S P E 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



S P H 



611 



whorls; stipules ciliate. This is an herbaceous plant. The 

 flowers are white. Native of Cayenne, growing by path- 

 ways, and in open plains. 



3. Spermacoce Coerulescens ; Blue-flowered Buttonweed. 

 Leaves ovate-acute, somewhat hairy, even ; stipules equal- 

 ling the whorled flowers ; stamina standing out. Native of 

 Cayenne and Guiana, by way-sides. 



4. Spermacoce Alata ; Wing-stalked Buttonweed. Smooth : 

 leaves ovate, the uppermost sessile ; flowers terminating in 

 heads. Stem four-cornered, winged, creeping; corollas blue. 

 Native of Cayenne and Guiana, on the banks of rivers. 



5. Spermacoce Hexagona; Hexagon-stalked Buttonweed. 

 Smooth : leaves ovate, petioled ; flowers terminating, six- 

 stamined ; stems prostrate. This differs from the preceding, 

 in having the stems hexangular, and scattered over the 

 neighbouring plants; the leaves ovate, smaller, and petioled. 

 Native of Guiana. 



6. Spermacoce Prostrata; Prostrate Buttonweed. Smooth: 

 leaves subsessile, elliptic, acute ; flowers in whorls. Stem 

 prostrate. Native of Guiana, near rivers. 



7. Spermacoce Radical) s ; Rooting Buttonweed. Smooth: 

 leaves subsessile, lanceolate ; flowers in whorls. Stem pro- 

 cumbent, rooting; flowers small and blueish. Perennial. 

 Native of Guiana, growing about the borders of rivers. 



8. Spermacoce Longifolia ; Long-leaved Buttonweed. 

 Smooth : leaves lanceolate, acute at both ends, rugged at 

 the edge ; whorls halved. Stem four-cornered, smooth, pur- 

 plish, even, ash-coloured at the top, with very short hairs 

 visible only with the naked eye. Native of Cayenne and 

 Guiana. 



9. Spermacoce Verticillata ; Whorl-flowered Buttonweed. 

 Smooth : leaves lanceolate ; whorls globular. Stem rather 

 herbaceous, only a little shrubby at the base, erect, a foot 

 high. Browne says, that this little bushy plant is frequent 

 in the low and hilly lands of Jamaica; that it branches very 

 much, is adorned with many small leaves, and bears all its 

 flowers at the upper joints of the branches. Swartz re- 

 marks, that when it is in flower, it smells like Melilot. Seeds 

 brought from near the river Gambia in Africa. 



_ 10. Spermacoce Sumatrensis ; Sumatra Buttonweed. His- 

 pid : leaves lanceolate ; corymbs terminating, dichotomous. 

 Stem herbaceous, four-cornered, tomentose, with long joints. 



-Found in Sumatra by Wennerberg. 



11. Spermacoce Aspera ; Rough Buttonweed. Leaves 

 elliptic, very rugged, acute, smoothish; flowers axillary, clus- 

 tered ; stamina included. Stem herbaceous, erect, four-cor- 

 nered, with the corners hairy and branched. Flowers several 

 on each side in every axil. Native of the West Indies. 



12. Spermacoce Hirta ; Rough-haired Buttonweed. Rug- 

 ged, branched: leaves ovate-lanceolate; flowers clustered, 

 axillary, sessile ; stamina standing out. Stem herbaceous, 

 from one to two feet high, four-cornered, stiff, striated ; flowers 

 small, white. Annual. Native of the West Indies. 



13. Spermacoce Villosa ; Villose Buttonweed. Villose, 

 simple: leaves ovate-lanceolate, pubescent, the uppermost in 

 fours ; flowers in whorls ; stamina included. This is distin- 

 guished from the preceding species, by its more simple stem, 

 and shorter stamina within the throat of the corolla, and by 

 the whorls of white flowers. Annual. Native of Jamaica. 



14. Spermacoce Hispida ; Shaggy Buttonweed. Hispid : 

 leaves obovate, oblique. Root-annual ; stem herbaceous, erect, 

 obscurely four-cornered, opposite; lower branches opposite; 

 corolla violet-coloured. Native of Ceylon and the East Indies. 



15. Spermacoce Scabra; Rugged Buttonweed. Leaves 

 roundish ; with the stem hispid, rugged ; flowers in whorls ; 

 lamina standing out. Native of India. 



VOL. II. 117. 



16. Spermacoce Articularis ; Jointed Buttonweed. Leaves 

 elliptic, bluntish, somewhat rugged. Root annual; stem her- 

 baceous, red, round, channelled on every side; flowers white, 

 narrow. Native of the East Indies. 



17. Spermacoce Stricta; Stiff" Buttonweed. Leaves linear- 

 lanceolate, marked with lines. Root annual ; flowers white, 

 in narrow whorls. Native of the East Indies. 



18. Spermacoce Linifolia ; Flax-leaved Buttonweed. 

 Leaves linear-lanceolate, villose, even, the uppermost in 

 fours; flowers in whorls; stamina standing out. Stem her- 

 baceous, four-cornered, somewhat villose, especially at the 

 corners, ash-coloured at the tip. Native of Cayenne. 



19. Spermacoce Procumbens; Procumbent Buttonweed. 

 Procumbent : leaves linear ; corymbs lateral, peduncled. 

 Stems herbaceous, angular, weak, diffused ; flowers in bun- 

 dles, or in a simple umbel. Native of the East Indies. 



20. Spermacoce Spinosa; Thorny Buttonweed. Suffru- 

 ticose: leaves linear, ciliate, with spinules. Stem herbace- 

 ous, almost simple, subdivided at the base, hard, leafy, four- 

 cornered, rugged, a foot high ; flowers numerous, white, ga- 

 thered into compact axillary heads, that grow gradually larger 

 and more distinct as they draw nearer to the top. Native of 

 Jamaica. 



21. Spermacoce Glabra. Stem procumbent, glabrous; 

 leaves ovate-lanceolate, glabrous ; flowers verticillate, white ; 

 seeds glabrous. Grows on the banks of rivers, in most of 

 the western territories of North America. 



22. Spermacoce Diodina. Stem diffuse, rough ; leaves 

 linear lanceolate, slightly glabrous ; margin and keel serru- 

 late-scabrous ; stipules multisetous at great length ; flowers 

 axillary, sessile, solitary, alternate, white, very small ; seeds 

 rough. Grows in dry barren soil, on iron-ore hills, from 

 Virginia to Carolina. 



23. Spermacoce Involucrata. Stem alternate; branches 

 very hispid ; leaves ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, rough ; sti- 

 pules multisetous ; heads terminal, involucrate ; stamina 

 standing out ; flowers white, with a very long tube. 

 Grows to about the height of a foot, and is found in 

 Carolina. 



Sphceranthus ; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order 

 Polygamia Segregata. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : 

 common globular, imbricate ; scales acuminate, permanent, 

 clothing the universal receptacle all round ; perianth partial 

 many-flowered, five-leaved, within each scale of the common 

 calix, solitary, composed of linear, equal, erect leaflets. 

 Corolla : partial, corollets hermaphrodite, few in the disk ; 

 females in the ray commonly five : proper of the hermaphro- 

 dite one-petalled, funnel-shaped, with a five-cleft patulous 

 border; female, awl-shaped, tubular, with a very small, 

 trifid, closed mouth. Stamina: in the hermaphrodites, fila- 

 nienta five, capillary, very short; antherse cylindric, tubular, 

 longer than the corolla. Pistil : in the hermaphrodites, ger- 

 men shrivelled ; style longer, thicker ; stigma quite simple. 

 In the females; germen oblong; style bristle-shaped, length 

 of the stamina; stigma two-parted. Pericarp: none; the 

 calix unchanged. Seeds : in the hermaphrodites none ; in 

 the females solitary, oblong, naked. Receptacle : common 

 scaly; partial naked. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: 

 eight-flowered. Corolla : tubular, hermaphrodite, and in- 

 distinctly female. Receptacle ; scaly. Down : none. 



The species are, 



1. Sphseranthus Indicus; Indian Spkeeranthus. Leaves 

 decurrent, lanceolate, serrate; peduncles curled. Stem her- 

 baceous, about a foot high ; flowers solitary, terminal, glo- 

 bular, of a blue or purplish colour. It flowers from August 

 to December. Perennial. Native of the East Indies. Sow 

 7Q 



