SEAFORTHIA 



SECHIUM 



1635 



SEAFORTHIA (Francis Lord Seaforth). PalmAcew. 

 Seaforthia elegans is a name familiar to every gardener 

 who has room in his conservatory for tall specimen 

 palms. Twenty years ago this palm was grown to a 

 greater extent in smaller sizes and for a greater variety 

 of purposes, but it has been superseded for such uses by 

 the Kentias [Howea Belmoreana and Forsteriana ) . Sea- 

 forthia eJegans is often called the Australian Feather 



Palm. Whether more 

 than one thing is cul- 

 tivated under this 

 name is doubtful. 



According to Flora 

 Australiensis 7:141 

 (1878) the proper 

 name of Seaf6rfhia 

 eli'gaiis, R. Br., is 

 Ftycli03p6rma ele- 

 gans, Blume. It is 

 variously described 

 as a low or very tall 

 palm : Ivs. attaining 

 several feet; seg- 

 ments numerous, more or 

 less toothed or irregularly 

 jagged at the end. Prob- 

 ably the plants cult, as 

 S. elegans are Archonto- 

 phoenix Cunninghamii . 



For S. robusia, see Wio- 

 palostylis. ^ Hj_ 



SEA GRAPE. Coccoloba 

 nvifera. 



SEA HOLLY. Uryngiiim. 



SEA-KALE {Cranibe mari- 

 fima, Linn.) is a large-leaved, 

 strong, cruciferous perennial, 

 the young shoots of which are 

 eaten in the spring, usually 

 after having been blanched. 

 The plant is little known in 

 North America, but it is worthy 

 of general cultivation in the home gar- 

 den, for it supplies an esculent of good 

 quality at a season when vegetables 

 are scarce. Sea-kale demands a deep, 

 rich and rather moist soil, in order to 

 give the best results and to maintain 

 its vigor for a series of years. The 

 plants require about as much room as 

 rhubarb; that is, they should stand 

 from 3 to 4 feet apart each way. The 

 culture and general requirements are 

 much the same as for rhubarb. The 

 young shoots are blanched as they 

 grow, in early spring. The blanching 

 is accomplished by heaping line, loose 

 earth over the crown of the plant, 

 into which the shoots grow, or by cov- 

 ering the plant with an inverted box or 

 flower pot so that the light is excluded 

 from the growing shoots. These shoots 

 are eaten before the leaves have begun 

 to expand to any extent, and whilst 

 they are crisp and tender. The vege- 

 table is prepared in the same manner 

 as asparagiis. 



Sea-kale is propagated by root cuttings, and also by 

 seeds. Quicker results are secured from cuttings. If 

 strong cuttings, 4 or 5 inches long, are taken in early 

 spring and grown in strong and rather moist soil, the 

 plants may be strong enough for cutting the following 

 spring; but it is usually better not to cut them until 

 two years from starting. The cuttings may be placed 

 where the plants are to stand permanently, or they may 

 be grown in drills in a seed-bed. The latterplan is usu- 

 ally to be preferred, since it allows the plants to receive 

 better care. Seeds give plants that are strong enough 

 for cutting about the third year. The seeds are 

 really fruits or pods, and each fruit may produce 



2280. 

 Head of Rye. 



Natural size. 



two or three plants. Usually the fruits are sown 

 without shelling. The seedlings are raised in the seed- 

 bed and transplanted when one year old to permanent 

 quarters. On good soil, plants of Sea-kale should main- 

 tain their vigor for five to eight years after they have 

 come to cutting age. As soon as they begin to show 

 signs of decline, new plants should be propagated. 

 Although the plant is hardy in the northern states, it is 

 always benefited by a liberal dressing of litter or ma- 

 nure in the fall. Plants may be forced in hotbeds or 

 under the greenhouse benches, as recommended for 

 rhubarb. Sea-kale has large, glaucous, cabbage-like 

 leaves which make it a striking plant for ornament 

 early in the season. It also throws up a strong cluster 

 bearing many rather showy white flowers. However, 

 the plant is rarely propagated for its ornamental value. 

 Sea-kale grows wild on the seacoasts of southwestern 

 Europe. l. H. B. 



SEA LAVENDER. Statice. 



SEA ONION. Urginea maritima; also applied to 



Ornithogalum caudatnm. 



SEA PINK. Armeria. 

 SEASIDE GRAPE. Coccoloba. 

 SEASON VINE. Cisstis sicyoides. 

 SEA-URCHIN CACTUS. EcUnopsis. 



SECALE (the ancient Latin name, said to be derived 

 from seco, to cut; according to some, applied to spelt). 

 Graminece. Species 2, S. fragile, an annual of southern 

 Russia, and S. cereale, the cultivated Rye, which, ac- 

 cording to Hackel, is derived from the perennial, S. 

 montanum, native in the mountains of southern Europe 

 and central Asia. Spikelets with 2 perfect fls. sessile 

 on opposite sides of a zigzag rachis, forming a terminal 

 spike, empty glumes subulate and 1-nerved, by which 

 characters the genus differs from Triticum^ in which 

 the empty glumes are ovate and 3-nerved. 



cered,le, Linn. Rye. Fig. 2280. A tall annual com- 

 monly cultivated in Europe, less so in this country, as a 

 cereal. Also cultivated here for annual pasture. Fl.- 

 glume long-awned. Much more commonly grown in New 

 York and New England than westward. 



A. S. Hitchcock. 



S£GHIUM (by some said to be derived from Sicyos, 

 with which the genus was once united, by others to have 

 come from the Greek sekos, a "fold," because swine are 

 fed on it). Cucurbitdcecf. One very odd tendril-climb- 

 ing vine, probably native to the West Indies and adja- 

 cent South America. This species, S. 6dule, Swartz, 

 Fig. 2281, is known under a variety of names, asChocho, 

 Chuchu, Chow-Chow, Chayotte, Cahiota, Pepinella. The 

 vine itself, with herbaceous annual stems, is useful for 

 covering arbors in warm countries. The root becomes 

 a large corky tuber, sometimes weighing 20 lbs., and is 

 edible. The fruit is irregularly ribbed, 3-6 in. long (Fig. 

 2281, from nature), and edible. Sechium belongs to that 

 group of the CucurbitacefB which comprises 1-seeded 

 fruits. The single flat seed is 1-2 in. long (shown in 

 upper specimen in Fig. 2281), and attached at the 

 upper end of the cavity. It is not removed from the 

 fruit, but the entire fruit is planted. Because seeds 

 are not to be had separate, the notion has arisen that 

 the fruit is seedless. Sometimes germination begins 

 before the fruit drops from the vine. The fruit is 

 variously ribbed and lobed, varying from pale green to 

 cream-colored and white, according to varietj', the sur- 

 face shining and somewhat spiny. In tropical coun- 

 tries the fruit is cooked for eating, much as squash 

 is served with lis. Some persons prefer the roots to 

 yams. Sechium ednle is a common commodity in the 

 West Indies, and the fruits are not rare in northern 

 markets. It is also grown to some extent in Florida and 

 southern California. In northern countries, the plant 

 makes a strong vine in one season but does not bear. 

 The plant has little ornamental value. 



In Sechium the fls. are monoecious. The staminate 

 are in short, long-stalked axillary clusters; the pistil- 



