SICANA 



SILENE 



1667 



brous, the stems angled: Ivs. large (often 1 ft. across), 

 nearly orbicular in outline, deeply cordate at the base, 

 strongly about 5-lobed and the lobes repand-toothed or 

 angled: fls. solitary, monoecious, the corolla small and 

 yellowish, urn-shaped, with small rertexed lobes; stig- 

 mas 3, each 2-lobed: fr. like a slender vegetable marrow, 

 1-2 ft. long, smooth, nearly cylindrical, orange-crimson, 

 ■with a very strong aromatic odor. K.H. 1890:510. — Prob- 

 ably native to Brazil, but occurring also in Mex. and 

 the West Indies. The Curuba seems to be grown in the 

 tropics as an ornamental plant, although it is said to 

 afford edible preserves. The plant climbs 30-50 ft. It is 

 well worth growing on summer arbors, or under glass 

 if one has room for it. The fruits are very interesting, 

 fragrant and ornamental. Perennial. 



S. atropurpiirea, Andre. Has shorter subpyriform, brilliant 

 violet-purple fruits, and purple-tinted under surfaces of the 

 Ivs. Perhaps a form of S. odorifera. Uruguay. R.H. 1894:108. 

 —S. spherica. Hook. f. Fls. large and spreading, more like 

 those of Cueurbita: Ivs. reuiform, li-i-lobed: ft. globose, size 

 of a small orange. Jamaica. B.M. 7109. L. H. B. 



SIDA (from the old Greek name for Nymphwa alba; 

 given vpithout explanation by LinnfBus). Malvdcece. A 

 genus of about 80 species of herbs or shrubs, mostly 

 native of the tropical regions of the world, with usually 

 serrate, dentate or lobed leaves and small or rarely large, 

 mostly yellow or whitish flowers, which are solitary 

 or in clusters, axillary or disposed in terminal branch- 

 ing spikes or heads; bracteoles wanting or rarely 1-2 

 and bristle-like: calyx 5-dentate or 5-cleft; staminal 

 column divided at apex into many filaments: locules of 

 ovary 5 or more, 1-seeded. 



A. Lvs. large, lobed. 



Napaea, Cav. A hardy herbaceous perennial 5-8 ft. 

 high, from a stout root: lvs. 3-8 in. long, 3-7-lobed; 

 lobes triangular, long-acuminate, irregularly serrate: 

 fls. perfect, white, about 1 in. across, in terminal corym- 

 bose panicles. June-Aug. S. Pa., W. Va. and Va. B.B. 

 2:422. — Culture same as for hollyhocks; prop, by seed. 

 Index Kewensis refers the above species to Napaea 

 dioica, Linn., but according to Gray's Synoptical Flora 

 of North America the two species belong to separate 

 genera, the fls. of the first being hermaphrodite, of the 

 second dioecious. Napifa dioica is a strong -growing 

 perennial 5-9 ft. high, with large radical lvs. often 1 ft. 

 across and 9-11-cleft, the segments cut into lanceolate, 

 serrate lobes: fls. dioecious, white, .smaller than in Sida 

 Napcea. For pictures of the two plants, see B.B. 2:420, 

 422. 



AA. Lvs. small, linear. 



£;iliottii, Torr. & Gray. A hardy perennial herb, slen- 

 der. 1-3 ft. high, with lvs. 1 in. long and yellow fls. 

 Sandy soil in the southern coast states. Offered by 

 western collectors in 1881. F. W. Barclay. 



SIDALCEA (compound of Sida and Alcea, related 

 genera). Malvdicea. About 20 herbs of western North 

 America: lvs. palmately cleft or parted, stipular: fls 

 often showy, pink, purple or white, in terminal racemes 

 or spikes, mostly without bracts or involucels beneath; 

 stamens united into groups in a double series; carpels 

 5-9, reniform, separating at matiirity. Some of the 

 Sidalceas are annuals, but those in cultivation are hardy 

 perennials, being recommended for the herbaceous bor- 

 der. Of easy culture. Prop, by seeds or division. For 

 monograph, see Gray, Syn. Fl. N. Amer., vol. 1, p. 302. 



A. Fls. white, with bluish anthers. 

 Candida, Gray. Plant erect, from more or less creep- 

 ing rootstocks, the stems somewhat branched above, 

 2-3 ft. tall, glabrous or nearly .so: radical lvs. nearly 

 orbicular, cordate, obtusely lobed or deeply crenate; 

 stem-lvs. 5-7-parted, the divisions narrow and often 

 notched: fls. 1 in. or more across, white, in an erect 

 spike-like raceme. Rocky Mts. Gn. 24, p. 396; 28, p. 

 29. R.H. 1891, p. 356. 



AA. Fls. normally colored (rarely white forms). 

 B. 3Iature carpels smooth {not reticulated). 

 spicata, Greene. One or two feet tall, sparingly 

 branched or simple, often more or less hirsute: upper 



lvs. parted into linear and often lo))ed divisions: fls. 

 rather small, purplish, in an oblong, more or less in- 

 terrupted spike, the [)cdicels short or almost none. 

 California, Nevada and Oregon. 



BB. Mature carpels conspicuoiisly reticulated. 

 malv8e!16ra, Gray. Stems erect or ascending, 1-6 ft. 

 or even more, sparingly hirsute: lvs. green, small, in- 

 cised-crenate, the upper ones 5-cleft or 5-divided, seg- 

 ments narrow and entire or broader and pinnate-lobed: 

 fls. 2 in. or less across when fully expanded, purple. 

 Calif. -Var. Listeri, Hort. (S. Listeri, Hort.), known 

 also as "Pink Beauty," has satiny pink flowers. It is of 

 European origin. 



2327. Sicana odorifera, the 

 Cassabanana (X /<t). 



camp6stris, Greene. Two to 5 

 ft., often branching above, gla- 

 brous or sparingly hirsute -pu- 

 bescent : lvs. green, the lower 

 ones rounded and variously 

 lobed, the upper ones 5-7-parted 

 into narrow divisions: fls. about 

 IK in. across, in strict spike-like 

 racemes, purplish, the petals often 

 laciniate. N. Calif, to British 

 Columbia. 



Oreg&na, Gray. Less hairy than 

 S. campestris, the racemes be- 

 coming branched and paniculate: 

 fls. smaller. Oregon and Wash- 

 ington. L. H. B. 



SIDEROXYLON (Greek, iron 

 \ I and tvood ; referring to the hard- 



\ / ness of the wood). Sapotcicece. 



\ / About 60 species of trees and 



\ / shrubs, mostly tropical, with sim- 



ple lvs. and small fls. in axillary 

 clusters: fls. 5-merous or rarely 

 6-merous ; calyx-lobes roundish 

 or ovate, usually obtuse, nearly 

 equal; corolla more or less bell-shaped ; stamens at- 

 tached to the tube at the base of the lobes and oppo- 

 site to them; staminodia scale-like or petaloid: ovary 

 usually 5-loculed : berry ovoid or globose. 



Mastichod6ndron, Jaeq. A tender tree, with some- 

 what variable lvs. usually oval or ovate-oblong, 2-8 in. 

 long, and small yellow fls. : fr. about % in. through. 

 West Indies ; cult, in S. Calif. — Franceschi says it 

 yields a sort of chewing gum. p -^^ Barclay. 



SIDE-SADDLE FLOWEE. Sarracenia. 



SIEVA BEAN. Phoseoliis lunatus. 



SIL£N£ (Greek, seitanos, a god described as covered 

 with foam, connected with sialon, saliva; referring to 

 the stickiness of stem and calyx). Catchfly. Cam- 

 pion. CaryophyllAcecp. A large and scattered genus of 

 herbs, varying greatly in duration, habit and style of 

 inflorescence, but always with 5-petaled fls. ranging in 

 color from white, through pink and rose to purple. The 

 petals are notched at the apex, rarely toothed or fringed 



