AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



429 



SPL 



than handsome, with large, oblong-lanceolate 

 leaves and erect, leafless, almost rush-like, 

 flowering stems, having the small, fragrant 

 flowers clustered along the rigid branches in 

 the axils of chaffy scales. It is a native of 

 Mexico, introduced to cultivation in 1839. 



Spleenwort. See Asplenium. 



Spo'ndias. Hog Plum. The Greek name for 

 a kind of plum ; the fruit resembles a plum. 

 Nat. Ord. Anacardiacece. 



A genus of evergreen trees common in the 

 tropics of both hemispheres, chiefly interest- 

 ing for their fruits. S. lutea yields an eat- 

 able fruit, called Hog Plum in the West In- 

 dies. The taste is said to be peculiar and 

 not very agreeable to strangers. They are 

 chiefly used to fatten swine. S. dulcis, a na- 

 tive of the Society Islands, yields a fruit the 

 flavor of which is compared to that of the 

 Pineapple. The flower buds of S. Mombin are 

 used as a sweetmeat with sugar. Several of 

 the species are esteemed for their medicinal 

 properties, and one or two are cultivated as 

 ornamental plants. 



Sponge Gourd. See Luffa. 



Sponge Tree. Acacia Famesiana. 



Sponge Wood, u^schynomene aspera. 



Spongiole, Spongelet. A term used to denote 

 the young, tender extremity of a root, by 

 which it was generally supposed fluid food is 

 absorbed from the earth. It is now under- 

 stood that the root-hairs, and not the tips of 

 the roots, absorb the fluid nourishment that 

 plants take in from the soil. 



Spoon Flcwrer. The genus Labisia. 



Spoon "Wood. A local name for Kalmia lati- 



folia. 

 Spoon-'wort. The genus Cochlearia. 



Sporangium and Sporange. From spora, a 

 seed, and aggeion, a vessel; the latter word is 

 sounded as if spelled angeion. Terms used 

 to denote the small vessels or cases in which 

 the spores of Ferns are produced on the backs 

 of the fronds, in tlie little brown dots called 

 sori. 



Spore, Sporule. The reproductive body in 

 cryptogamous plants, analogous to the seed 

 of phsenogamous plants. 



Spore Case. The immediate covering of the 

 spores of cryptogams. 



Sport. A bud or seed variation. 



Spotted Cowbane. See Cicuta viaculata. 



Spotted Wintergreen. See Chimaphila macu- 

 lata. 



Spra'guea. Named after Isaac Spragtie, an 

 American botanical draughtsman. Nat. Ord. 

 Porlulacacece. 



S. umbellata, the only species, is a beautiful 

 little annual, or biennial, according to the 

 treatment given it ; from California, allied to 

 Claytonia. The leaves are all radical, and 

 somewhat succulent ; the flowers are densely 

 imbricate in spikes, several of which form a 

 dense umbel on a leafless scape, the large 

 sepals giving it an elegant and singular 

 aspect. It is readily grown from seed. In- 

 troduced 1859. 



Spreading. Having a gradually outward di- 

 rection, as petals from the ovary. 



SQU 



Spreke'lia. Named after Dr. Sprekel, a Ger- 

 man botanist. Nat. Ord. AmaryUidacecB. 



S. forinosissima, commonly known as 

 Amaryllis formosissima, or Jacobtean Lily, 

 the only described species of this genus, is 

 a bulbous plant, with splendid dark scarlet 

 flowers. It is called Jacobsean on account of 

 the brilliant scarlet of its flowers, which the 

 Spaniards in Peru thought resembled the 

 scarlet swords worn by the knights of the or- 

 der of St. James (Jacobteus). These bulbs 

 succeed well planted in the open border in 

 May. They produce their flowers in June, 

 and the bulbs ripen off by fall, when they 

 should be taken up and dried with the tops 

 on, and stored in a dry room free from frost, 

 until time for planting out again. They are 

 desirable for pot culture, or for growing in 

 glasses like Hyacinths, requiring the same 

 culture, and are increased by offsets. They 

 are natives of Guatemala, and were intro- 

 duced in 1658. 



Spring Beauty. A local name for Claytonia, 

 which see. 



Spring Bell. A common name for Sisyrin- 

 chium grandiflorum. 



Spring Sno^vflake. See Leucqjum vemum. 



Spruce. The popular name of the genus Abies, 

 which see. 



Spru'cea. Named after Mr. Spruce, who dis- 

 covered the plant on the shores of the Ama- 

 zon, near the mouth of the Rio Negro. Nat. 

 Ord. Rubiacece. 



A handsome, tall, bushy shrub, bearing large, 

 yellowish, cream-colored flowers, in dense 

 terminal panicles, with a fine scent of vanilla. 

 It is seldom found in cultivation. 



Spur. A hollow tubular extension of some part 

 of a flower, usually nectariferous ; as in the 

 calyx of the Larkspur and the corolla of the 

 Violet. 



Spurge. The genus Euphorbia. 



Spurge Laurel. Daphne Laureola. 



Spurge Nettle. A common name for Jatropha 

 urens. 



Spurge Olive. A popular name for Daphne 

 Mezereum. 



Spurred Butterfly Pea. See Centrosema. 



Spurred Gentian. Halenia deflexa. 



Spurrey. The genus Spergula. 



Squamate, Squamose. Scaly; covered with 

 small, scale-like leaves. 



Squarrose. When bodies are rough with 

 spreading and projecting processes. Imbri- 

 cated bracts, scales, or leaves are said to be 

 Squarrose when their tips are pointed and 

 very spreading or recurved. 



Squash. {Cucurbita melopepo.) The historj' of 

 the Squash is more obscure than that of any 

 other vegetable of equal importance in the 

 garden. It was found in cultivation by the 

 Indians on the Island of Nantucket by the 

 earliest settlers ; there was, however, but one 

 kind, the small, warted Pumpkin. From this 

 peculiar variety the common Field Pumpkin 

 is supposed to have originated. Several vari- 

 eties have been introduced from South Amer- 

 ica, and among them the Mammoth Squash 

 from Valparaiso, the seed of which was sent 

 here by Commodore Perry. Several other of 

 our best sorts have been received from there 



