402 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Secale continued. 



hardy, annual, erect grasses, broadly dispersed over the 

 Mediterranean region. Flowers in a dense, terminal spike. 

 Leaves flat. 8. cereale (Rye) as a corn crop in this 

 country is gradually diminishing by the substitution of 

 wheat. 



SECAMONE (altered from Squamona, the Arabic 

 name of 8. cegyptiaca). ORD. Asclepiadecn. A genus 

 comprising about two dozen species of stove, twining 

 or decumbent, much-branched shrubs or sub-shrubs, 

 natives of tropical and South Africa, tropical Asia and 

 Australia, and the Mascarene Islands. Flowers small, 

 often minute ; calyx five-parted ; corolla tube shortly 

 rotate, deeply five-cleft; coronal scales five, shortly or 

 deeply connate with the staminal tube; cymes loosely 

 bi- or trichotomous, or clustered and few-flowered, 

 sessile or shortly pedunculate. Leaves opposite, cori- 

 aceous or membranous, sometimes pellucid-dotted. Three 

 species have been introduced, but they are probably 

 lost to cultivation. 



SECATEUR. An instrument used for pruning, ex- 

 tensively in France, and also, of late, in this country. 

 Secateurs are small, hand pruning - shears ; there are 

 various forms of them made. They can be used much 

 more expeditiously than a pruning- knife for shortening 

 summer shoots, pruning Roses, &c. ; but they do not 

 make a clean cut like a knife. See also Fruning- 

 Knives. 



SECHIUM (said to, be derived from sekos, a pen or 

 fold ; the fruit being sometimes used for fattening hogs 

 in the West India Islands.) SYN. Chayota. ORD. Cucur- 

 bitacece. A monotypio genus. The species is a half-hardy, 

 slightly hispid, climbing, perennial herb. The fruits 

 are commonly employed as an article of food by the 

 natives of the West Indies, being considered extremely 

 wholesome; they are occasionally sent to England in a 

 fresh state, and are sold in our markets under the name 

 of Chayotes. The plant is grown in South Europe 

 and in tropical Africa and America. For culture, see 

 Gourds. 



S. edule (edible). Chaco, Chayota, or Chocho Plant, fl. yellow, 

 monoecious, disposed in elongated racemes, sub-fasciculate, 

 shortly pedicellate ; corolla rotate, deeply five-parted. June. 

 fr. fleshy, about 4in. long, obovoid, oblong, or pear-shaped, 



Stems annual. Root large and fleshy, sometimes weighing 

 nearly 201b., resembling a yam in appearance, and having a 

 similar flavour when cookei h. 6ft. to 12ft. Native country 

 unknown. 1816. (G. C. 1865, 51.) 



SECRETION. Any organic, but unorganised, sub- 

 stance produced in the interior of plants. 



SECTHiE. Cut into small pieces: e.g., the pollen 

 masses of some Orchideoe. 



SECTION. A term generally applied, in classifica- 

 tion, to a division in the arrangement of Bpecies, genera, 

 or other groups. 



SECUND. Turning to one side. 



SECURIDACA (from securis, & hatchet; alluding 

 to the form of the wing at the end of the pod). OBD. 

 Polygaleae. A genus comprising about twenty-five species 

 of stove, often climbing shrubs, mostly natives of the 

 warmer parts of America, but four or five inhabit tropical 

 Asia or Africa. Sepals unequal, the two largest petaloid 

 and wing-like; two lateral sepals adnate to the staminal 

 tube towards the base, erecto-connivent ; keel concave- 

 galeate, erect, or broadly three-lobed; stamens eight; 

 racemes terminal and axillary, often panicled. Leaves 

 alternate, usually entire and biglandular. The two 

 species described below are pretty plants, thriving in 

 a compost of loam, peat, and sand. Propagated readily 

 by cuttings, inserted in sand, under a glass, in heat. 

 S. erecta (erect), fl. red, in dense, panicled racemes ; posterior 



sepals spathulate, blunt ; wings orbicular, equalling the shortly 



Securidaca continued. 



bilobed keel. July. I. lin. to 2in. long, ovate-lanceolate, ovate, 

 or oblong, pointed or blunt, puberulous beneath, h. 10ft. to 15ft. 

 Tropical America, 1824. An erect shrub. 



S. virgata (twiggy), fl. variegated, odorous, distant; corolla 

 yellow ; wings rosy on the outside, white within ; racemes terminal, 

 filiform, drooping. July. I. eight to ten lines in diameter, rounded 

 at both ends or sub-enmrginate ; those of the flowering branch- 

 lets much smaller. West Indies, 1739. A high climber. 



SECURIDACA (of Gartner). A synonym of Securi- 

 gera (which see). 



SECURIGERA (from securis, a hatchet, and gero, to 



bear; referring to the shape of the pods). SYNS. Bona- 



veria, Securidaca (of Gaertner). ORD. Leguminosce. A 



monotypic genus. The species is a hardy annual, only 



requiring to be sown in the open border in spring. 



S.Coronilla(Coronilla-like). Axe- weed ; Hatchet Vetch, /.yellow, 



at the tips of axillary peduncles, nodding ; petals free of the 



staminal tube ; standard sub-orbiculate. July. I. impari-pinnate ; 



leaflets entire ; stipules small, membranous. h. 1ft. South 



Europe, &c., 1562. (S. F. Q. 712, under name of Coronilla Securi- 



dacea.) 



SECURINEGA (from securis, a hatchet, and nego, 

 to refuse ; in reference to the extreme hardness of the 

 wood). Including Geblera. ORD. Euphorbiacece. This 

 genus embraces about eight species of stove, greenhouse, 

 or hardy, branched shrubs, inhabiting temperate and 

 tropical regions. Flowers monoecious or dioscious, apeta- 

 lous, glomerate at the axils ; males small, numerous, sub- 

 sessile; females fewer or solitary. Leaves alternate, 

 entire, often small. Only one species calls for descrip- 

 tion here, and it is doubtful if that is still cultivated. 

 It thrives in any rich, loamy soil. Propagated readily 

 by cuttings of the half-ripened wood, inserted in sand, 

 under a glass, in heat. 



S. Commersoni (Commerson's). A synonym of S. durissima. 

 S. durissima (very hard-wooded). Otaheite Myrtle, fl. white ; 

 males sub-sessile ; females at length somewhat spreading, re- 

 flexed; calyx silky-pubescent. June. I. usually oblong-ovate, 



acute, shortly narrowed into the petioles, h. 35ft. Mauritius, 

 &c., 1793. Stove. This is the Bois dur ' 

 S. Commersoni, S. nitida. 



of the colonists. SYNS. 



S. nitida (shining). A synonym of S. durissima. 



SEDGES. A common name for the Cyperaceae, of 

 which Carex is the principal genus. 



SEDUM (from sedeo, to sit ; alluding to the manner 

 in which the plants fix themselves on rocks and walls). 

 Orpine ; Stonecrop. Including Rhodiola. ORD. Crassu- 

 laceai. A genus comprising about 120 species of mostly 

 hardy, glabrous or glandular-pubescent, fleshy, erect or 



463. INFLORESCENCE OF SEDUM. 



decumbent, sometimes tufted or Musk-like herbs, rarely 

 sub-shrubs, nearly all natives of the temperate and frigid 

 regions 'of the Northern hemisphere; they are rare in 

 America ; one is found in Peru. Flowers white or yellow, 



