SCOLYMUS 



SCROPHULARIA 



1633 



SCOLYMUS (old Greek name used by Hesiod). Com- 

 pdsitw. iScolijmus Ilispanlcus (Fig. 2279) is the vege- 

 table knowu as Golden Thistle or Spanish Oyster Plant. 

 It makes a root much like salsify, except that it is much 

 lighter colored and considerably longer. Its flavor is 

 less pronounced than that of salsify, but when carefully 

 cooked, it possesses a very agreeable quality which is 

 somewhat intermediate between that of salsify and pars- 

 nip. It is adapted to ail the methods of cooking em- 

 ployed for those vegetables. The particular value of the 

 Spanish Oyster Plant, aside from alVording a variety in 

 the kitchen garden, is its large n'v/.e and productiveness 

 as compared with salsify. The product may be nearly 

 twice as great, for a given area, as for salsify. The 

 seeds are much easier to handle and sow than those 

 of salsify. They are sown in March or April. The 

 seeds, or rather akenes, are flat and yellowish, sur- 

 rounded by a white scarious margin. The roots can be 

 dug either in fall or spring. The greatest fault of the 

 Spanish Oyster Plant lies in the prickly character of 

 the leaves, which makes the plant uncomfortable to 

 handle. The roots are often 10-12 in. long and 1 in. 

 thick. It is said that the leaves and stalks are eaten 

 like cardoons by the people of Salamanca; also that the 

 flowers are used to adulterate saffron. 



Scolymus Hispanicus, Linn., is a biennial plant na- 

 tive to southern Europe. The radical Ivs. are very 

 spiny, oblong, pinnatifid, dark green variegated with 

 pale green spots. The plant grows 2-2}^ ft. high, is 

 much branched and bears bright yellow flower-heads, 



2278. Scirpus cernuus (X 3^). 

 Known to gardeners as Isolepis gracilis. 



which are sessile and contain only 2 or 3 fls., all of which 

 are ligulate. The heads are sessile, terminal and axil- 

 lary. 



Scolymus contains 4 species, all natives of the Medi- 

 terranean region. S. grandifJorus, a perennial species, 

 is rarely cult, abroad for its fls., and S. maculatus, an 

 annual species, for its variegated foliage, l. jj, jj. 



SCORPION GRASS. See Myosotis. 



SCORPI&RUS. See Caterpillars and Worms. 



SCORZONflRA (old French scorzon, serpent; ,S. His- 

 paiiica was used against snake-bites). Compdsitw. The 

 vegetable known as Scorzonera or Black Salsify is a 

 plant with a long, fleshy tap-root like that of salsify, 

 but differing in having a black skin. The flesh, how- 

 ever, is white. It is cultivated and cooked like salsify, 

 but being somewhat 

 more difficult to raise 

 it is rarer than that 

 vegetable, although 

 considered by many to 

 be superior to it in fla- 

 vor. The leaves may be 

 used for salads. Scor- 

 zonera is a perennial 

 plant, but it is treated 

 in cultivation as an an- 

 nual or biennial crop. 



Botanically, also, 

 Scorzonera is closely 

 allied to salsify. The 

 two vegetables are eas- 

 ily distinguished in 

 root, leaf, flower and 

 seed. The Ivs. of Scor- 

 zonera are broader, the 

 fls. are yellow (those 

 of salsify being vio- 

 let), and the seeds are 

 white. Also, the in- 

 volucral bracts of Scor- 

 zonera are in many 

 series; of salsify, in 1 

 series. The genus 

 Scorzonera is a large 

 one— over 100 species, 

 all natives of the Old 

 World. Perennial 

 herbs, or rarely an- 

 nual, floccose, lanate 

 or hirsute: Ivs. some- 

 times entire and grass- 

 like, or wider, some- 

 times more or less 

 pinnately lobed or dis- 

 sected: heads long- 

 peduncled, yellow, the fls. all radiate: akenes glabrous 

 or villous. Cult, same as salsify. 



Hispilnica, Linn. Scorzonera. Black Salsify. 

 Perennial herb 2 ft. high: stem much branched: Ivs. 

 clasping, lanceolate, undulate, glabrous: heads solitary 

 at the ends of the branches. Spain. -^y^ ]y[_ 



SCOTANTHTTS. See Gymnopetalum. 



SCOTCH BROOM. Cytisus seoparins. 



SCOTCH PINE. Pinus sylvestris. 



SCOURING-RUSH. Equisetum. 



SCREW BEAN. Prosopis pubescens. 



SCREW PINE. Pandanus. 



SCROPHULARIA (a reputed remedy for scrofula). 

 Scrophulariilce<e. Figwort. A genus of about 100 spe- 

 cies, mostly native of Europe, and of very little horti- 

 cultural value. They are mostly perennial, tall-growing 

 herbs, with usually large opposite leaves and small, 

 often dull-colored flowers in a terminal thyrse in mid- 

 or late summer. Corolla short; the tube globular or 

 oblong, ventricose; lobes 5, unequal, 1 reflexed or 

 spreading, the others erect; stamens 4, the sterile sta- 

 men represented by a scale on the throat of the corolla: 

 seeds numerous. 



noddsa, Linn., var. Marilindica, Gray. A tall-grow- 

 ing, hardy perennial herb, usually 5 ft. high, often more, 

 with large, dark green, ovate acuminate Ivs. and small, 

 dull purplish or greenish fls. in a nearly naked, open, 

 thyrse. Throughout the United States. 



2279. Spanish Salsify, or Golden 

 Thistle— Scolymus Hispanicus. 



