S T A 



554 



STE 



remain entire, it will rise in height, and 

 the whole head will assume a more up- 

 right and lofty stature. In both methods 

 the heads will afterwards naturally 

 branch out abundantly, and furnish 

 themselves sufficiently with bearing 

 wood, producing fruit in two or three 

 years from the grafting or budding; suf- 

 fering them generally to take their own 

 growth, without shortening, and very i 

 little other pruning, except the regu- 

 lating any great irregularities. 



Half Standards are trees trained with 



a very unfounded idea, that by steeping 

 seeds in certain solutions the vigour and 

 fecundity of the plants to which they 

 give birth might be promoted. A cer- 

 tain degree of heat, oxygen gas, and 

 water, are all the requisites for germi- 

 nation, — and until this process has com- 

 menced, no liquid but water at common 

 temperatures will pass through the in- 

 teguments of a seed. So soon as germi- 

 nation has commenced, this power to 

 exclude foreign fluids ceases, but the 

 organs starting into activity — the radicle 



short stems only three or four feet high, and the plumule — are so delicate, that 

 then siiifered to branch out at that height I the weakest saline solutions are too 

 to form heads; having low heads the acrid and offensive for them. So utter- 

 fruit is more easily gathered. Concave ly incapable are the infant roots of im- 

 dwarfshave the middle hollow, and the hibing such solutions, that at first they 

 branches all round in a cup form. Hori- are absolutely dependent, themselves, 



zontal dwarfs, having tlie branches ex- 

 tended all round in a flat or horizontal 

 position, but the concave dwarf is in 

 most esteem. — Abercrombie. 



STAN HOPE A. Eleven species. 

 Stove orchids. Division. Peat and pot- 

 sherds. 



ST A'NLF.Y A pinnatifida. Hardy her- 

 baceous perennial. Division or seeds. 

 Vegetable mould. 



STAPELIA. Thirty-three species. 

 Green-house and stove evergreen shrubi 



for their very existence upon the seed- 

 leaves, and if these are removed the 

 plant either makes no further advance, 

 or altogether perishes. IMany years 

 since I tried various menstrua to facili- 

 tate the germination of seeds, but, with 

 the exception of those which promoted 

 the decomposition of water, and the 

 consequent more abundant evolution of 

 oxygen, I found none of any efficiency. 

 As to keeping the seeds in saline solu- 

 tions until they germinated, I never, 



partly dried cuttings. Sandy loam and certainly, carried the experiments so far 



as that, and I shall be most astonished 

 if any other effect than injury or death 

 to the plant is the consequence. Such 

 has been the result in the Horticultural 

 Society's gardens, where the seeds of 

 Centaurea calci- Lupinus Hartwegii were made to ger- 

 minate in a weak solution of phosphate 

 of ammonia. — Johnson's Gardeners' Al- 

 manack. 



STENACTIS speciosa. Hardy herb- 

 aceous perennial. Division or seeds. 



brick or lime rubbish. 



STAR APPLE. ChrysaphyUum. 



STARFISH. Stapelia asterias. 



STAR OF BETHLEHEM. Ornitho 

 galum . 



STAR THISTLE 

 trapa. 



STARVVORT. Aster. 



STATICE. Sea Lavender. Sixty- 

 four species. The hardy herbaceous 

 perennials increase by division or seeds 



The green-ho.use and half-hardy species Common soi 



by cuttings. Annuals and biennials by 

 seeds. Sandy loam and peat. 



STEXANTHERA pinifolia. Green- 

 house evergreen shrub. Cuttings. Very 



S. Arbor ea, a green-house evergreen sandy peat and loam. 



shrub. 



STEXIA pallida. Stove epiphyte. 



" When practicable, this plant should Division. Wood, with a little moss on 

 be turned out in the border of a con- the roots. 



servatory. It may, however, be grown : STEXOCARPUS saUgnus. Green- 

 to great perfection in a pot, if the roots house evergreen shrub. Ripe cuttings. 



Sandy loam and peat. 



S T E X C H I L U S. Five species. 

 Green-house evergreen shrubs. Cut- 

 tings. Sandy loam and peat. 



STENOMESSOX. Three species. 

 Stove or green-house bulbous peren- 

 nials. Offsets. Sandy loam. 



STEPHANIA cleomoides. Stove ever- 



are allowed plenty of room. 



"The soil should consist of equal 

 parts of turfy loam and peat, or vegeta- 

 ble mould." — Gard. Chron. 



STAUROCANTHUS aphyllus. Hardy 

 evergreen shrub. Young cuttings or 

 seeds. Peat and loam. 



STEEPING. See Germination. It is 



