AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



479 



Spiranthes continued. 



S. elata (tall), fl. greenish, Jin. long ; lip linear, blunt, entire ; 

 spike elongated, spiral, pubescent, 3in. to Sin. long; scape 

 glabrous, sheathed with clasping-tubular, acuminate scales. July. 

 I. rosulate, elliptic or elliptic-oblong, acute, petiolate, 2in. to 

 6in. long. A. lift, to 2ft. West Indies, 1790. SYNS. Neottia elata 

 (B. M. 2026 ; L. B. C. 343), N. minor (A. B. B. 376). 



S. e. Lindleyana (Lindley's). fl. greenish-white, sub-sessile, in 

 pairs, turned to one side ; lip dilated, and turned down at the 

 apex with lateral, recurved margins. February. I. variegated. 

 Caraccas. This resembles S. bicolor and S. cernua ; from the 

 former it may be distinguished by its much shorter leaves and 

 scape, and from the latter by its broader leaves and blunt lip. 



S. Esmeralda (Esmeralda). /. greenish- white, finally yellowish ; 

 outer perigone oblique, with glandular hairs outside the sepals ; 

 upper sepal ligulate, acute, the lateral ones nearly equal ; petals 

 lanceolate, acute, unequal-sided ; lip oblong, pandurate or ovate, 

 acute, with two conical, retrorse calli at base ; spike spiral, elon- 

 gated, many-flowered, glandular-hairy; scape above lift, high, 

 with many sheaths, t. rosulate, cuneate-oblong, acute, dark 

 green, blotched with white. Brazil, 1862. (Bef. B. 121.) SYN. 

 S. margaritifera. 



S. euphlebia (veined), fl. not numerous, but crowded, horizontal, 

 shortly pedicellate ; perianth white, with red and brown veins on 

 the free portions of the sepals and petals, pubescent externally ; 

 sepals united in a tube iin. long ; petals semi-lanceolate, erect ; 

 scape light greenish-brown. November. I. all radical, 5in. to 

 6in. long, liin. to 2in. broad, linear or obovate-oblong. A. 1ft. to 

 lift. Brazil, 1882. (B. M. 6690.) 



S. grandiflora (large-flowered). A synonym of S. picta grandi- 

 flora. 



S. margaritifera (pearl-bearing). A synonym of S. Esmeralda. 



S. orcnioides (Orchis-like), fl. lurid, puberulous ; sac produced 

 beyond the adnate portion into a bluntly conical, free spur, one- 

 half the length of the ovary ; lip oblong, pointed ; spike Sin. to 

 5in. long. November. I. late in appearing, long, broadly lanceo- 

 late, pointed. A. 2ft. to 3ft West Indies and Mexico to Brazil, 

 1826. SYN. Neottia orchioides (B. M. 1036 ; B. B. 701). 



S. picta (painted), fl. greenish-white or variegated, eight to ten 

 lines long, distant ; sepals and petals linear-oblong, the lateral 

 sepals decurrent; lip included, oblong, channelled below the 

 veiny summit, dilated at base ; spike 4in. to 6in. long, hairy ; 

 scape glabrous below, sheathed with acuminate scales. February. 



I. coetaneous, lanceolate or elliptic-oblong, 4in. to 6in. long, taper- 

 ing into the petioles, h. 1ft. to 2ft. West 

 (B. B. 823, under name of S. cernua.) 



. , 

 Indies, &c., 1843. 



S. p. grandiflora (large-flowered). ^ sepals, petals, and lip 

 greenish within. 1. almost unspotted. Brazil, Guiana. SYNS. 

 S. ffrandiflora (B. B. 1043), Neottia grandiflora (B. M. 2730). 

 S. p. variegata (variegated), ft., sepals, petals, and lip white 

 within. 1. variegated. SYNS. Neottia acaulis (S. E. B. 105), 

 N. picta (B. M. 1562; L. B. C. 214). 



S. Romanzoviana (Count Bomanzov's). fl. white, much larger 

 and broader than in S. cestivalis ; lip tongue-shaped, contracted 

 below the recurved tip, the tubercles at the base smooth and 

 shining; spike 2in. to Sin. long, stout, glandular - pubescent. 

 August ana September. I., radical ones on the flowering stem 

 narrow obovate-lanceolate, Sin. to 6in. long. Stem from 6in. 

 to lOin. high, leafy throughout Europe (Britain), <fcc. Hardy. 

 (G. C. n. s., xvi. p. 465 ; Sy. En. B. 1474, under name of 

 (jemmipara.) 



S. Sauroglossum Oizard-tongued). fl., sepals green, broader 

 towards the apex; upper petal agglutinate, the lateral ones 

 arcuate ; lip white, parallel with the column, linear, channelled, 

 sessile : bracts subulate ; raceme 1ft or more long, dense, 

 cylindrical ; scape nearly 2ft long, sheathed with distant, leafy 

 scales. April. 1. radical, oblong-lanceolate, sub-erect, fleshy, 

 not plicate, one-third the length of the scape. Brazil, 1832. 

 SYN. Sauroglossum elatum (B. B. 1618). As the genus Sauro- 

 glossum is merged into Spiranthes, and the old specific name 

 of plant here described was pre-occupied, it has been necessary 

 to give a new specific name. 



S. Smith!! (Smith's), fl., in one variety, yellow, the lip marked 

 with a few green veins ; in another, brownish, having a yellowish 

 lip striped with green ; peduncle many-flowered. Costa Bica, 

 1868. This plant is allied to S. picta. 



S. Welrli (Weir's), fl. reddish : raceme elongated, furnished with 

 white, cuspidate bracts. I. petiolate, oblong, acute, above dark 

 purple, freely spotted with cream-colour, below purplish. New 

 Grenada, 1870. 



SPIRE LILY. A common name for Oaltonia can- 

 dicans. 



SPIROCONUS. A synonym of Trichodesma 

 (which see). 



SPIRONEMA (from speira, spiral, and nema, a fila- 

 ment ; aUuding to the spirally -twisted bundles of vessels 

 contained in the filaments). OBD. Commelinacece. A mono- 

 typic genus. The species is a robust, creeping or stoloni- 



Spironema continued. 



ferous, store, perennial herb, more curious than beautiful. 



It thrives in any light, rich soil, and may be increased by 



divisions. 



S. fragrans (fragrant), fl. white, small, fragrant, in dense. 

 head-like cymes, sub-sessile or very shortly pedicellate, forming 

 a tall, rigid, few-branched panicle ; sepals and petals sub-equal, 

 distinct ; stamens six, all perfect. May. I. large, oblong- 

 lanceolate, sessile, in slightly-imbricated sheaths. Stem leafy, 

 short, thick. A. 2ft Mexico, 1839. (B. B. 1840, 47.) 



SPIROSTEMON. A synonym of Farsonsia (which 

 see). 



SPITHAMJEUS. A span long. See Span. 

 SPLEENWORT. See Asplenium. 



SPLICE - GRAFTING. Another name for whip 

 or tongue-grafting, the best method of grafting, and 

 one by which plants are very extensively propagated. 

 For details of application, see Grafting. 



SFODO. This term, used in Greek compounds, 

 signifies ash-grey. 



SPONDIAS (an old Greek name, used by Theo- 

 phrastus for the plum, which the fruit of this genus 

 much resembles). Hog Plum ; Otaheite Apple. Including 

 Poupartia. OBD. Anacardiacece. A genus comprising 

 about eight species of stove trees, scattered over the 

 tropics. Flowers small, shortly pedicellate ; calyx small, 

 deciduous, four or five-cleft ; petals four or five, spreading, 

 sub-valvate. Drupea fleshy. Leaves often clustered near 

 the apices of the branchlets, alternate, impari-pinnate ; 

 leaflets opposite, often long- acuminate. A selection of 

 the introduced species is given below. They thrive in 

 a compost of loam and sand. Large cuttings will root 

 in sand or mould, in heat. 



S. borbonica (Bourbon). /. dark -purple, in axillary and ter- 

 minal, compound racemes. I. with numerous entire, acuminated 

 leaflets. A. 40ft. Bourbon and Mauritius, 1825. 



S. dnlcls (sweet). Sweet Otaheite Apple. /. yellowish-green, in 

 a divaricate panicle. June. fr. golden-yellow, with somewhat 

 the flavour of pine-apple. L, leaflets elliptic-oblong, acuminate, 

 repandly crenulated, smooth, with parallel veins. A. 50ft 

 Society Islands, 1793. 



S. Intea (yellow). Golden Apple ; Jamaica Plum. fl. yellowish- 

 white ; racemes panicled, often exceeding the leaves. Summer. 

 fr. yellow, ovoid, 2in. long, with an agreeable, acid, aromatic 

 flavour. I., leaflets three to eight-jugate, petiolnlate, ovate- 

 lanceolate or lanceolate, acuminate, sub-entire or serrulated. 

 A. 30ft. West Indies, 1739. 



S. purpurea (purple), fl. purplish ; racemes lateral, simple, few- 

 flowered, much shorter than the leaves. Summer, fr. yellow, 

 or tinged with purple. I., leaflets eight to ten-jugate, shortly 

 petiolulate, elliptic-oblong, somewhat blunt, usually serrated. 

 A. 30ft. West Indies, 1817. 



SFONDYLOCOCCA. A synonym of Callicarpa. 



SFONGELET and SFONGIOLE (diminutives of 

 Sponge) . Terms formerly much in use to denote the tips 

 of young rootlets, under the mistaken supposition that 

 they absorbed the plant's food from the soil like a 

 sponge. The formation of new cells in roots goes on (in 

 monocotyledonous plants almost entirely, and in Dicoty- 

 ledons to effect increase in length) very near the tip, 

 behind the protecting layer, known as the root-cap or 

 pileorhiza. The newly-formed cells are very small ; and 

 are so closely packed with protoplasm, as to appear 

 very different from the cells in the older part of the 

 root. The latter cells are larger, and more translucent, 

 containing less protoplasm in proportion to their size. 

 The small size of the cells in the tips of the roots, and 

 their abundant contents, rendered it difficult, with the 

 microscopes formerly in use, to make out the struc- 

 ture of this part. It was supposed that they formed 

 a body like a sponge in its power of sucking in fluid 

 from the soil, and the name Spongiole was, therefore, 

 given. It is now known that the root-hairs, and not the 

 tips of the roots, absorb the fluid nourishment that 

 plants take in from the soil. See Sap. 



