1640 



SEDUM 



SEEDAGE 



the tips: cymes 3-7-branched, umbellate: buds 5-6- 

 angled: lis. pinkish white, Vi in. across. July. Central 

 and southern Europe. — Readily distinguished by having 

 the floral parts in 6's. 



32. brevifdlium, DC. Glaucous: Ivs. in 4 rows, a 

 tenth of an inch long, pinkish, densely covered with a 

 mealy pubescence: fls. 34 in. across; petals white, with 

 pink midrib; anthers pink. Western Mediterranean 

 region. — Manning says it grows 4 in. high and blooms 

 in July and August. Said to be exceptionally sensitive 

 to superfluous moisture at the root. 



33. Lydium, Boiss. Glabrous, 3-6 in. high: Ivs. V^ in. 

 long, linear, greenish or red-tipped, auricled at base and 

 with numerous pimples at tip when seen with a lens: 

 buds 5-angular: fls. one-tenth in. across, pinkish; an- 

 thers reddish. Aug., Sept. Asia Minor. — Var. aiireum, 

 Hort., was offered by John Saul in 1893. 



34. Alburn, Linn. Glabrous, 4-6 in. high: Ivs. alter- 

 nate, Kin. long, linear-oblong: cymes 2-3 in. across: 

 buds oblong: fls. Vi in. across, white; anthers reddish. 

 July. Eu., N. Asia. Gn. 27, p. 315. 



35. Monregal6nse, Balbis {S. crucicltnm, Desf. ). 

 Glabrous, except inflorescence, which is glandular: Ivs. 

 linear: fls. i4 in. across, white; buds roundish, pointed; 

 stamens pinkish. N. Italy, Corsica. L.B.C. 5:464. 



Section III. Annuals or Biennials (Species 36-39). 



36. sempervivoides, Fischer. Scarlet Stonecrop. 

 One of the showiest in the genus and remarkably dis- 

 tinct, if not unique, by the color of the fls. Habit of a 

 house-leek, 4-8 in. high: Ivs. 40-50 in a rosette, wedge- 

 shaped: Ivs. of fl. -stems clasping, greenish red, oblong, 

 acute: cymes 2-4 in. across, dense: fls. scarlet. July. 

 Asia Minor. Gn. 19:378. R.H. 1846:5.-Seems not to be 

 offered in America. 



37. Formosinum, N. E. Br. Height 6 in.: stem re- 

 peatedly branched in a dichotomous or trichotomous 

 manner: Ivs. 1-3, in whorls at branchings of stem, with 

 occasionally 1-3 on internodes, flat, spatulate: fls. yel- 

 low. Formosa. Int. into S. Calif, in 1900. 



38. caervileum, Linn. (S. azareum, Desf., not Royle). 

 Fig. 2286. Glabrous, or pilose on inflorescence, 2-3 in. 

 high: Ivs. M in. long, oblong-obtuse, pale green, spotted 

 red: cymes 1 in. across, with recurved branches: fls. 

 H in. across, pale blue, 5-7-merous. S. Afr. B.M. 2224. 

 B.R. 6:520. Gn. 27, p. 315. -Carpet beds. Sandy soil. 



39. villdsum, Linn. Glandular-pubescent, 3-4 in. 

 high, with no barren branches: Ivs. 2-5 times as long 

 as thick: fls. few, dull rose (or white according to 

 Masters) in a small, loose cyme. Bogs and stony rills, 

 mountains of Eu. — This is one of the very few that pre- 

 fer wet feet. The white-fld. form is advertised by one 

 dealer in perennials. The species, however, is an 

 annual. 





2288. Natural planting of maple seeds. 



S. lirauuii., offorert by Krolagp, Ha.'irlom, Holland, appears 

 not to bo rcfognized by botanists. — .S". Caldhricum is a name 

 given without doseription to an Italian speeios, which is still 

 offered by Krelage.— S. debile, Watson, an American species, 

 was offered in IHHl by collectors, but is probably not iu cult, 

 anywhere.— ,S'. Dnuglasii, Hook., is a yellow-fld. species from 



2287. 



Oregon which is now offered in the East, but is probably not 

 cult, in Eu. It grows 4 in. high, and flowers from June until 

 Aug. Said to be annual. Lvs. lanceolate, %-% in. long, acute. 

 — S. Oregdnum, Nutt., was offered by collectors of western 

 American plants in 1881, but is not known to be cult.— .V. spe- 

 cidsum, Hort.=? — S. tectoruni, Scop. = Sempervivum tectorum. 

 —S.trifidwm, Wall., is not offered in America, but should be in 

 every fancier's collection. It is immediately distinguished from 

 all others described above by the pinnatifid foliage, which is 

 massed at the top of the stems and makes a fine setting for the 

 clusters of fls., being twice as wide as the latter. Height 1 ft.: 

 fls. purplish, red or crimson. Himalayas. Gn. 27, p. ^17. 



W. M. 

 SEEDAGE. Under this term may be included all 

 knowledge respecting the propagation of plants by 

 means of seeds or spores. The word was first used, so 

 far as the writer is aware, in 1887. It is equivalent to 

 the French semis, and is comparable with the words 

 graftage, layerage and cuttage. In general literature 

 and common speech, a seed is that part of the plant 

 which is the outcome of flowering and which is used for 

 propagating the species. In the technical or botanical 

 sense, however, the seed is the ripened ovule. The seed 

 contains an embryo, which is a miniature plant. The 

 embryo has one or more leaves (cotyledons), a bud or 

 growing point (plumule) and a short descending axis 

 (caulicle). From the caulicle or stemlet, the radicle 

 or root develops. This embryo is a 

 mintite dormant plant. Each embryo 

 is the result of a distinct process 

 of fertilization in which the pollen 

 of the same or another flower has 

 taken part. The ovule is contained 

 in the ovary. The ripened ovary is 

 the seed-case or pericarp. The peri- 

 carp, with the parts that are amal- 

 gamated with it, is known techni- 

 cally as the fruit. In many instances 

 there is only one seed in the fruit; 

 and the seed and its case may ad- 

 Seed-like fruit ^^^^^ ^^^ form practically one body. 

 , Many of the so-called seeds of hor- 



Hop-tree. ticulturists are really frtiits contain- 

 Natural size. ing one or few seeds. Such are the 

 seeds of beet, lettuce and sea-kale. 

 The winged seeds of elms, hop-tree (Fig. 2287) and 

 ashes are really fruits containing a single seed. Acorns, 

 walnuts, butternuts and chestnuts are also fruits; so 

 are grains of corn, wheat, and the "seeds" of straw- 

 berry. The keys of maple are double fruits, with two 

 seeds (Fig. 2288). Beans and peas are true seeds. The 

 fruit part is the pod in which they are borne. Seeds of 

 apples and pears are also true seeds, the fruit being the 

 fleshy part that surrotmds them. Germination is the 

 unfolding and the growing of the dormant or embryo 

 plant. The first visible stage in germination is the 

 swelling of the seed. Thereafter the integument is 

 ruptured, and the caulicle appears. When the caulicle 

 protrudes, the seed has sprouted; and this fact is taken 

 as an indication that the seed is viable (Fig. 2289). 

 Germination is not complete, however, 

 until the young plant has made vital 

 connection with the soil, has developed 

 green assimilative organs and is able 

 to support itself (Fig. 2290). See, also, 

 Figs. 2291 and 2292. Seeds that have 

 sufficient life to sprout may still be too 

 weak to carry the process to com- 

 plete germination. The ideal test for 

 the viability of seeds is to plant them 

 in soil in conditions that somewhat nearly approach 

 those in which they are finally to be planted. This test 

 eliminates the seeds which are very weak and are not 

 able to grow under ordinary conditions and to push 

 themselves through the soil. The sprouting test made 

 in a specially prepared device, in which all conditions 

 are regulated to a nicety, may be of the greatest value 

 for purposes of scientific study and investigation and 

 for the making of comparative tests between various 

 samples, and the greater the sprotiting test, the greater 

 the germinating power; but one must not expect that 

 the actual germination will always be as great as the 

 percentage of sprouting. In many eases, the differences 

 in restilts between the sprouting test in a specially per- 

 pared device, and the germination tests in well-pre- 



2289. 

 Sprouting: stage- 

 Castor Bean. 



