S E S 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



S ES 



567 



seeds are also used by the negroes for food : they parch 

 them over the fire, then mix them with water, and stew other 

 ingredients with them. A pudding is made with them in 

 Carolina, where the seeds have been introduced by the 

 African negroes, in the same manner as with Rice or Millet. 

 In Carolina it is cultivated with great success, and it is com- 

 puted there that nine pounds of the seed yield upwards of 

 two pounds of the neat oil, which they find to grow more 

 mellow and agreeable with age, and to continue without any 

 rancid smell or taste for many years. In Japan, where they 

 have no butter, they use the oil for frying fish, and in dress- 

 ing other dishes ; as a varnish ; and medicinally as a resolvent 

 and emollient : and in China and Cochin-china it is used for 

 the same purposes. These plants are preserved in gardens 

 as botanic curiosities. Their seeds must be sown in the 

 spring upon a hot-bed, and when they come up should be 

 transplanted to another hot-bed, to bring them forward. 

 After they have acquired a tolerable degree of strength, they 

 should be planted into pots filled with a rich light sandy soil, 

 and plunged into a third hot-bed, managing them as directed 

 for Amaranthus : for if they are not thus brought forward in 

 the former part of the summer, they will not produce good 

 seeds in this country ; though after they have flowered, if the 

 season is favourable, they may be exposed in a warm situation 

 with other annuals. After perfecting seeds, the plants die. 



2. Sesamum Indicum ; Indian Sesamum, or Oily Grain. 

 Lower leaves trifid ; upper undivided ; stem erect. Native of 

 the East Indies, Mauritius, &c. This and the above were 

 introduced into Jamaica by the Jews, and they are now 

 cultivated in most parts of the island. They are there called 

 Vanylo, or Oil-plant: the Europeans use the seeds in broths, 

 but the Jews make them chiefly into cakes. Many of the 

 oriental nations look upon the seeds as a hearty wholesome 

 food, and express an oil from them not unlike nor inferior to 

 the oil of almonds. A decoction of the leaves and buds is 

 esteemed a good resolutive, and frequently ordered in inflam- 

 mations of the eyes, where warm fomentations become requi- 

 site. There is a variety, which is a native of Africa, all the 

 leaves of which are cut into three parts. 



3. Sesamum Luteum ; Yellow Sesamum. Leaves lanceo- 

 late, on long petioles ; corollas hispid on the outside, deep 

 yellow. Found in the East Indies. 



Seseli; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Digynia. 

 GENEUIC CHARACTER. Calix : umbel universal rigid; 

 partial very short, manifold, globular ; involucre universal of 

 very few leaves, or none ; partial of one or two leaflets, linear, 

 acuminate, length of the umbellet; proper perianth scarcely 

 observable. Corolla: universal uniform; florets all fertile; 

 partial of five inflex-cordate petals, fiattish. Stamina : fila- 

 raenta five, awl-shaped; autherac simple. Pistil: germen 

 inferior; styles two, distant; stigmas blunt. Pericarp: none; 

 fruit ovate, small, striated, bipartite. Seeds : two, ovate, con- 

 vex, and striated on one side, flat on the other. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Umbels: globular. Involucre: of one or two 

 leaflets. Fruit : ovate, striated. Sow the seeds of these 

 plants in autumn, and they will rise in the following; spring; 

 whereas when they are sown in the spring they frequently 

 lie in the ground till the next year before they grow. Drill 

 them eighteen inches asunder, in a bed of fresh earth, where 

 they are designed to remain; thin the plants to the distance 

 of six inches ; keep them clear from weeds, and in the second 

 season they will produce seeds. The perennial sorts should 

 have the ground gently dug between the roots every spring, 

 taking care not to injure them with the spade. They delight 

 in a moist soil, and will therefore require watering in one 



that is dry. The species are, 



VOL. ii. 113. 



1. Seseli Filifolium ; Thread-leaved Meadow Saxifrage. 

 Leaves filiform ; stem flexuose, erect ; perianth awl-shaped. 

 Native of the Cape. 



2. Seseli Pimpinelloides ; Nodding Meadow Saxifrage. 

 Stem declined ; umbels before they flower nodding. Root 

 perennial ; seeds oval, with three raised streaks. Native of 

 the south of Europe. 



3. Seseli Montanum; Long-leaved Meadow Saxifrage. 

 Petioles branch-bearing, membranaceous, oblong, entire ; 

 stem-leaves very narrow. Stem erect, about two feet high ; 

 flowers white. Native of France and Italy, on dry hills. 



4. Seseli Striatum ; Furrowed Meadow Saxifrage. Petioles 

 branchy, membranaceous, emarginate ; stem striated ; pinnas 

 awl-shaped, grooved. Native of the Cape. 



5. Seseli Glaucum; Glaucous Meadow Saxifrage. Peti- 

 oles branch-bearing, membranaceous, oblong, entire ; leaflets 

 single and in pairs, channelled, even, longer than the petiole. 

 Root perennial, running deep into the ground, and sending 

 out slender smooth stalks nearly two feet high. Native of 

 France, Austria, and Italy. 



6. Seseli Aristatum ; Bearded-leaved Meadow Saxifrage. 

 Petioles branchy, submembranaceous, loose, quite entire; 

 leaves superdecompound ; leaflets lanceolate, awned ; fruits 

 ovate. Stems strong, a foot and half high, with shining pin- 

 nate leaves, and terminated by pretty large umbels of whitish 

 flowers. Native of the Pyrenean Mountains. 



7. Seseli Anniium ; Annual Meadow Saxifrage. Petioles 

 branchy, membranaceous, ventricose, emarginate ; stem stiff, 

 a span high and more, striated. Native of France, Germany, 

 Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, and Piedmont. 



8. Seseli Chserophylloides ; Chervil-leaved Meadow Saxi- 

 frage. Petioles branchy, membranaceous, ventricose, entire ; 

 stemdichotomous, panicled; leaves superdecompound, smooth. 

 Native of the Cape. 



9. Seseli Ammoides ; Milfoil-leaved Meadow Saxifrage. 

 Root-leaves with the leaflets imbricate. The stalks rise about 

 a foot high, and sustain a small umbel of white flowers, which 

 appear in June and July. Native of Portugal and Italy. 



10. Seseli Tortuosum ; Crooked Meadow Saxifrage. Stem 

 lofty, rigid; leaflets linear, in bundles. Biennial. Native 

 of the south of France. 



11. Seseli Gummiferum; Gummy Meadow Saxifrage. Stem 

 furrowed, rigid, leafy ; partial involucrum of many linear 

 leaves, united by a broad base ; flowers almost sessile ; leaf- 

 lets wedge-shaped. Stem three feet high. Biennial, hardy, 

 flowering in summer and autumn. Grows in the Crimea. 



12. Seseli Turbith. Universal involucre one-leafed; seeds 

 striated, villose, styled. Native of the south of Europe. 



13. Seseli Hippomarathrum ; Various-leaved Meadow Saxi- 

 frage. Involucrets connate, one-leafed. Native of Austria, 



Carniola, Silesia, and Germany. 



14. Seseli Pyrenseum; Pyrenean Meadow Saxifrage. 

 Leaves doubly pinnate ; leaflets gashed, acute; involucrets 

 bristle-shaped, longer than the umbellet. Stem a foot high, 

 round, striated. Native of the Pyrenees. 



15. Seseli Saxifragum. Stem filiform, divaricating; leaves 

 doubly ternate, linear ; umbels of about six rays. Native of 

 Germany, and near the lake of Geneva. 



16. Seseli Elatum. Leaves superdecompound, the upper 

 ones only ternate. It is easily distinguished by its cylindrical 

 leaflets, coming out in threes, and from one to two inches in 

 height. -Native of France, Austria, and Silesia. 



17. Seseli Tnternatum. Leaves triternate; leaflets long- 

 linear; umbels hemispherical; involucels polyphyllous ; leaf- 

 lets linear, of the length of the umbels; flowers deep yellow. 

 Grows about the waters of Columbia river. The fusiform 



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