AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



4G1 



Sopubia continued 



to be the only species introduced to our gardens. It is 

 a handsome perennial, thriving in peaty soil ; it may be 

 increased by cuttings, inserted under a glass, or by seeds. 

 S. delphinifolia (Delphinium-leaved), fl. rose-coloured, sub- 

 sessile; corolla sub-campanulate, lin. to Kin. long, lin. in 

 diameter. July. I. lin. long, pinnatisect ; segments almost as 

 long, few, filiform, flexnous. Stem erect, four-grooved, 3ft. to 

 4ft. high, spotted with purple. India, 1800. STX. Gerardia 

 delphinifolia. 



SORANTHE. A synonym of Sorocephalns (which 

 see\. 



SORBUS. Included under Pyrus (which sec). 

 SORDID. Any dirty .or muddy colour. 

 SOREDIATE. Bearing small patches on the snrface. 

 SCHEMA. A synonym of Nolana (which see). 

 SOREMA. A heap of carpels belonging to the samo 

 flower. 



SORGHUM (said to be from Sorghi, the Indian name). 

 Millet Grass. STN. Blumenbachia (of Koelcr). OBD. 

 Graminece. A genus consisting, according to the authors 

 of the " Genera Plantarnm," of only a couple of species 

 of half-hardy or greenhouse, annual or perennial grasses, 

 inhabiting the warmer parts of the globe, and more or 

 less extending into temperate regions, one being nearly 

 cosmopolitan. Spikelets numerous, ternate, the central 

 one sessile, the lateral ones pedicellate ; panicle terminal, 

 ample, dense or effuse. Leaves flat, often long and broad. 

 S. rulgare (Indian Millet) has been tried in England as 

 a general crop, but the climate has been found too cold 

 and damp for the proper ripening of its seeds ; the plant 

 is frequently grown in botanic gardens, but has no interest 

 from a horticultural point of view. It is extensively 

 cultivated as an article of food in warmer countries. 

 S. halepense is a handsome, hardy species, thriving in 

 ordinary garden soil. Increased by seeds, or by divisions. 



S. halepense (Aleppan). fl. purplish ; panicle 3in. to 12in. or 

 more lung, loose ;tnd often much branched. 1. Ions and flat, 

 often rather broad, the midrib usually white and prominent. 

 Stems erect, 2ft. to 10ft. high, the nodes glabrous. Mediterranean 

 region, Ac. 



SORINDEIA (said to be the native name in Mada- 

 gascar). ORD. Anacardiacea:. A genus comprising about 

 half-a-dozen species of small, stove, glabrous trees, natives 

 of tropical Africa, Java, and Madagascar. Flowers purple 

 or yellow, small ; calyx cup-shaped, five-toothed ; petals 

 five, rarely more, valvate ; stamens in hermaphrodite 

 flowers, five, in males ten to twenty; panicles terminal, 

 branched, bracteate, sparse-flowered. Drupes compressed, 

 one-seeded. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate ; leaflets 

 entire, S. madagascariensis is the only species intro- 

 duced. Its fruits have been described as " of a pleasant, 

 sweet-sour, mango taste, but acrid also. These groups 

 grow in a remarkable and interesting way, not only from 

 the branches, but chiefly from the main trunk of the 

 tree, looking as if they were air-roots with fruit upon 

 them, or like parasites. There may be 200 of the 

 tempting fruits hanging in great bunches, 2ft. in length." 

 For culture, see Anacardium. 



S. madagascariensis (Madagascar), fl. purple, small, in 

 axillary racemes. May. 1. on woody petioles. A. 10ft. Mada- 

 gascar, 1828. 



SOROCEFUAIiTJS (from soros, a heap, and Icephale, 

 a head ; alluding to the clustered heads of flowers). STN. 

 Soranthe. OBD. Proteacece. A genus embracing about 

 ten species of greenhouse, erect or rarely diffuse, Heath- 

 like, densely leafy shrubs, confined to South Africa. 

 Flowers in small heads, clustered in corymbose or 

 capitate spikes ; perianth slender, the limb globose or 

 oblong. Leaves scattered, clustered, or nearly imbricated, 

 lanceolate or narrow, sometimes subulate, entire, or the 

 lower ones dissected. A selection of the best-known 

 species is here given. Some of them should be seen in 

 every collection. For culture, see Frotea. 



S or oceplialus continued. 



S. diversifolins (variable-leaved), fl. purple ; heads aa large as 

 a small plum, solitary, sessile, ovate, obtuse. June I spathu 

 late-lanceolate, smooth, glabrous; lowest ones 2in. "long, trifid- 

 bipmnatifld, channelled ; upper ones iin. long, undivided im- 

 bricated, slightly obtuse, sub-concave. Stem slender nearlv 

 simple, pubescent above. A. 2ft. to 6ft 1803. 



S. imbricatus (imbricated), /f. lilac, four to five lines long the 

 lamina bearded ; heads sub-ovate, as large as a plum, often' two 

 or three aggregate ; peduncle scarcely iin. long. June. I. im- 

 bricated, oblong - lanceolate, acute, inflexed - mucronulate, at 

 length somewhat spreading, four to five lines long, scabrous- 

 dotted on the back. Branches slightly pilose, at length glabrous. 

 h. 3ft. 1791. An elegant shrub. SYN. Protea imbrieata (A. B. R. 

 517;. 



S. lanatns (woolly), fl. purple, plumose-bearded, in heads as 

 large as a hazel-nut ; involucre five to seven-leaved, coloured ; 

 peduncle short, with or nearly without bracts. August I. im- 

 bricated, subulate-linear, four to eight lines lorn*, channelled 

 above, obtusely carinate at back, or rounded, slightly scabrous- 

 dotted, pilose-ciliated. Branches slightly pilose. A. 2ft 1790. 



S. setacens (bristly), fl. purple, the claw rather loosely tomen- 

 tose, the lamina bearded ; heads varying in size between a cherry 

 and a plum ; spike sessile, ovate. July. /. bristly, slender, 

 smooth, lin. to lUn. long, mticronate, and, a-s well as the 

 branchlets, pubescent Branches straight, slightly tomentose. 



SOROMANES. Included under Acrostichum 



(which see). 



SOROSE. Heaped, or bearing sori. 



SOROSIS. A fleshy mass formed by the consolidation 

 of numerous flowers, seed-vessels and their receptacles : 

 e.g., Bread-fruit. Mulberry, Pineapple. 



SORREL (Rnmex). Two or three species of Rumex 

 are cultivated in gardens under the name of Sorrel; the 

 common species (R. Acetosa) is a native of Britain. All 

 are hardy perennials. Their leaves are used in salads 

 and culinary preparations, and as a substitute for Spinach. 

 Any kind of Sorrel succeeds best in a rather deep soil 

 and moist situation. Plants may be raised from seeds, sown 

 in drills about loin, apart, in autumn or spring; or by 

 dividing the rootstocks in March and April. When the 



Fi'o. 502. SORREL. 



seedlings are about Sin. high, thin them out to 12in. 

 apart, and keep the ground occasionally hoed between 

 afterwards. A plantation will last three or four years. 

 Some leaves may be gathered for use in about two 

 months from the time of seed-sowing. Besides the com- 

 mon species, R. Acetosa of which there are numerous 

 forms that have received distinctive names, indeed several 

 have been described as species by continental botanists 

 there is the French Sorrel (R. sctttatu-g), which has 

 leaves more acid. , This latter is distributed throughout 

 Europe, but is not trnly native in Britain ; it is, however, 

 naturalised in many places in the British Isles. 



SORREL-TREE. See Ozydeudron arboreum. 



SORROWrUL - TREE. A common name for 

 Nyctanthes arbor-tristis. 



