S M Y 



SOL 



be sown in pots filled with fine mould in the 

 spring, being plunged in a hot-bed to forward 

 their coming up : when the plants have attained 

 some growth they should be planted put and 

 managed as the others. 



The two !a*i tender sorts may be increased 

 bv layers of the young shoots, and dividing the 

 rootsj which should be laid down, or planted 

 out in the spring season in pots, in order to 

 have the culture of other woody green-house 

 plants of the same nature 



The lavers will be ready to take off in the 

 Spring following. 



The first sorts ?re proper for shady situations, 

 borders, &c. and the latter afford variety in the 

 green -house collections. 



SMYRNIUM, a genus containing a plant of 

 the herbaceous esculent kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Penlandria 

 Digynia, and ranks in the natural order of Urn- 

 leflalce or Umbelliferce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is an uni- 

 versal umbel, unequal, becoming daily bigger : 

 partial erect : the involucre universal none : 

 partial none : perianth proper scarcely apparent : 

 the corolla is universal uniform : flpscules of the 

 disk abortive : proper of five lanceolate petals, 

 slightly bent-in, keeled : the stamina have five 

 simple filaments, length of the corolla: anthers 

 simple: the pistillum is an inferior germ : styles 

 two, simple : stigmas two, simple : there is no 

 pericarpium : fruit oblong, striated, bipartile: the 

 seeds two, lunulate, on one side convex, marked 

 with three angles, flat on the other. 



The species cultivated is S. Olusalrum, Com- 

 mon Alexanders. 



It has a biennial root, fleshy, branched : the 

 whole herb of a pale bright green, often of a 

 sickly yellowish cast, smooth, succulent, in fla- 

 vour something like Celery, but more strong and 

 bitter: the stem round, strong, deeply grooved : 

 the upper leaves ternate, lower triternate; leaf- 

 lets wide, varying in form, gashed and serrate, 

 subpetiolcd : the common petiole dilated at the 

 base, ventricose, and nerved : umbels terminat- 

 ing, globular, many-rayed : the flowers small, 

 numerous, irregular, greenish yellow : the fruit 

 large, black, remarkably gibbous, deeply grooved. 

 It is a native of France, Spain, Italy, See. 



Culture. — These plants are raised from seeds, 

 which should be sown in the spring in any light 

 soil and open situation, in shallow drills, fifteen 

 or eighteen inches asunder; and when the plants 

 are come up two or three inches high, be thin- 

 ned out to six or eight inches distance in the 

 rows, to give them room to shoot up strong ; 

 when earth must be drawn up about them gra- 

 dually, in order to blanch or whiten them a 

 little below, that they may be more crisp and 



tender for autumn and winter use ; but as in 

 the spring following they shoot out again vigo- 

 rously, some earth should be hoed up close about 

 each plant, and in three or four weeks they will 

 be blanched fit for use. 



It is used as a culinary plant, when blanched, 

 in the same manner as celery, and is of a warm 

 aromatic quality. 



SOIL, the mould or earth in which plants 

 grow. For the general purposes of gardening, 

 those of the dry, light, friable, loamy kinds are 

 the most valuable, especially when they have 

 been well impregnated and enriched with ma- 

 nure. See Earth, Compost, and Manure. 



SNAIL-FLOWER. See Phaseolus. 



SNAIL-TREFOIL. See Medicago. 



SNAKE-GOURD. See Tricosanthks. 



SNAP-DRAGON. See Antirrhinum. 



SNAP-TREE. See Justicia. 



SNOWBALL-TREE. See Viburnum. 



SNOWBERRY. See Chiococca. 



SNOWDROP. See Galanthus. 



SNOWDROP-TREE. See Chionantiius. 



SOAP-BERRY. See Sapindus.. 



SOAPWORT. See Saponaria. 



SOLANUM, a genus containing plants of 

 the herbaceous, shrubby, and tuberous-rooted,^ 

 esculent kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Penlandria 

 Monogynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Luridce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianth, half-five-cleft, erect, acute, per- 

 manent: the corolla is one-petalled, wheel- 

 shaped : tube very short : border large, half- 

 five-cleft, from reflex flat, plaited : the stamina 

 have five awl-shaped filaments, very small : an- 

 thers oblong, converging, subcoalescent, opening 

 at the top by two pores : the pistillum is a 

 roundish germ : style filiform, longer than the 

 stamens: stigma blunt: the pericarpium is a 

 roundish berry, smooth, dotted at the top, two- 

 celled ; with a convex fleshy receptacle on each 

 side : the seeds very many, roundish, nestling. 



The species cultivated are : ) . S. Lycopersi- 

 cum, Love-Apple, or Tomato ; 2. S. JEthivpi- 

 cum, Ethiopian Nightshade ; 3. S. Melongena, 

 Large-fruited Nightshade, or Egg Plant; 4. S. 

 Dulcamara, Woody Nightshade, or Bitter-sweet j 

 .">. S. verbascifolium, Mullein-leaved Nightshade; 

 6. S. Pseudo-Capsicum, Shrubby Nightshade, or 

 Winter Cherry ; 7. S. quercijblium, Oak-leaved 

 Nightshade; 8. S. ■mummosum, Dug-fruited 

 Nightshade; 9. S. Indicum, Indian Nightshade; 

 \o7S. Carol inense, Carolina Nightshade; U.S. 

 sodomeum, Black-spined Nightshade; 12. S. 

 sanctum, Palestine Nightshade; 13. S. tubero- 

 sum, Tuberous-rooted Nightshade, or Common 

 Potatoe. 



