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S I S 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



S I S 



Siphonantkus ; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order 

 Monogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Culix : perianth 

 one-leafed, five-parted, wide, permanent. Corolla : one- 

 petalled, funnel-form; tube filiform, very narrow, several 

 times as long as the calix ; border, four-parted, spreading, 

 less than the calix. Stamina : filamenta four, longer than 

 the border of the corolla ; antherse oblong, triangular. Pis- 

 tit : germen four-cleft, very short, superior ; style filiform, 

 length of the stamina, recurved at the tip ; stigma simple. 

 Pericarp: berries four, within the spreading calix, roundish. 

 Seeds: solitary, roundish. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Co- 

 rolla: one-petalled, funnel-form, very long, inferior. Berries: 

 four, one-seeded. The species are, 



I. Siphonanthus Indica. Border of the corolla spreading; 

 stigma undivided ; stem herbaceous, quite simple ; leaves 

 opposite and alternate, linear-lanceolate; flowers in axillary 

 corymbs, three or four together. Native of South America. 



2. Siphonanthus Angustifolia. Border of the corolla two- 

 lipped ; stigma bifid. The leaves are like those of the pre- 

 ceding species, but much narrower, and by threes ; flowers 

 axillary, in bifid corymbs, six-flowered or three-flowered. 

 Native of South America. 



Siphonia; a genus of the class Monoecia, order Monadel- 

 phia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flowers: numerous, in 

 racemes. Calix: perianth one-leafed, rather globular, bell- 

 shaped, half five-cleft; teeth erect, acute, reflex at the edge. 

 Corolla: none. Stamina: filamenta united into a column, 

 shorter than the talix ; antherae five, growing to the column 

 below the top of it, subovate. Female: terminating, one in 

 each raceme. Calix : perianth one-leafed, turbinate, bell- 

 shaped, five-cleft; teeth acute, from spreading recurved, deci- 

 duous, the circular base only remaining. Corolla: none. 

 Pistil : germen conical, subglobular, shorter than the calix ; 

 style none; stigmas three, thickish, depressed, two-lobed. 

 Pericarp : capsule large, tricoccous, depressed, hollow at the 

 base, woody, very hard, covered with a fibrose bark, three- 

 celled ; cells two-valved ; valves opening elastically. Seeds: 

 solitary, or two or three, subovate, with a brittle spotted shell. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : one-leafed, bell-shaped, 

 five-cleft. Corolla: none. Mule: antherse five, growing below 

 the top of the column. Female: style' none. Stigmas: three. 

 Capsule : tricoccous. Seed : one, sometimes two or three. 

 The only species yet discovered is, 



1. Siphonia Elastica; Elastic Gum Tree. A tree fifty or 

 sixty feet high, with a thin gray bark, and soft white wood. 

 The trunk, when wounded, discharges a milky fluid, which 

 being collected, either in a lump, or by smearing it over clay 

 figures, dries, and becomes the Indian rubber, or gum-elastic, 

 so well known for obliterating pencil marks.- Native of Bra- 

 zil, and the forests of Guiana. See Jatropha Elastica. 



Sison; a genus of the Class Pentandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: umbel universal, with 

 fewer than six rays, unequal ; partial with fewer than ten 

 rays, unequal. Involucre universal, mostly four-leaved, un- 

 equal; partial similar to it; perianth scarcely manifest. Co- 

 rolla: universal, uniform; florets all fertile; partial equal; 

 petals five, lanceolate, inflected, flattish. Stamina: filamenta 

 five, capillary, length of the corolla; antherse simple. Pistil: 

 germen subovato, inferior ; styles two, reflected ; stigmas ob- 

 tuse. Pericarp: none; fruit ovate, striated, bipartite. Seeds: 

 two, ovate, convex, and striated on one side, flat on the other. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Involucres: mostly four-leaved. 



Fruit: ovate, striated. The species are, 



1 Sison Amomum ; Hedge Honewort, or Bastard Stone 

 Parsley. Leaves pinnate; umbels erect, mostly four-rayed. 

 Root annual or biennial, spindle-shaped, with lateral branches; 



stem erect, two or three feet high, except in dry places, where 

 it is shorter; seeds aromatic and pungent when ripe and dry, 

 but in an early state, they, like the whole herb, have a peculiar 

 nauseous smell. Native of England, Germany, the south of 

 France, Carniola, and Piedmont. With us it is not uncom- 

 mon in moistish spots under hedges, in chalky or marly soils, 

 flowering late in the summer. Sow the seeds in autumn, in a 

 moist shady spot of ground, or permit them to scatter, and 

 the plants will rise without care. 



2. Sison Segetum ; Corn Honewort. Leaves pinnate ; 

 leaflets roundish, numerous; umbels drooping, irregular. 

 Root small but strong, annual in general, but often biennial; 

 stems very much branched, round, striated, slender, and 

 rush-like, leafy ; fruit oblong-ovate, doubly ribbed, pun- 

 gent and aromatic, as is the whole plant in gome degree. 

 Native of Switzerland and England, in corn-fields, in 

 a chalk and clay soil, but not occurring very frequently. 

 It has been observed in Madingley road, near Cambridge; 

 and about Haddenham, in the Isle of Ely ; about Golding- 

 ton and Clapham, in Bedfordshire; near Kelmarsh, in North- 

 amptonshire; at South Leigh, in Oxfordshire; at Binham, 

 in Norfolk; and at Walthamstow, in Essex. It flowers in 

 July and August. 



3. Sison Canadense ; Three-leaved Honewort. Leaves 

 ternate. Root perennial; stem round, upright, smooth, little 

 branched, two feet high, or more. Kalm says, that this 

 plant abounds in the woods throughout North America; that 

 the French call it Serfeuil Sauvage, and make use of it in 

 spring, in green soups, like Chervil; and that it is universally 

 commended in North America, as a wholesome antiscorbutic 

 plant. Sow the seeds in the same way as directed for the 

 first species, and the plants will only require to be thinned 

 and kept free from weeds. They delight in a moist soil and a 

 shady situation, where the root will continue several years. 



4. Sisou Ammi; Fennel-leaved Honewort, Leaves tripin- 

 nate; root-leaves lineajj^ stem-leaves biistlc-shaped ; stipular- 

 leaves longer. Root annual; stem a foot high, simple, erect, 

 very slightly grooved : branches very few at the top of the stem. 

 This plant has a fragrant aromatic smell. Native of Portugal, 

 Apulia, and Egypt. Propagated like the preceding. 



5. Sison Inundatum ; Water Honewort. Leaves pinnate, 

 gashed, those under water cut as fine as hairs into many 

 parts; umbels five-flowered, bifid. Root annual or biennial ; 

 stems creeping, annual, round. It flowers in May, and with 

 us is not uncommon in wet places overflowed in winter, as 

 well as ditches and pools. Native of the north of Europe, 



-Germany, Britain, and Switzerland. 



6. Sison Salsum. Root-leaves compound; leaflets subver- 

 ticillate, bundled, lanceolate; stem leafless; branches umbel- 

 liferous, dichotomous. The leaves flourish in the spring, and 

 after they wither away the stem grows up, and flowers in 

 August. Native of Siberia, in the salt plains near the Wolga. 



7. Sison Crinitum. Root-leaves triplicate-pinnate ; stem- 

 leaves bipinnate ; leaflets bristle-shaped ; universal involucre 

 many-leaved, bipinnate. Native of Siberia. 



8. Sison Pusillum. Leaves biternately multipartite ; little 

 umbels with from three to five flowers ; seeds slightly sca- 

 brous. Grows on the dry sandy fields of Carolina. 



9. Sison Trifoliatum. All the leaves trifoliate; leaflets 

 dentated ; lower leaves oval, two and three lobed ; upper 

 leaves oval-lanceolate; umbel terminal, solitary, peduncled; 

 seeds subrotund. Grows in North Carolina. 



10. Sison Marginatum. Leaves pinnate; upper leaves 

 quinate ; all the leaflets sessile, lanceolate, very entire, albid- 

 marginate; involucre and invalucels none. Found in wet 

 meadows, from Virginia to Carolina. 



