five, scarcely longer than the calyx, imbri- 
cated; stamens five. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, 
many-jugate; leaflets alternate, linear-oblong or sickle- 
shaped, sub-entire or serrated, the margins gland-bearing. 
S. simplex, the only species introduced to cultivation, 
thrives in a ‘compost of leam and peat; it may be in- 
creased by ripened cuttings, inserted in sand, under a 
glass, in heat. 
S. simplex (simple). May Pole, Mountain Green, or Mountain 
Pride of the West Indies. ji. red; panicle powdery, spreading, 
several feet long. April. J. twenty to forty-jugate, puberulous 
and glabrate beneath, oblong-lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 
acuminate, or falcate, crenate or quite entire; leaflets very 
variable, opposite or alternate, sessile or petiolulate, crenated or 
entire. Stem slender, resembling that of a palm, 20ft. to 50ft. 
high. 1778. (B. R. 670.) 
SPATHELLA (a diminutive of spathe), The name 
given to the numerous small bracts that, on the spadices 
of Calamus, and allied genera of Palms, replace the one 
or few large spathes met with among the other Palms. 
SPATHICARPA (from spathe, a spathe, and karpos, 
fruit; the ovaries are seated along the midrib of the 
spathe). ORD. Aroidew (Aracew), This genus embraces 
eight species of stove, evergreen, tuberous-rooted herbs, 
natives of Brazil and Paraguay. Flowers all perfect, the 
males and females longitudinally disposed in a few series, 
along the semi-cylindrical, inappendiculate spadix ; spathe 
oblong - lanceolate, acuminate, membranous, at length 
opening, convolute at base and apex, persistent; peduncles 
slender, exceeding the leaves. Leaves membranous, 
lanceolate, or hastate- or sagittate-cordate, or hastately 
trisected; petioles elongated, long-sheathing. Only a 
couple of the species have been introduced. These thrive 
in rich, sandy loam; they may be multiplied by divisions, 
or by seeds. i - 
S. hastifolia (hastate-leaved). fl., the greenish, elegantly 
acuminate ; spadix elongated. 1. Gisartite ; middle part oblong- 
ovate, acuminate; lateral ones oblong or ovate - lanceolate, 
slightly acute; petioles twice or thrice as long as the blades. 
h. lft. Minas Geraes, 3 
S. longicuspis (long-cuspidate). A synonym of S. sagittifolia. 
S. sagittifolia (sagittate-leaved). fl., spathe green, long-decur- 
rent at base, long or rarely short -cuspidate; spadix slender, 
scarcely shorter than the spathe. J. sagittate; anterior lobe 
ovate-lanceolate, pape ve Hein. ona oft posterior lobe retrorsé, 
spreading, obtuse ; peti nearly twice as long as the blades. 
h. 6in. to 12in. Bahia, 1860. SYN. S. longicuspis. . 
S. s. platyspatha (broad-spathed). fl., spathe dilated towards 
the apex, shortly cuspidate. J. sagittate, deeply cordate at base. 
SPATHIPHYLLUM (from spathe, a spathe, and 
phyllon, a leaf; alluding to the leaf-like spathe). In- 
cluding Amomophyllum and Massovia. ORD. Aroidee 
(Araceq). A genus embracing about twenty tropical 
American, and two Malayan, species of almost stem- 
less, stove, evergreen, perennial herbs. Flowers all 
fertile, dense; spathe leaf-like, membranous, oblong 
or lanceolate, acute, acuminate, or caudate-acuminate, 
at length broadly expanded, accrescent and persistent; 
spadix shorter than the spathe, sessile or stipitate, 
the stalk sometimes adnate to the spathe, cylindrical. 
Leaves oblong or lanceolate, acuminate ‘or cuspidate ; 
petioles elongated, long-sheathing, usually geniculate at 
apex. Several of the species have been introduced, and 
are here described. Equal parts of leaf mould and peat, 
mixed with a little loam and small pieces of charcoal, form 
a suitable compost for Spathiphyllums. They require a 
moist atmosphere and an abundance of water. Propaga- 
tion is sometimes effected by seeds, sown on a hotbed, 
but chiefly by divisions of the rootstock. “For decorative 
purposes, some of the smaller species, such as S. candidum, 
