466 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Spatalla continued. 



to l*in. long. June. I. imbricated, eight to ten lines long, 

 slender, acute, straight or slightly curved ; younger ones (and 

 branches) slightly silky-pilose, h. 2ft. 1806. 

 S. pedunculate (long-peduncled). fl., claw tomentose ; in- 

 volucre sub-campanulate, bilabiate, cano-tomentose, at lengtn 

 glabrescent ; spike solitary, lin. to 2in. long, at length rather 

 foose ; peduncle lin. to l*in. long, with a few adpressed, 

 carinate-subulate bracts. April. L much incurved, nearly lin 

 long, triquetrous-flliform, rather obtuse, much attenuated at 

 base, incurvecl-falcate above ; young ones straight, slightly silky- 

 pilose, h. 2ft. 1822. 



S. prolifera (proliferous), fl., involucre sub-sessile, four-leaved ; 

 nSkesfaesali? conico-capitate, leafy-bracted. July !. erect, or 

 at length spreading, clustered, imbricated, five to eight lines long, 

 slender, straight or scarcely incurved, setaceous-mucronulate ; 

 younger ones (and branchlets) silky. Branches reddish, nearly 

 glabrous. A. 2ft. 1800. 



S. pyrainldalls (pyramidal), fl. yellowish-pubescent; involucre 

 shortly pedicellate, pubescent, four-leaved ; spike lin. to 14m. 

 long, solitary, sessile, erect, oblong-pyramidal, dense, sometimes 

 branched at the base. June. I. much crowded, erecto-patent, 

 six to ten lines long, slender, very acute, straight, at length 

 slightly recurved, slightly pilose. Branchlets umbellate, h. 3ft. 

 1821. 



SPATHACEOUS. Bearing, or having the nature of, 

 a spathe. 



SPATHANTHEUM (from spathe, a spathe, and 

 anthos, a flower; the flowers are seated on the midrib 

 of the spathe). Including Gamochlamys. OED. Aroidece 

 (Aracece). A small genus (two species) of stove, tuberous- 

 rooted perennials; one is found in Bolivia, and the 

 other is a native of Africa. Flowers spread over the 

 whole length of an inappendiculate, semi-cylindrical 

 spadix, adnate to, and shorter than, the spathe, monoe- 

 cious, all perfect; spathe oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, 

 membranous, at length opening, longitudinally nerved 

 and reticulated, persistent; peduncle slender, nearly 

 equalling the leaves. Leaves on long and slender pe- 

 tioles, cordate or sagittate-ovate, entire or pinnatifid- 

 lobed. 8. heterandrum (the only species in cultivation) 

 thrives in a well-drained soil, composed of rich loam 

 and peat. Plenty of water is necessary during the 

 growing season. Propagation may be effected by offsets, 

 or by division of the tubers. 



S. heterandrum (various-anthered). fl., spathe green, fleshy, 

 boat-shaped, acute, 4in. to 5in. long ; spadix half as long as the 

 spathe, adnate through its whole length ; peduncle rather shorter 

 than the petiole, firm, erect, sub-terete. I. cordate-ovate, bright 

 green, glabrous, rather fleshy, 1ft. long, deeply pinnatifid, the 

 divisions acute ; petioles 2ft. long. Bootstock bearing a solitary 

 leaf. Africa, 1876. SYN. Gamochlamys heterandra. 



SPATHE (from spathe, a broad blade; in allusion 

 to its form in most Palm-trees). A large bract, situated 

 on the flower-stalk below the inflorescence, and sur- 

 rounding the latter until the flowers are ready to open. 

 There may be only one bract for each inflorescence 

 (e.g., Narcissus, Arum, &c.) ; but often (in many Palms) 

 there are two or more, the outer ones being smaller and 

 open at the top, and hence called incomplete. Spatb.es 

 vary in texture, from membranous (Narcissus) to leafy 

 (Arum, see Fig. 507, page 463), or fleshy, or woody, as 

 in many of the larger Palms (Cocos, Maximiliana, &c.), 

 in which the part that incloses the flowers may reach a 

 length of over 3ft., and a thickness of over iin. 



SFATHEGASTER. A group of Gall-flies, that form 

 galls on Oak. Most conspicuous of these is the Currant 

 Gall, so common in the early summer on the male cat- 

 kins, and on leaves, of the common Oak, throughout 

 Britain. The experiments of Dr. Adler, and of other 

 entomologists, have, of late years, given grounds for the 

 belief that the insects originally grouped in the genus 

 Spathegaster, are only stages in the development of 

 what were formerly regarded as distinct species of a 

 different genus, Neuroterus, which make galls in autumn, 

 very different from those of Spathegaster in appearance. 

 For an account of what are now believed to be the rela- 

 tions between the insects and galls, see Oak Galls. 



SFATHELIA (from spathe, a Palm-tree; alluding to 

 the similarity of habit). ORD. Simarubece. A genus 

 comprising only three species of tall and showy, stove, 

 evergreen trees, with simple trunks, inhabiting the West 

 Indies. Flowers rather large, shortly pedicellate, dis- 

 posed in ample, terminal, elongated, branched panicles, the 

 ultimate branchlets of which are sub-cymose ; calyx five- 

 parted; petals five, scarcely longer than the calyx, imbri- 

 cated ; stamens five. Leaves alternate, imparipinnate, 

 many-jugate ; leaflets alternate, linear-oblong or sickle- 

 shaped, sub-entire or serrated, the margins gland-bearing. 

 S. simplex, the only species introduced to cultivation, 

 thrives in a compost of learn and peat ; it may be in- 

 creased by ripened cuttings, inserted in sand, under a 

 glass, in heat. 



S. simplex (simple). May Pole, Mountain Green, or Mountain 

 Pride of the West Indies, fl. red ; panicle powdery, spreading, 

 several feet long. April. I. twenty to forty-jugate, puberulous 

 and glabrate beneath, oblong-lanceolate or linear-lanceolate, 

 acuminate, or falcate, crenate or quite entire; leaflets very 

 variable, opposite or alternate, sessile or petiolulate, crenated or 

 entire. Stem slender, resembling that of a palm, 20ft. to 50ft. 

 high. 1778. (B. R. 670.) 



SFATHELLA (a diminutive of spathe). The name 

 given to the numerous small bracts that, on the spadices 

 of Calamus, and allied genera of Palms, replace the one 

 or few large spathes met with among the other Palms. 



SPATHICABiPA (from spathe, a spathe, and karpos, 

 fruit ; the ovaries are seated along the midrib of the 

 spathe). OBD. Aroidece (Aracece). This genus embraces 

 eight species of stove, evergreen, tuberous-rooted herbs, 

 natives of Brazil and Paraguay. Flowers all perfect, the 

 males and females longitudinally disposed in a few series, 

 along the semi-cylindrical, inappendiculate spadix ; spathe 

 oblong - lanceolate, acuminate, membranous, at length 

 opening, convolute at base and apex, persistent ; peduncles 

 slender, exceeding the leaves. Leaves membranous, 

 lanceolate, or hastate- or sagittate-cordate, or hastately 

 trisected ; petioles elongated, long-sheathing. Only a 

 couple of the species have been introduced. These thrive 

 in rich, sandy loam ; they may be multiplied by divisions, 

 or by seeds. 



S. hastifolia (hastate-leaved), fl., spathe greenish, elegantly 

 acuminate ; spadix elongated. I. tripartite ; middle part oblong- 

 ovate, acuminate ; lateral ones oblong or ovate - lanceolate, 

 slightly acute ; petioles twice or thrice as long as the blades. 

 h. 1ft. Minas Geraes. 



S. longicuspis (long-cuspidate). A synonym of S. sagittijolia. 



S. sagittifolia (sagittate-leaved), fl., spathe green, long-decur- 

 rent at base, long or rarely short - cuspidate ; spadix slender, 

 scarcely shorter than the spathe. I. sagittate ; anterior lobe 

 ovate-lanceolate, slightly elongated ; posterior lobe retrorse, 

 spreading, obtuse ; petioles nearly twice as long as the blades. 

 ft. 6in. to 12in. Bahia, 1860. SYN. S. longicuspis. 



S. 8. platyspatha (broad-spathed). fl., spathe dilated towards 

 the apex, shortly cuspidate. I. sagittate, deeply cordate at base. 



SFATHIPHYLIiTJM (from spathe, a spathe, and 

 phyllon, a leaf ; alluding to the leaf-like spathe). In- 

 cluding Amomophyllum and Massovia. ORD. Aroidece 

 (Aracece). A genus embracing about twenty tropical 

 American, and two Malayan, species of almost stem- 

 less, stove, evergreen, perennial herbs. Flowers all 

 fertile, dense ; spathe leaf - like, membranous, oblong 

 or lanceolate, acute, acuminate, or caudate-acuminate, 

 at length broadly expanded, accrescent and persistent ; 

 spadix shorter than the spathe, sessile or stipitate, 

 the stalk sometimes adnate to the spathe, cylindrical. 

 Leaves oblong or lanceolate, acuminate or cuspidate; 

 petioles elongated, long-sheathing, usually geniculate at 

 apex. Several of the species have been introduced, and 

 are here described. Equal parts of leaf mould and peat, 

 mixed with a little loam and small pieces of charcoal, form 

 a suitable compost for Spathiphyllums. They require a 

 moist atmosphere and an abundance of water. Propaga- 

 tion is sometimes effected by seeds, sowh on a hotbed, 

 but chiefly by divisions of the rootstock. " For decorative 

 purposes, some of the smaller species, such as S. candidum, 



