402 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



SCO 



sometimes used to garnish dishes of salads or 

 meats. They may be cultivated in the same 

 manner as Eadishes. 

 Scorpoid, or Scorpoidal. Curved or circinate 

 at the end, like the tail of a scorpion ; as the 

 flower of the Heliotrope. 

 Scorzoiie'ra. Viper's Grass. From scurzon, a 

 viper ; supposed remedy for the bite o^' a viper. 

 Nat. Ord. CompositoB. 



Handsome, hardy perennials, with purple, 

 pink, or yellow flowers. They are indigenous 

 in the south of Europe and temperate paits of 

 Asia. One of the species, S. Hispanica, is 

 grown to some extent as a garden vegetable 

 under the name of Black Oyster Plant. 

 Though a perennial, it should be treated like 

 an annual or biennial, and grown in the same 

 manner as Salsify or Carrots, only the seed 

 should not be sown so early (in ttie latitude 

 of New York, in the middle of May), as the 

 plants have a tendency to "run up " to seed, 

 which renders the roots unfit for use. There 

 are other species under cultivation in their 

 native countries as articles of food, and held 

 in high esteem. 

 Scota'nthiis. A genus of Cucurbitacem, con- 

 sisting of three or four Asiatic herbs, which 

 are procumbent, and have a musky odor. 

 The leaves are roundish, kidney-shaped ; 

 flowers large anil white, and are succeeded by 

 small, red, berry-like, ribbed fruit. Some of 

 the species are grown as ornamental climbers. 

 Scotch Broom. A popular name of Cytisus 



Scoparius. 

 Scotch Fir. See Finns sylvestris. 

 Scotch Kale. See Borecole. 

 Scotch Primrose. A common name for Prim- 

 ula Scotira. 

 Scotch Thistle. The species originally in- 

 tended as the national emblem of Scotland 

 has been the subject of much discussion. Dr. 

 George Johnston, in his " Botany of the East- 

 ern Border," as the result of his inquiries, 

 discards the tale of the bare-footed Dane 

 treading on the Thistle, crying out, and thus 

 alarming the sleeping Scottish Army (see 

 Onopordon) ; the historical evidence being 

 that the Thistle was first used as the badge 

 of Scotland by James IV., on the occasion of 

 - his marriage with Margaret Tudor, daughter 

 of the English King Henry VII. James V., 

 placed it on his coins (1514-1542), and it is also 

 represented on those of James VI. (1599"). 

 Dr. Johnston thus sums up his views on the 

 subject: "This evidence (from history, and the 

 Thistle, as depicted on the coins) seems very 

 much to invalidate the claims of the Onopor- 

 don, 'but to greatly strengthen our belief that 

 Carduus {Silybum) Mariamis was the chosen 

 emblem of the national pride and character, 

 although it must be admitted that the re- 

 semblance between the plant and the picture 

 • of the artist is somewliat postulatory. The 

 bold motto, 'Nemo me impune lacessit ' was 

 the addition of James VI., and C Marianus 

 is almost the only species that would suggest 

 it; but I suspect that the reason for the 

 preference of C. Marianus, 'the Holy Thistle,' 

 ' Our Lady's Thistle,' was the fact of its dedi- 

 cation to the mother of our Saviour, a drop 

 of whose milk (it is said), having fallen on the 

 leaves, imprinted the accident on those white 

 veins which so remarkably distinguish them. 



SCR 



This period was rife in these religious associa- 

 tions and adoptions." 



Dr. Johnston was also informed by an old 

 mason, that initiated gardeners well under- 

 stood the " Milk or Holy Thistle " to be the 

 true plant, and they usually, at their proces- 

 sions, stuck the heads of the latter on the 

 strong spines of the Onopordon. Professor 

 Balfour states that it is found naturalized 

 about the ruins of old castles in whose 

 gardens it was formerly cultivated. 



Mr. J. Smith, ex-Cuiator of Kew Gardens, 

 England, some years ago in reply to an inquiry, 

 wrote as follows: "In preparing 'Domestic 

 Botany ' for the press, I deemed it necessary 

 to apply to the Professor of Scottish History 

 in the University of Edinburgh, who said : 

 ' There was nothing in Scottish history to 

 support the legend of the Dane and the 

 Thistle ;' and, with regard to Onopordon Acan- 

 thium, although it has been naturalized, it is 

 nevertheless rare in Scotland. It is generally 

 cultivated as a curiosity in gardens, where it 

 grows six to eight feet in height, and its 

 numerous hoary branches, terminated by 

 heads of lilac flowers, make it a plant of 

 special note. Cnicits acaulis, which name it 

 has obtained by its flower-heads growing 

 close to the ground, is also known to me as 

 the ' Scotch TJiistle,' and, having sharp spines, 

 it would readily make those who trod upon 

 it, not well shod, cry out, as is said to have 

 been done by the Danish soldiers." 



Mr. Dovaston, in a communication to 

 "Leighton's Flora of Shropshire," states that 

 in a tour of Scotland he asked many persons 

 what Avas the Scotch Tbistle? and found 

 almost as many different opinions, and thus 

 sums up the matter : " For our own part, we 

 do not believe that any particular species of 

 the plant was meant, the leading idea being 

 the self-defending power of the Thistle, as 

 emblematical of the determination of Scotland, 

 though poor, to submit to no injury or 

 offence without retaliation." 



Sco'ttia. Named in honor of R. Scott, M. D., 

 once Professor of Botany in Dublin. Nat. 

 Ord. Leguminosce. 



The only described species, S. dentata and 

 S. angustifolia, are branching, diffuse bushes, 

 with slender stems and opposite, heart- 

 shaped, toothed leaves. The flowers are 

 brick-red, tinged with green, and nearly an 

 inch long, sessile and solitary in the leaf axils. 

 This genus is now included by Bentham and 

 Hooker under Rossicea. 



Screens. Fast growing trees, when planted in 

 a belt or shrubber3% to afford shelter from an 

 unfavorable or exposed quarter, are termed a 

 Screen. Gardens on the sea-coast invariably 

 require shelter from the wind and salt spraj', 

 and this is generally provided for by planting 

 a belt of trees or shrubs that succeed in such 

 a situation (see Sea-side Trees and Plants). 

 The term also denotes any thing grown or 

 erected to hide an unsightly or undesirable 

 object from any particular point, such as from 

 the windows of the house or the principal 

 walks of the gardens or grounds. Tliis may 

 be done effectually by groups of various ever- 

 green trees and shrubs, to break up the uni- 

 formity, or, if only to a moderate height, by 

 lattice or rustic-work, with various creepers 

 or climbing plants trained upon it. Special 



