S ED 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



SED 



555 



their soup, or pudding, or boiled with their meat constantly. 

 Browne says, that the fruit is sometimes boiled in. Jamaica, 

 and served up at table by way of greens, in which state it is 

 generally looked upon as wholesome and refreshing; but it 

 is too insipid to be much liked. The apples serve to fatten 

 the hogs in the mountains and inland parts, where the plant 

 is mostly cultivated. There are two varieties of this plant 

 found in Cuba. Native of the West Indies, flowering and 

 fruiting in December. 



Securidaca ; a genus of the class Diadelphia, order Octan- 

 dria. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth three-leaved, 

 small, deciduous ; leaflets ovate, coloured, the uppermost 

 respecting the standard, and two the keel. Corolla: papili- 

 onaceous, five-p&talled ; wings spreading wide, and very 

 blunt; standard two-leaved, oblong, straight, connate with 

 the keel at the base, reflexed at the tip ; keel length of the 

 wings, subcylindrical, with the limb or border wider, aug- 

 mented by a plaited blunt appendicle. Stamina: filamenta 

 eight, connate at bottom; antheree oblong, erect. Pistil: 

 germen ovate, ending in an awl-shaped style ; stigma flat, 

 widening, toothed at the tip. Pericarp: legume ovate, one- 

 celled, ending in a ligulate wing. Seed: one, oblong. ES- 

 SENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: three-leaved. Corolla: pa- 

 pilionaceous, with the standard two-leaved, within the wings. 

 Legume: ovate, one-celled, one-seeded, ending in a ligulate 

 wing. The species are, 



1. Securidaca Erecta ; Upriyht Securidaca. Stem upright; 

 leaves oblong. This is an upright tree, twelve feet high, with 

 a few long slender weak branches ; flowers in racemes, pur- 

 ple. Native of Martinico, &c. flowering there in April. 



2. Securidaca Volubilis; Climbing Securidaca. Stem 

 climbing ; leaves oblong, acute. A twining shrub. Native 

 of South America and the West Indies. 



3. Securidaca Virgata. Stem climbing; branches rod-like; 

 leaves roundish. Native of Jamaica and Hispaniola. 



Sedye. See Carex and Schcenus. 



Sedum ; a genus of the class Decandria, order Pentagynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five-cleft, acute, 

 erect, permanent. Corolla: petals five, lanceolate, acuminate, 

 flat, spreading; nectaries five, each at a very small emarginate 

 scale, inserted into each germen at the base, on the outside. 

 Stamina: filamenta ten, awl-shaped, length of the corolla; 

 antherae roundish. Pistil : germina five, oblong, ending in 

 more slender styles ; stigmas obtuse. Pericarp : capsules five, 

 spreading, acuminate, compressed, emarginate towards the 

 base, opening on the inside longitudinally by a suture. Seeds: 

 numerous, very small. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five- 

 cleft. Corolla: five-petalled. Scales: nectariferous, five, at 



the base of the germen. Capsules: five.: The species are, 



1. Sedum Verticillatum ; Whorled Stonecrop. Leaves in 

 fours ; stem a foot high, erect, round. Native of the most 

 southern parts of Europe, and of Siberia. All the Stonecrops 

 are easily propagated by planting their trailing stalks, either 

 in spring or summer, which stalks soon put out roots; but as 

 they thrive much better upon rocks, old walls, or buildings, 

 than in the ground, they may be disposed upon rook-work in 

 such a manner as to have a good effect ; and where there are 

 unsightly buildings, their tops may be covered with these 

 lants, so as to hide their deformity. If the cuttings or roots 

 the perennial sorts be planted in some soft mud, laid upon 

 the walls or buildings, they will soon take root, and then 

 spread into every joint or crevice, and cover the place: or if 

 the seeds of those annual sorts, which grow naturally in dry 

 places, be sown soon after they are ripe, on the top of walls, 

 the plants will come up, and maintain themselves without 

 further care. 



VOL. it. 112. 



8 



2. Sedum Telephium ; Orpine Stonecrop. Leaves flattish, 

 serrate ; corymb leafy ; stem erect ; root perennial, tuberous. 

 This is the only English species with flat leaves. Being a 

 handsome plant, and easily cultivated, it is met with in most 

 gardens, where it will sometimes grow a yard high. The 

 flowers vary in colour, and the pla'nts in size. The Common 

 White and Purple are common in most parts of Europe, 

 Japan, and Siberia ; on old walls, by the side of woods, in 

 hedges, among bushes in pastures, in fields, in vineyards, 

 chiefly in a chalky or sandy soil, flowering in July and August. 

 The Purple-flowering Orpine is the most common in Britain. 

 The name is from the French : it was also called Live-long, 

 because a branch of it, hung up, will keep its verdure a 

 long time. It is of a styptic astringent nature, and the roots 

 contain the principal virtues. They are excellent in those 

 fluxes and loosenesses which erode the bowels, for which 

 purposes they are best given in powder, ,a scruple or some- 

 what more of which is a sufficient dose. Bruised and applied 

 externally, they are serviceable to wounds, burns, and bruises. 

 The leaves boiled in milk, and the decoction taken to the 

 amount of a large tea-cupful, three or four times a day, 

 powerfully promotes the urinary discharge, and has been 

 found serviceable for the piles and other haemorrhages. Cows, 

 goats, sheep, and hogs, eat it, but horses refuse it. The 

 Orpines may be easily increased by cuttings during the sum- 

 mer months, or by parting their roots, either in spring or 

 autumn. They thrive best in a dry soil, and a shady situa- 

 tion ; but may also be planted for the same purposes as the 

 other species, especially the next species, which is evergreen. 

 This plant occurs near London, about Charlton, Shooter's 

 Hill, Norwood, &c. ; at Shelford and Burrough-Green, in 

 Cambridgeshire; at Aspley wood in Bedfordshire; Heading- 

 ton Wick Copse, and Shotover hill, Oxfordshire ; frequently 

 in Suffolk; near Ashburne in Derbyshire; Malvern Chace; 

 about Manchester; near Shrewsbury; at Tettenhall in Staf- 

 fordshire ; at Castle Dikes, and Preston woods, in Northamp- 

 tonshire ; and two miles to the eastward o.f Dumbarton, be- 

 tween that place and Glasgow, in Scotland. 



3. Sedum Anacarnpseros ; Evergreen Orpine. Leaves 

 wedge-shaped, attenuated at the base, subsessile; stems 

 subdecumbent; flowers in corymbs ; root fibrous, perennial. 

 Native of Germany, Switzerland, the Valais, the south of 

 France, Italy, China, Cochin-china, and Japan, growing out 

 of the crevices of rocks. The stalks of this species hang 

 down, and have a very good effect in rock-work ; and the 

 plants require no care, for when they are fixed in the place, 

 they will spread and propapate fast enough. 



4. Sedum Divaricatum ; Spreading Stonecrop. Leaves 

 wedge-rhombed, emarginate, petioled ; stems branched ; pa- 

 nicles terminating, spreading. This species is shrubby, flow- 

 ers in June and July, and is a native of Madeira. 



5. Sedum Aizoon; Yellow Stonecrop. Leaves lanceolate, 

 serrate, flat; stem erect; cyme sessile, terminating; flowers 

 bright yellow. It flowers from July to September. Native 

 of Siberia. 



6. Sedum Hybridum; Germander -leaved Stonecrop. Leaves 

 wedge-shaped, concave, somewhat toothed, aggregate; 

 branches creeping; cyme terminating. Native of Tartary, at 

 the foot of the Aralian mountains. 



7. Sedum Populifolium ; Poplar-leaved Stonecrop. Leaves 

 flat, cordate, toothed, petioled ; corymbs terminating. When 

 the plant grows in an open sunny situation, the leaves and 

 stalks become of a bright red colour. It is the only hardy 

 plant of this genus, cultivated with us, that has a shrubby 

 stalk ; the leaves are deciduous. It flowers in July and 

 August, and is proper for a rock plant. Native of Siberia. 



7 B 



