AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



423 



Serapias - continued. 



one extending as far as the Azores. Flowers often 

 rather large, few in a spike; sepals erect, connivent or 

 coherent in a tube ; petals sometimes smaller, sometimes 

 scarcely shorter, but much narrower ; lip three-lobed, the 

 lateral lobes erect, the middle one tongue-shaped and 

 pendulous. Leaves narrow. Tubers undivided. In habit 

 the species much resemble those of Orchis (which see 

 for culture). 



S. cordigera (heart-bearing).* Heart-flowered Orchis, fl. brown 

 and lavender ; lateral segments of the lip obtuse, erect, con- 

 nivent ; middle one longer, ovate, often cordate at base, acumi- 

 nate, the disk pilose, the basilar callus deeply bilobed ; bracts 

 often longer than the flowers ; spike at first crowded, h. 1ft 

 South Europe, 1806. (A. B. B. 475 ; B. M. 5868A ; S. F. G. 

 932.) 



S. Lingua (tongue-lipped). Tongue-flowered Orchis, fl. reddish- 

 brown ; lateral segments of the lip ovate, obtuse ; middle one 

 longer and narrower, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate : basilar callus 

 obscure, sulcate or flat ; bracts shorter than the flowers ; spike 

 at first loose, h. 1ft. South Europe, 1786. (B. M. 5868 B ; 

 H. E. F. Ill ; L. B. C. 655; S. F. G. 931.) The variety luteola 

 has yellowish and purplish flowers. 



S. papilionacea-lingua (a natural hybrid between Orchis pa- 

 pilionacea and S. Lingua), fl. five or six to a spike ; sepals and 

 petals pale green and pale purple, veined ; petals erect, free, 

 broad, spreading, and recurved ; lip bright purple, large, broadly 

 cordate, the margins crenulate, the base with two tubercles on 

 the very short claw. I. narrow-lanceolate, acuminate, pale green, 

 unspotted. Stem 1ft. or more high. South of France, 1876. 

 (B. M. 6255.) 



SERENOA (named in honour of Sereno Watson, 

 a distinguished North American botanist). ORD. 

 Palmce. A monotypic genus. The species is a handsome, 

 greenhouse, dwarf, unarmed, tufted Palm, closely allied 

 to Sabal (which see for culture). 



S. serrulata (serrulated).* Saw Palmetto, fl., petals scarcely 

 united ; style slender ; spadix densely tomentose, much shorter 

 than the leaves. June. fr. black, eight to nine lines long. I. 2ft. 

 to 4ft. high, circular in outline, fan-shaped, bright green ; divi- 

 sions fifteen to thirty, erect, slightly cleft at the apex, and with- 

 out thread-like filaments in the sinuses ; petioles plano-convex, 

 slender, more or less spiny-edged, longer than the leaves. Stem 

 4ft. to 8ft. long, creeping, branching. Southern United States, 

 1840. SYN. Sabal serrulata. 



SERIAL, SERIATE. Disposed in rows or series. 



SERIANA. A synonym of Serjania (which see). 



SERICEOUS. Silky ; covered with closely-pressed, 

 soft, straight pubescence. 



SERICOCARFUS (from serikos, silken, and Ttarpos, 

 a fruit; alluding to the silky hairs on the achenes). 

 White-topped Aster. ORD. Composites. A genus com- 

 prising five species of hardy, erect, perennial herbs, 

 natives of North America. Flower -heads mediocre or 

 small, corymbose or paniculate ; involucral bracts rather 

 broad, in many series ; ray florets white ; disk pale yellow, 

 rarely changing to purplish ; achenes silky-pilose ; pappus 

 bristles copious. Leaves alternate, sessile, entire or ser- 

 rated. For culture of the under-mentioned species, see 

 Aster (under which they are erroneously classed in 

 some garden works). 

 S. conyzoides (Conyza-like). Silk Fruit. fl..heads sometimes 



solitary and pedicellate, but usually sessile 



small clusters ; 

 ferruginous. June to 

 i, veiny, rather firm, lin. to 



involucre somewhat turbir 



August. 1. ciliated, glabrous ber 



Sin long. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1778. 

 S. solidagineus (Solidago-like). ft.-heads small, glomerate at 



the extremities of the fastigiate peduncles ; involucre cylindrical ; 



pappus white. July to September. I. linear-oblanceolate or linear, 



obtuse, tapering to the base, entire, with serrulate - scabrous 



margins, obscurely dotted, h. 2ft. 1699. 



SERICOGR APHIS. Included under Jacobinia 

 (which see). 



SERINGIA (named in honour of Nicholas Charles 

 Seringe, 1776-1858, Professor and Director of the 

 Botanical Gardens at Lyons). SYN. Gaya. ORD. Stercu- 

 liacece. A monotypic genus. The species is an interest- 

 ing, greenhouse, evergreen shrub, somewhat resembling a 

 Commersonia in habit. A compost of sand, loam, and 

 peat is most suitable to its culture. Propagation may 



Seringia continued. 



be effected by young cuttings, inserted in similar soil, 



under a glass; or by seeds. 



S. platyphylla (broad-leaved), fl. white, disposed in dense, ter- 

 minal or leaf-opposed cymes, which are much shorter than the 

 leaves ; calyx about Jin. long ; petals none ; stamens five, alter- 

 nating with the calyx lobes. June. (. ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, coarsely toothed, Sin. to 4in. or even 5in. long, often 

 oblique at base, glabrous or sprinkled with minute, stellate hairs 

 above, densely tomentose beneath. Branches loosely whitish- or 

 rusty-tomentose. h. 10ft. Australia, 1822. 



SERINGIA (of Sprengel). A synonym of Ptelidium 



(which see). 



SERIPHIUM. Included under Stcebe (which see). 

 SERISSA (a name altered from the old Greek Seris, 

 used by Dioscorides). SYNS. Democritea, Dysoda. ORD. 

 Rubiacece. A monotypic genus. The species is a pretty, 

 greenhouse, branched shrub, highly glabrous or with 

 pubernlous branchlets, the bark foetid. It succeeds best 

 in a mixture of loam, peat, and sand. Propagation may 

 be effected by cuttings, inserted in sand, under a glass, 

 in heat. 



S. fcetida (stinking). /. white, axillary or terminal, solitary or 

 fascicled ; calyx tube obconical, the limb four to six-parted, per- 

 sistent ; corolla funnel-shaped, pilose within the throat, the limb 

 of four to six short, obtusely three-lobed, erecto-patent lobes. 

 Summer. I. rather small, opposite, sub-sessile, often fascicled on 

 shortened branchlets, sub-coriaceous, ovate, acuminate, nerved. 

 h. 2ft. India, China, Japan, &c., 1787. (B. M. 361, under name 

 of Lycium japonicum.) There is a variety with double flowers (a 

 rare occurrence in this order), and another with gold-margined 

 leaves (I. H. ser. i. 369). 



SERJANIA (named in honour of Paul Serjeant, a 

 French friar and botanist). SYN. Seriana. ORD. 

 SapindacecB. A large genus (about sixty species) of 

 stove, climbing or twining shrubs, all natives of tropical 

 and sub-tropical South America. Flowers yellowish; 

 sepals five (or four and two of them connate), imbri- 

 cated, concave ; petals four ; racemes or panicles axil- 

 lary, often bearing two tendrils. Leaves alternate, ex- 

 stipulate (or with minute stipules), ternate, biternate, or 

 impari- pinnate, often pellucid-dotted. A few of the 

 species have been introduced, but they boast of no 

 particular beauty, and are probably only cultivated in 

 botanical gardens. 



SERPENT CUCUMBER. See Trichosanth.es 

 anguina. 



SERPENT WITHE. S,e Aristolochia odora- 

 tissima. 



SERPENT- WOOD. See Rauwolfia serpentina. 



SERFICULA (from serpo, to creep; alluding to the 

 habit of the species). SYN. Laurembergia. ORD. Halo- 

 ragece. A genus comprising from two to four species of 

 small, greenhouse, decumbent or creeping, branched herbs, 

 inhabiting marshes in the warmer parts of Asia, Africa, 

 and America. Flowers minute, usually fasciculate. Leaves 

 opposite and alternate, sub-sessile, linear or lanceolate, 

 entire or toothed. S. repens, a native of South Africa, 

 the only species introduced, is now probably lost to 

 cultivation. 



SERPTLLOFSIS. Included under Trichomanes. 



SERRATE, SERRATED. Beset with antrorse 

 teeth. 



SERRATULA (from serrula, a little saw ; alluding 

 to the serrated foliage). Saw-wort. ORD. Compositce. A 

 genus comprising about thirty species of hardy, perennial 

 herbs, natives of Europe, North Africa, and Asia. Flower- 

 heads purplish, violet, or rarely white, solitary or 

 corymbose ; involucral bracts many, imbricated, the outer 

 ones shorter, the inner ones more or less scarious at the 

 tips ; receptacle densely bristly ; florets regular, five- 

 lobed ; pappus hairs many-seriate, coloured. Leaves alter- 

 nate, toothed or lyrate-pinnatifid. The genus is repre- 

 sented in Britain by S. tinctoria, the herbage of which 



