416 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Semeiandra continued. 



comprising only two species of slender, pubescent, green- 

 house, evergreen shrubs, inhabiting the mountains of 

 Mexico. Flowers scarlet, showy, axillary, solitary, 

 pedunculate ; calyx coloured, four-lobed, globose at base ; 

 petals four, small, linear-subulate; stamens two, one 

 ending in a petal-like expansion, the other with two 

 perfect cells. Leaves usually opposite, petiolate, oblong- 

 lanceolate serrated, membranous. One of the species 

 has been introduced. It requires culture similar to 

 Fuchsia (which see). 



S erandlflora (large-flowered), fl. large and handsome ; calyx 

 tObe funnel-shaped, the limb cut into four very long-linear acu- 

 minate .segments, of which three are reflexed and the fourth is 

 Sect- petals four, linear-subulate. Spring. 1. ovate or ovate- 

 lanceolate, tapering below, acuminate at the apex, penmvemed. 

 h. 6ft. Mexico, 1853. (B. M. 4727.) 



SEMELE (the name of the mother of Bacchus, after 

 whom the genus was named). STN. Amphion. OBD. 

 Liliaceo). A monotypic genus. The species is an orna- 

 mental, greenhouse, evergreen, climbing shrub, thriving 

 in any rich soil. It may be multiplied by division of 

 the roots. 



S. androgyna (hermaphrodite). JL small, fascicled, six to twenty 

 in an umbel ; perianth greenish-white, with a very short tube and 

 ovate lobes ; umbels solitary or few, produced from the sides or 

 rarely from the face, of the cladodes. April. Cladodes leaf-like, 

 alternate or scattered, solitary at the axils of small, fuscous- 

 membranous scales, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, cori- 

 aceous, with many slender nerves. Stem branched. Canary 

 Islands, 1713. SVN. Ruscus androgynus (B. M. 1898, 3029). 

 SEMI. This term, used in Latin compounds, signi- 

 fies half; e.g., Semi-amplexicaul, half-clasping a stem; 

 Semi-hastate, hastate on one side only. 



SEMI-LUNAR, SEMI-LUNATE. Eesembling 

 a half-moon. The same as Lunate. 

 SEMINAL. Pertaining to seed. 

 SEMINIFEROUS. Seed-bearing. 

 SEMFERVIRENS, SEMFERVIRENT. Ever- 

 green. 



SEMFERVIVUM (the old Latin name used by 

 Pliny, and derived from semper -vivo, to live for ever; 

 alluding to the well-known tenacity of the species). 

 House Leek. Including JZonium and Oreenovia. OED. 

 Crassulacece. A genus comprising fifty or more species 

 of greenhouse or hardy, thick, fleshy herbs or sub- 

 shrubs, of variable habit, often stemless, and emitting 

 young plants from the axils, sometimes caulescent and 

 leafy ; they inhabit the mountains of Central and Southern 

 Europe, Madeira, the Canary Islands, Asia Minor, Nubia, 

 Abyssinia, and the Western Himalayas. Flowers white, 

 pink, greenish, yellow, or purplish, in paniculate, often 

 dense cymes ; calyx cut or parted into six or numerous 

 segments, rarely five-cleft; petals six or numerous, free, 

 or connate at base, and adhering to the filaments, oblong 

 or lanceolate, acute or acuminate ; stamens twice as many, 

 or rarely the same number, as the petals, free ; filaments 

 filiform. Leaves alternate, thickly fleshy, often revolute. 

 8. tectorum is found growing on walls and houses in 

 Britain, but it is not indigenous. Sempervivums succeed 

 in any sandy soil, and may be readily propagated from 

 seeds, or by the young plants which appear round old 

 ones at the base. All the hardy species are admirably 

 adapted for planting on rockwork ; and the greenhouse 

 ones, S. tabulceforme, for instance, are valuable for succu- 

 lent and carpet bedding during summer. 



Mr. J. G. Baker's admirable classification of the hardy 

 species in cultivation (published in the " Gardeners' 

 Chronicle," n. s., vol. xii.) is appended. By its help, 

 the names of any of the hardy species here described 

 may be readily determined. Mr. Baker says that the 

 following eleven forms " cannot be regarded as more 

 than varieties or sub-species belonging to one variable 

 specific type": S. arvernense, 8. atlanticum, 8. Bois- 

 sieri, 8. Boutignyanum, 8. calcaratum, 8. calcareum, 



Sempervivum continued. 



S. glaucum, 8. Lamottei, 8. Schottii, 8. tectorum, and 

 8. triste. 



Sub-genus I. Sempervivum proper. 



Parts of the flowers usually in twelves. Open flower bell-shaped. 



RHODANTHA. Flowers reddish. 



Group 1. dliata. Leaves of the barren rosette glabrous on the 

 face when mature, shortly ciliated on the edges only. 



Leaves large, green or slightly glaucous, with a conspicuous, 

 red-brown tip: S. arvernense, S. Boissieri, S. Boutigny. 

 anum, S. calcaratum, S. tectorum. 



Leaves large, green or glaucous ; red-brown tip none or very 

 obscure : S. atlanticum, S. glaucum, S. Lamottei, S. Schottii. 

 Leaves large, purplish-brown throughout : S. triste. 

 Leaves large, very glaucous, with a distinct red-brown tip : 



S. calcareum. 

 Leaves small, green, with a distinct red-brown tip : S. parvu- 



lum. 

 Leaves small, glaucous, with a distinct red-brown tip: 



S. Greenii. 

 Leaves small, green ; red-brown tip none or very obscure : 



S. Funckii, S.Vertoti. 



Group 2. Pubescentia. Leaves of the barren rosette pubescent on 

 the face, as well as ciliated on the edges, not tipped with a tuft 

 of spreading hairs. , 



Flower small ; stamens two-thirds as long as the petals : 



S. assimile. 

 Flower large ; stamens half as long as the petals : S. ano- 



malum, S.flagelliforme, S. montanum. 



Group 3. Barbatula. Leaves of the barren rosette strongly ciliated 

 on the edges, and furnished with a tuft of short, straight hairs 

 at the tip. 



Moderately tall : S. Faueonneti, S. fimbriatum, S. Pomelii. 

 Dwarf : S. barbatulum. 



Group 4. Arachnoidea. Dwarf species, with the tips of the inner 

 leaves of the rosette connected by fine, fleecy threads, like a 

 spider's web. 



Arachnoid threads many : S. arachnoideum, S. Moygridgei. 

 Arachnoid threads few : S. Doellianum, S. oligotrichum. 



CHRYSANTHA. Flowers yellow. 



Leaves obovate-cuneate, glabrous on the face : S. Wulfeni. 

 Leaves obovate-cuneate, hairy on the face : S. Braunii, S. grandi- 



fiorum, S. ruthenicum. 

 Leaves oblanceolate, very hairy on the face : S. Pittoni. 



Sub-genus II. Diopogon. 



Parts of the flower usually in sixes. Flowers always yellowish. 

 Expanded flower spreading widely. 



Flowers small ; petals not flmbriated on the edge and keel : 



S. Heu/elii, S. Rectince-Amalice. 



Flowers large ; petals fimbriated on the edge and keel. 

 New rosettes rolled up into round balls : S. arenarium, 



S. soboliferum, 

 New rosettes not rolled up into round balls : S. hirtum. 



The best-known species are described below. Except 



where otherwise stated, they are hardy perennials. 



S. aizoldes (Aizoon-like). ft. yellow, corymbose ; petals five to 

 eight, spreading. May to July. 1. scattered, obovate, flat, quite 

 entire, glabrous. Stem erect, branched, h. 1ft. Madeira. Green- 

 house, evergreen shrub. 



S. anomalum (anomalous). Jl. four to eight in a dense head, 

 all sessile or sub-sessile ; corolla bright mauve-purple, lin. in 

 diameter, very hairy on the outside. June. I. thirty to forty to 

 a rosette, oblanceolate, cuspidate, green, with pubescent faces, 

 hairy-edged, the outer ones only tinted with red-brown, |in. 

 to 4in. long. Flowering stem Sin. to 4in. long, its leaves hairy 

 all over and tinted with red-brown, the lowest iin. to fin. long. 

 Barren rosettes not exceeding lin. in diameter. A garden 

 species. 



S. arachnoideum (cobwebby).* ft. nine to twelve-parted, less 

 than lin. in diameter ; petals bright red, lanceolate ; filaments 

 bright purple ; panicle dense, few-flowered, clothed with slightly 

 fragrant, glandular hairs. June. I. about fifty to a rosette, 

 oblong-cuneate, obscurely cuspidate, minutely glandular-pubes- 

 cent above, the tips connected by long, soft, white hairs ; outer 

 leaves reddish-brown at back, |in. long. Flowering stem Sin. to 

 4in. long, its leaves furnished at tips with tufts of soft hairs. 

 Barren rosettes iin. to fin. in diameter. Pyrenees and Central 

 Europe, 1699. (B. M. 68 ; J. F. A. (App.) 42.) 



S. a. Laggeri (logger's).* A large variety, having fully-developed 

 rosettes 1 Jin. in diameter. See Fig. 474. 



S. arboreum (arborescent), fl. golden-yellow, disposed in a loose 

 panicle; petals nine to eleven. March to December. I. cunei- 

 form, glabrous, ciliated, spreading, and rosulate at the tops of 

 the branches. Stem arborescent, smooth, branched, h. 3ft. to 

 6ft. Portugal, &c., 1640. Greenhouse, evergreen shrub. (B. R. 

 99; S. F. G. 473.) 



S. a. atropurpnreum (dark purple). I. blackish-purple. A 

 very effective variety when grown in a sunny position. 



