SELECT LISTS OF PLANTS. 297 



tings the plants axe far better supplied with small fibrous roots, which 

 are readily preserved in the digging and transplanting. The method of 

 propagating the different species of Uttbus by root cuttings is the same 

 as described for Eoses and other similar hardy plants, but the roots of 

 some of the varieties grow much more freely than others. The orna- 

 mental varieties, especially those cultivatad under glass, are readily 

 propagated by green cuttings taken off close to the old wood, or with a 

 heel, and planted in sand in a close frame. 



Salisburia (Ginkgo, Maidenhair Tree). A large, hardy, deciduous 

 ornamental tree from Japan and China. It belongs to the Taxaccce or 

 Yew Family, and is the only representative of the genus. The pistillate 

 and staminate flowers are on different trees, the pistillate flowers solitary ; 

 fruit drupe-like, with a large nut-like seed. Although introduced more 

 than a century ago (1784), the Ginkgo is still far from being a common 

 tree in this country. Propagated by seeds imported mostly from oriental 

 countries, by layers, and cuttings of the young shoots taken off with a 

 heel in midsummer, or of the ripened twigs in autumn, and planted in 

 frames in a greenhouse. Varieties are propagate:! by the same modes, 

 or by grafting in the open air early in spring, or under glass in August. 



Salix (Willow, Osier). An immense genus of widely distributed trees 

 and shrubs, all thriving best in moist soils and swamps. The larger 

 number are so readily propagated by cuttings that other modes are 

 seldom practised, except to produce small, weeping trees, by budding or 

 grafting the small, low-growing species on stocks of those of an upright 

 habit. (See Stocks, Chapter XVIII.) 



Sassafras. A well-known native deciduous tree of the Laurel Fam- 

 ily, with very fragrant foliage, and roots with thick, yellow, spicy bark. 

 A handsome tree, but produces suckers far too freely for admission into 

 cultivated grounds. Readily propagated by seed and cuttings of the 

 roots. The species is S. officinale, and, in some works, Laurus Sassafras. 



Sambucus (Elder). A small genus of deciduous shrubs and a few 

 herbaceous plants. The shrubby species propagated by seeds, cuttings, 

 and layers, and the herbaceous by division of the roots. The shrubby 

 species usually increase far too rapidly by suckers, and often become a 

 nuisance in grounds of limited extent. 



Sciadopitys (Umbrella Pine). A rare coniferous evergreen tree 

 from the mountains of Japan, where it grows from pne hundred to ono 

 hundred and fifty feet high. A very distinct and hardy conifer, but 

 apparently of rather slow growth. Usually propagated by seeds imported 

 from Japan, but the seedlings make an exceedingly slow growth, at 

 least during the first half dozen years. Cuttings of the half-ripened 

 shoots, taken off in summer and planted under glass, strike root quite 

 readily; and where one has good stock plants to supply the cuttings 

 this is the most expeditious mode of propagation. 



Sequoia (Great Tree of California, Etc.) A genus of two species 

 of coniferous evergreen trees both native of California. One species, the 



