614 



SPI 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



S P I 



cles are very long, and support one yellow flower with very 

 short rays. There is a succession of flowers from July till the 

 frost puts a stop to them. Native of Ceylon and the East 

 Indies; where it is reputed to be a specific in the stone. 



5. Spilanthus Tinctorius ; Dyer's Spilanthus. Leaves 

 lanceolate, serrate, smooth; peduncles many-flowered, termi- 

 Bating ; stem diffused, herbaceous, three feet high, round, 

 with a creeping root; flowers whitish-blue; seeds three-awned. 

 It is cultivated for dyeing, both in China and Cochin-china. 

 The leaves when bruised yield an excellent blue colour; and 

 a green, prepared by a method more easy than from Indigo, 

 and by no means inferior in brightness. 



6. Spilanthus Uliginosus ; Boggy Spilanthus. Leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, crenate ; stem erect, dichotomous ; pe- 

 duncles terminating ; flowers radiate. Native of Jamaica. 



7. Spilanthus Atriplicifolius ; Orache-leaved Spilanthus. 

 Leaves alternate, deltoid, toothed, petioled, stipuled ; stem 

 panicled. Native of South America. 



8. Spilanthus Insipidus. Leaves obovate, somewhat tooth- 

 ed, sessile. Stems shrubby, round, branched, procumbent. 

 It flowers in December and January. Native of America. 



9. Spilanthus Oleraceus; Esculent Spilanthus. Leaves 

 subcordate, serrulate, petioled; stems procumbent, a foot 

 long, round, somewhat rugged ; flowers solitary, on long 

 peduncles, yellow. It flowers from July to November. 

 Native of the East Indies. 



Spinacia; a genus of the class Dicecia, order Pentandria. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Hale. Calix : perianth five- 

 parted ; segments concave, oblong, obtuse. Corolla : none. 

 Stamina: filamenta five, capillary, longer than the calix; 

 antherse oblong, twin. Female. Calix: perianth one-leafed, 

 four-cleft, acute, with two opposite segments, very small, 

 permanent. Corolla : none. Pisiil : germen round, com- 

 pressed ; styles four, capillary ; stigmas simple. Pericarp: 

 none: calix unites and hardens. Seed: one, roundish, cover- 

 ed by the calix. Observe. Fruit occasionally round, but 

 generally two-horned, or four-homed. ESSENTIAL CHARAC- 

 TER. Male. Calix : five-parted. Corolla: none. Female. 

 Calix: four-cleft. Corolla: none. Styles: four. Seed: soli- 

 tary, within the hardened calix. The species are, 



1. Spinacia Oleracea ; Garden Spinach or Spinage. 

 Fruits sessile. Root annual ; sheaves sagittate ; stem hol- 

 low, branching, herbaceous, about two feet high. The male 

 flowers are herbaceous, in long spikes; they abound in pol- 

 len, which when ripe flies out, if the plants be shaken, and 

 spreads all round, after which they soon decay. The female 

 flowers, which are on a separate plant, sit in clusters close to 

 the stalks at every joint ; they are succeeded by roundish seeds, 

 which, in one variety, are armed with short acute spines, and 

 in another without spines. The varieties of the garden spinach 

 are two or three in number, and differ also in the size and shape 

 of their leaves* Much stress has been laid, by the opponents 

 of the sexual system of plants, upon plants having been pro- 

 duced from the seeds of female Spinage, from which all male 

 plants have been carefully separated : but they ought to have 

 been aware, that it is by no means uncommon in this, and 

 other dioecious vegetables, to have some hermaphrodite flowers 

 mixed among the females. The etimology of this well-known 

 pot-herb is involved in much obscurity. Latin names termi- 

 nating in oca, as Verbenaca, Portulaca, or in acia, as Spina- 

 cia, are deduced from something to which they are supposed 

 to bear a resemblance, as Verbena, Portula, Spina; whence 

 our English names Smallach and Spinach, not uncommonly 

 spelt Smallage and Spinage. The native place of its growth 

 is unknown : the ancients do not mention it, but it has been 

 long in use among the moderns. The Arabian physicians 



speak of it, and it has been known from time immemorial in 

 Spain. The juice of the leaves being diuretic, is sometimes 

 serviceable in the gravel; and the leaves themselves, fre- 

 quently eaten tend to pievent costiveness. The variety 

 called Prickly Spinach, was formerly more cultivated in the 

 English Gardens than at present, because it bears cold much 

 better, and was therefore preferred for winter use. Propa- 

 gation and Culture. Sow the seeds upon an open spot of 

 ground in the beginning of August, observing, if possible, to 

 do it when there is an appearance of rain ; for if the season 

 should prove dry for a long time after the seed is sown, the 

 plants will not come up regularly; part of them will come up 

 soon, and the greater part not till refreshed by rain. As soon 

 as the plants shew four leaves, the ground ought to be hoed to 

 destroy the weeds, and also to cut up the plants where they 

 are too close, leaving those which remain three or four inches 

 csunder; but this should always be done in dry weather, that 

 the weeds may be destroyed as soon as pulled up. About 

 a month or five weeks after the first hoeing, the ground must 

 be hoed again, also in dry weather; but in wet seasons it 

 will be proper to hoe and gather all the weeds, in order to 

 carry them off the ground ; for if the plants be not thoroughly 

 weeded before winter, the weeds will stifle and rot them by 

 their numbers. In October, the Spinach will be fit for use. 

 Take off only the largest outer leaves, leaving those in the 

 centre of the plants to grow larger; and continue thus to 

 crop it all the winter and spring, until the young Spinach, 

 sown in the spring, becomes laige enough for use, which is 

 generally in April, when the winter plants will run up to 

 seed, and should therefore all be cut, except what may be 

 wanted to furnish seeds for sowing. If the ground in which 

 the Winter Spinach is sown, be planted with early Cabbages, 

 it is not proper to let any of the Spinach remain there for 

 seed, and on that account should be cleared off as soon as 

 ever the Spring Spinach is fit for use, that the Cabbages may 

 be earthed up and laid clear, which is of great service to 

 them : hence it will be well to sow a small spot of ground 

 with this sort of seed, where there should be no other plants 

 among it. Smooth-seeded or Round-leaved Spinach is sown 

 in the spring, upon an open spot of ground, separate, or else 

 mixed with Radish seed, as is the common practice of the 

 London gardeners, who always endeavour to extract as many 

 crops in a season as possible from their land ; but in the 

 country where land is cheap, it will be the best method to 

 sow it alone ; and when the plants are come up, the ground 

 should be hoed, to destroy the weeds, and cut out the plants 

 where too close, leaving them about three inches asunder. 

 When these have grown so large as to meet, cut out a part 

 for use, thinning them where room is wanted, that they may 

 spread. This may be done twice, as the herb is wanted ; 

 and at the last time the roots should be left eight or ten 

 inches asunder, and the ground ought then to be hoed over 

 again to destroy the weeds, which will be of great service to 

 the plants: for if they be sown upon good land, the sort 

 with broad thick leaves, generally called Plantain Spinach, 

 will, with this weeding and management, often produce leaves 

 as large as the Broad-leaved Dock, and prove very fine for 

 the table. In order to have a succession of this pot-herb 

 through the season, sow the seeds at three or four different 

 times in the spring, first in January, on a dry soil ; next in 

 the beginning of February, in a moist soil; third on a moist 

 soil, at the beginning of March; and lastly, at the beginning 

 of April. These late sowings should be hoed out thinner at 

 the first time than either of the former, for there will be no 

 necessity for leaving it for cutting out thin for use, because 

 the former sowings will be sufficient to supply the table till 



