AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 479. 
Spiranthes—continued. 
S. elata (tall). f. greenish, jin. long; lip linear, blunt, entire ; 
spike elongated, spiral, pubescent, Jin. to 8in. long; scape 
brous, sheathed with clasping-tubular, acuminate scales. July. 
H rosulate, elliptic or elliptic-oblong, acute, petiolate, 2in. to 
bin. long. h. 14ft. to 2ft. est Indies, 1790. SYNS. Neottia elata 
(B. M. 2026; L. B. C. 343), N. minor (A. B. R. 376). 
S. e. Lindleyana (Lindley’s). Jf. greenish-white, sub-sessile, in 
pairs, turned to 
apex with lateral, recurved margins. February. l. variegated. 
Caraccas. This resembles S. bicolor and S, cernua; from the 
former it may be distinguished by its much shorter leaves and 
. scape, and from the latter by its broader leaves and blunt lip. 
S. Esmeralda (Esmeralda). fl. greenish-white, finally yellowish ; 
outer perigone oblique, with glandular hairs outside the sepals ; 
upper sepal ligulate, acute, the lateral ones nearly equal; petals 
lanceolate, acute, unequal-sided ; lip oblong, pandurate or ovate, 
acute, with two conical, retrorse calli at base ; spike spiral, elon- 
gated, many-flowered, ee es scape above Lift. high, 
with many sheaths, J. rosulate, cuneate-oblong, acute, dark 
green, blotched with white. Brazil, 1862. (Ref. B. 121.) Syn. 
S. margaritifera. 
S. euphlebia (veined). ji. not numerous, but crowded, horizontal, 
shortly pedicellate ; perianth white, with red and brown veins on 
the free portions of the sepals and petals, pubescent externally ; 
sepals united in a tube sin. long; petals semi-lanceolate, erect; 
scape light greenish-brown. November. 1. all radical, 5in. to 
6in. long, 1lżin. to 2in. broad, linear or obovate-oblong. h. 1ft,,to 
lift. Brazil, 1882. (B. M. 6690.) 
p anay (large-towered). A synonym of S. picta grandi- 
ord, 
S. margaritifera (pearl-bearing). A synonym of S. Esmeralda. 
S. orchioides (Orchis-like). jl. lurid, puberulous ; sac produced 
beyond the adnate portion into a bluntly conical, free spur, one- 
alf the length of the ovary; lip oblong, pointed ; spike din. to 
Sin. long. November. J. late in appearing, long, broadly lanceo- 
late, pointed. h. 2ft. to 3ft. West Indies and Mexico to Brazil, 
1 SyN. Neottia orchioides (B.:M. 1036 ; B. R. 701). 
S. picta (painted). fl. greenish-white or variegated, eight to ten | 
lines long, distant ; sepals and petals linear-oblong, the lateral 
sepals decurrent; lip included, oblong, channelled below the 
veiny summit, dilated at base; spike 4in. to 6in. long hairy ; 
scape glabrous below, sheathed with acuminate scales. February. 
l. coetaneous, lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, 4in. to 6in. long, taper- 
ing into the petioles. h. lft. to 2ft. West Indies, &c., 1843, 
(B. R. 823, under name of S. cernua.) 
5. p. diflora (large-flowered). fi., sepals, petals, a 
greenish within. 7. almost unspotted. Brazil, Guiana. SYNS. 
S. grandiflora (B. R. 1043), Neottia grandifiora (B. M. 2730). 
S. variegata (variegated). f., sepals, petals, and lip white 
witi i. h peee tod.. SYNS. Neottia acaulis (S. E. 105), 
N. picta (B. M. 1562; L. B. C. 214). 
S. Romanzoviana (Count Romanzov’s). fi. white, much larger 
and broader than in S. estivalis; lip tongue-shaped, contracted 
below the recurved tip, the tubercles at the base smooth and 
shining; spike 2in. to 3in. long, stout, glandular - pubescent, 
August and September. l., radical ones on the flowering stem 
narrow obovate-lanceolate, Jin. to 6in. long. Stem from 6in. 
to 10in. high, leafy throughout. Europe (Britain), &c. Hardy. 
(G. CO. un. k xvi. D. ; Sy. En. B. 1474, under name of 
S. gemmipara.) 
S. Sauroglossum (lizard-tongued). fl., sepals green, broader 
towards the aj Rigen date petal agglutinate, the lateral ones 
arcuate ; lip ohio. parallel with the column, linear, channelled, 
sessile; bracts subulate; raceme lft. or more long, dense, 
cylindrical ; scape nearly 2ft. long, sheathed with distant, leafy 
scales, April. 7. radical, oblong-lanceolate, sub-erect, fleshy, 
not plicate, one-third the length of the scape. Brazil, 1832. 
SYN. Sawroglossum elatum (B. R. 1618). As the genus Sauro- 
glossum is merged into Spiranthes, and the old specific name 
of plant here described was pre-occupied, it has been necessary 
to give a new specific name. 
S. Smithii (Smith’s). ., in one variety, yellow, the lip marked 
With a few green veins; in another, brownish, having a yellowish 
li Sie with green; peduncle many-flowered. Costa Rica, 
žy . plant is allied to S. picta. 
Weirii (Weir's). /l. reddish ;-raceme elongated, furnished with 
white, cuipiinte, utig l. petiolate, oblong, acute, above dark 
purple, freel tted with cream-colour, below purplish. New 
Grenada, 1870." j 
SPIRE LILY. A common name for Galtonia can- 
dicans. 
S. A synonym of Trichodesma 
(which see). 
SPIRONEMA (from speira, spiral, and nema, a fila- 
ment; alluding to the spirally-twisted bundles of vessels 
contained in the filaments). ORD. Commelinacee. A mono- 
typie genus. The species is a robust, creeping or stoloni- 
ne side; lip dilated, and turned down at the - 
nd lip 
Spironema—continued. 
ferous, stove, perennial herb, more curious than beautiful. 
It thrives in any light, rich soil, and may be increased by 
divisions. ; 
fragrans (fragrant). fl. white, small, fi nt, in dense. 
head-like cymes, sub-sessile or very shortly pe icellate, forming 
a tall, rigid, few-branched panicle ; sepals and petals sub-equal, 
distinct ; stamens six, all perfect. May. l large, oblong- 
lanceolate, sessile, in slightly-imbricated sheaths. Ba leafy, 
short, thick. h. 2ft. Mexico, 1839. (B. R. 1840, 47.) 
SPIROSTEMON. A synonym of Parsonsia (which 
see). $ 
SPITHAMÆUS. A span long. See Span. 
SPLEENWORT. See Asplenium. 
SPLICE - GRAFTING. Another name for whip 
or tongue-grafting, the best method of grafting, and 
one by which plants are very extensively propagated. 
For details of application, see Grafting. 
SPODO. This term, used in Greek compounds, 
signifies ash-grey. 
SPONDIAS (an old Greek name, used by Theo- 
phrastus for the plum, which the fruit of this genus 
much resembles). Hog Plum; Otaheite Apple. Including 
Poupartia. ORD. Anacardiacee. A genus comprising 
about eight species of stove trees, scattered over the 
tropics. Flowers small, shortly pedicellate ; calyx small, 
deciduous, four or five-cleft; petals four or five, spreading, 
sub-valvate. 
the apices of the branchlets, alternate; impari-pinnate ; 
leaflets opposite, often long-acuminate. A selection of 
the introduced species is given below. They thrive in 
a compost of loam and sand. Large cuttings will root 
in sand or mould, in heat. 
S. borbonica (Bourbon). fl. dark-purple, in axillary and ter- 
minal, compound racemes. l. with numerous entire, acuminated 
leaflets. h. 40ft. Bourbon and Mauritius, 1826. 
S. dulcis (sweet). Sweet Otaheite Apple. È yellowish-green, in 
a divaricate panicle. June. fr. golden-yellow, with somewhat 
the flavour of pine-apple. l., leaflets elliptic-oblong, acuminate, 
repandly crenulated, smooth, with parallel veins. A. 50ft. 
Society Islands, 1 
S. lutea (yellow). Golden Apple; Jamaica Plum. f. yellowish- 
white ; pesky panicled, en exceeding the leaves. 7 else 
jr. yellow, ovoid, 2in. long, with an agreeable, acid, 
flavour. l, leafiets three to eight-jugate, petiolulat 
lanceolate or lanceolate, acuminate, sub-enti 
h. 30ft. West Indies, 1739. 
urple), jf. purplish ; racemes 
pT a a 
tin, wi urple. l, e -j sho 
vd ara elliptic obion, , somewhat blunt, eo os pete g 
. 50ft. West Indies, 1817. . 
SPONDYLOCOCCA. A synonym of Callicarpa. 
SPONGELET and SPONGIOLE (diminutives of. 
Sponge). Terms formerly much in use to denote the tips 
of young rootlets, under the mistaken supposition that 
_they absorbed the plant’s food from the soil like a 
sponge. The formation of new cells in roots goes on (in 
monocotyledonous plants almost entirely, ʻ'and in Dicoty- 
ledons to effect increase in length) very near the tip, 
behind the protecting layer, known as the root-cap or 
pileorhiza. The newly-formed cells are very small; and 
are so closely packed with protoplasm, as to appear 
very different from the cells in the older part of the 
root, The latter cells are larger, and more translucent, 
containing less protoplasm in proportion to their size. 
The small size of the cells in the tips of the roots, and 
their abundant contents, rendered it difficult, with the 
microscopes formerly in use, to make out the ‘struc- 
ture of this part. 
a body like a sponge in its power of sucking in fluid 
from the soil, and the name Spongiole was, therefore, 
given. Itis now known that the root-hairs, and not the 
tips of the roots, absorb the fiuid nourishment that 
plants take in from the soil. See Sap. 
Drupes fleshy. Leaves often clustered near — 
. 
It was supposed that they formed | 
