468 
THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
ATHYEMA. A synonym of Symplocarpus 
(which see). 
SPATULARIA (of Haworth). 
Saxifraga (which see). 
SPAWN, MUSHROOM. The underground, vege- 
tating part of the plants of which Mushrooms are the 
parts devoted to the reproduction of the species. It 
consists of white threads of mycelium growing among 
masses of decaying animal or plant remains; e.g., in old 
hotbeds, in stable-yard manure, in droppings of horses 
or cattle, &c. In artificially-prepared Spawn, the mycelium 
grows in firm and brick-shaped, or loose, masses of the 
food (dung, &c.), penetrating into all parts of these, and 
filling them with the white cells of which it is composed. 
If kept dry, Mushroom Spawn will remain unchanged for 
years; but, when a piece of it is placed in a moist 
bed of manure, or other suitable food, at a temperature 
of about 60deg. Fahr., growth goes on vigorously, The 
new food is traversed by mycelium, and, in a short time, 
Mushrooms begin to grow upon the surface of the bed. 
Thus the Spawn does not correspond to seed, but 
rather may be compared, in its mode of reproducing the 
species, with the tubers, or so-called seed, of potatoes. 
For the mode of preparing and using Spawn in the 
artificial cultivation of Mushrooms, see Mushrooms. 
SPEARMINT. See Mentha viridis and Mint. 
SPEARWORT. A name applied to several species 
of Ranunculus. 
SPECIES. “A Species comprises all the individual 
plants which resemble each other sufficiently to make us 
conclude that they are all, or may have been all, descended 
from a common parent. These individuals may often 
differ from each other in many striking particulars, such 
as the colour of the flower, size of the leaf, &c., but these 
particulars are such as experience teaches us are liable 
to vary in the seedlings raised from one individual” 
(Bentham). 
SPECKELINIA. 
(which gee). 
Included under 
Included under Pleurothallis 
eight species of hardy, erect or decumbent, hispid or 
glabrous herbs, natives of the Northern hemisphere, one 
being also found in Sonth America. Flowers sessile or 
shortly pedunculate in the axils, bibracteate, the upper 
ones panicled ; calyx five-parted; corolla blue, violet, or 
white, sub-rotate or broadly campanulate, five-lobed ; 
stamens free of the corolla, the filaments flat. Leaves 
alternate, entire or toothed. The genus is represented 
in Britain by 8. hybrida. For culture of the four species 
described below, see Campanula. 
S. hybrida (hybid). Corn Violet. . sub-sessile; calyx } 
than the pF leaves, shortly main: corolla blue within, fies 
outside, cleft to near the middle. June to September. J. small 
oblong, waved ; radical ones on broad petioles, ovate or : 
cauli es sessile pathu- 
: me on . Stem 6in. to 10in. long, erect 
decumbent. Europe (Britain = g, erect or 
of Campanula MOU] ), &c. (Sy. En. B. 874, under name 
pentagonia (fve-angled). f. blue; calyx shorter th 
as long as, the corolla, with spreading até July. l, i 
ones obovate, entire; the others ovate-oblong or lanceolate, 
nearly entire. Stem branched. A. lft. Levant, 1686. (B. R 
56, under name of Campanula pentagonia.) : 
S. perfoliata (perfoliate). Venus’ Looking-glass of North 
— ft. sessile, solitary or two or three aek rane ; the ahah r 
= ter ones only with a conspicuous purplish-blue corolla. 
ay to August. 1. roundish or ovate, clasping by the heart- 
shaped base, toothed. h. 3in. to 20in. North America, 1680. 
Speculum Veneris; Common Venus’ Looki 
fA e; calyx glabrous or pubescent, as lon peg A 
corollis, the ba at length reflexed. hir. i, sluilar to o 
aria re Stem b: branches three-fiowered. h, lft. 
(B. M. 102 and $ 
peni apie ey . and S. F. G. 216, under name of Cam- 
SPEEDWELL. See Veronica. 
SPEIRANTHA (from speira, a coil, and anthos, a 
flower ; in reference to the inflorescence). ORD. Liliaceæ, 
A monotypic genus. The species is a highly glabrous, 
stemless, greenhouse plant, with an oblique, thick, stoloni- 
ferous rhizome. It was formerly classed under Albuca 
(which see for culture). 
S. convallarioides (Convallaria-like). fi., perianth white or 
greenish, about in. long, six-parted; stamens six; racemes 
twenty to thirty-flowered, lin. to 2in. long; scape slender, šin. to 
4in. long. June. J. six to eight in a rosette, sub-erect, oblanceo- 
late, sessile, 5in. to 6in. long, lin. to lżin. broad, acute. China, 
1854. Syn. Albuca Gardeni (B. M. 4842). 
SPELT. See Triticum Spelta. 
SPERAGE. An old name for Asparagus. 
SPERGULA PILIFERA. A synonym of Sagina 
pilifera. 
SPERLINGIA. A synonym of Hoya (which see). 
SPERMACOCE (from sperma, a seed, and akoke, a 
point; probably alluding to the pointed calyx teeth on 
the fruit). Button Weed. Including Bigelovia (of Spren- 
gel). ORD. Rubiacew. A large genus (about 150 species) 
of stove, greenhouse, or hardy, low, annual or perennial 
herbs or sub-shrubs, scattered over tropical and sub- 
tropical regions. Flowers white, pink, or blue, small or 
minute, sessile, solitary and axillary, or in fascicles, 
cymes, heads, or whorls. Leaves opposite, sessile or 
stalked, membranous or coriaceous. The species, several 
of which have been introduced, have little horticultural 
value. Borreria (which see) is included here by the 
authors of the “ Genera Plantarum.” 
SPERMADICTYON. A synonym of Hamiltonia 
(which see). 
SPERMAZXYRUM. 
see). 
SPERMUM. This term, used in Greek compounds, ` 
denotes a seed or any seed-like part, e.g., Macrospermum, 
large-seeded ; Polyspermum, many-seeded. 
SPHACELE (from Sphakos, the Greek name of Sage, 
which these plants resemble in foliage). Syn. Phytowis (of 
Sprengel). ORD. Labiate. A genus of about twenty species 
of stove or greenhouse shrubs or sub-shrubs; one is a 
A synonym of Olax (which 
_ native of the Sandwich Islands, and the rest are mostly 
Western American, extending from Brazil and Chili to 
California. Flowers red, violet, blue, or whitish; calyx 
five-toothed; corolla tube ample; limb short, scarcely 
bilabiate, four-cleft, with broad, erecto-patent lobes; sta- 
mens four; whorls loosely two to six-flowered, or densely 
six to many-flowered, racemose or spicate. Nutlets ovoid, 
smooth. Leaves often bullate-wrinkled, and canescent 
beneath; floral ones reduced to bracts. Three species 
have been introduced, all requiring greenhouse heat. 
For culture, see that advised for the tender species of 
Salvia. 
S. czerulea (blue). /l. pale lavender-blue, disposed in numerous 
spikes. J. ovate, serrated. 1866. A soft-wooded, winter-blos- 
soming sub-shrub. (F. M. 281.) 
5. campanulata (bell-shaped). f., calyx four lines long ; corolla 
pale bluish, nearly eight teen long, witht broad. asera A lobes ; 
whorls two-flowered ; racemes loose, secund. July. J, shortly 
Fane: upparmoes onee must! TAOL A M oe ae A The. 
7 ost ones muc i h. 2ft. ili : 
Shrub. (B. R. 1382.) : TE 
S. Lindleyi (Lindley’s). /l., corolla purplish-violet, twice as long 
as the calyx, pubescent outside, slightly incurved ; whorls many- 
flowered; raceme simple, dense. July. 7. ovate, liin. to 3in. 
wne en + — bog ogy he nage white-woolly be- 
Stachys Salvie (B. R. 1226). ee 
SPHZ;RALCEA (from sphaira, a globe, and Alcea, 
Marsh Mallow; the carpels are disposed in a round head). 
Globe Mallow. Syns. Phymosia, Spheroma. ORD. Mal- 
vacee. A genus comprising about twenty-five species of 
ornamental, stove, greenhouse, or hardy herbs, sub-shrubs, 
