SHARP CEDAK. 



tan or dead leaves. The hardy 

 kinds are very suitable for rock- 

 work, and are increased hy suckers 

 from the roots, 



Semeia'xdra. — Onagrdriecb — S. 

 grandiflm'a^ the only species known, 

 is a slender shrub about six feet 

 high, with numerous scarlet flowers. 

 It is nearly allied to the Fuchsia, 

 but its flowers are so long and 

 narrow in their divisions, that they 

 look almost like bright scarlet 

 dragon-flies fluttering among the 

 leaves : the plant is a native of 

 Mexico, and first flowered in this 

 country in the summer of 1853. 



Sexe^cio. — Compositce. — A very 

 extensive genus, including many 

 plants which are quite worthless, 

 such as the Common British weed 

 called Groundsel {S. vulgaris) ; 

 many showy garden-flowers, such as 

 the Jacobffia, or Purple Eagwort 

 (*S'. elegans) ; and even some hot- 

 house and greenhouse shrubs. Of 

 these one of the handsomest garden- 

 flowers is the double purple Jacobtea, 

 which is a native of the Cape of 

 Grood Hope. It differs from the 

 common British Eagwort {S. Ja- 

 cobcea), the flowers of which are 

 yellow, not only in its flowers, but 

 in its habits of growth. The seeds 

 of the purple Jacobtea should be 

 sown on a slight hotbed, and the 

 young plants removed to the open 

 borders in May ; if kept during the 

 winter in a greenhouse, they will 

 become shrubby like Mignonette. 

 The tree groimdsel, *S'. prcecox, has 

 yellow flowers, and large i^y-shaped 

 leaves. All the species of Senecio like 

 a rather rich loamy soil, kept open by 

 a mixtm-e of sand or peat, and 

 most of them are hardy. There 

 are, however, a few Cape shrubs 

 belonging to the genus, which 

 require a greenhouse. According 

 to the new arrangement of the 

 Composite by Professor De Can- 



dolle, nearly the whole of the 

 genus Cineraria has been incor- 

 porated in that of Senecio. — See 



ClNERA^aiA. 



Sensitive Plant. — There are 

 several kinds cultivated in hot- 

 houses, but the most interesting are 

 Mimosa ^nidica, which has small 

 white ball-like flowers, and M. 

 se'iisitiva, with pink or lilac flowers, 

 both of which grow about a foot high, 

 and are natives of Brazil. There 

 is also another kind, a floating aquatic 

 plant, with bright yellow double 

 flowers, a native of the tropics, 

 both in the East and West Indies. 



Shaddock. — See Ci'trus. 



Shading is necessary to plants 

 after transplanting, to prevent the 

 evaporation from the leaves, which 

 takes place when the plants are 

 exposed to the full heat of the sun, 

 being greater than the roots can 

 supply moisture to support. Be- 

 sides this, partial shade is necessaiy 

 to many plants which cannot bear 

 the direct rays of the sun ; such, 

 for example, as the Californian 

 annuals — plants which in their 

 native state grow in thick woods, 

 fens, &c. In these cases, however, 

 it is not necessary that the shade 

 should be so great as for newly- 

 transplanted plants. There is a 

 great deal of difference in plants, 

 with regard to their flowers, bearing 

 the direct rays of the sun. Some 

 require solar influence to make 

 them expand, such as all the kinds 

 of Mesembryanthemum ; while 

 others, such as the Evening Prim- 

 rose, only unfold their flowers when 

 the sun withdraws its rays. Most of 

 the orchideous Epiphytes, which 

 grow in dense woods, succeed best 

 in hothouses glazed with green glass, 

 which affords them the requisite 

 degree of shade. 



Sharp Cedar. — Acacia Oxyce- 

 drus. — See Aca'cia. 



