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OR. BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



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15. Stellaria Groenlandica; Greenland Stitchivort. Sterns 

 decumbent, subbiflorous; leaves linear, subciliate at the base; 

 petals emarginate; fruits globular; flowers white, large in 

 proportion to the plant. Native of Greenland. 



16. Stellaria Areuaria; Sandwort Stitchwort. Leaves 

 spatulate; stem erect, bifid; branches alternate; petals emar- 

 ginate. Root annual, fibrous; corolla bell-shaped, longer 

 than the calix, white. -Native of Spain. 



17. Stellaria Scapigera; Scape-bearing Stitchwort. Stem 

 very short; leaves linear-lanceolate, three-nerved; peduncles 

 radical, one-flowered. Native country unknown. 



18. Stellaria Pubera. Plant pubescent; leaves sessile, 

 ovate, ciliate ; pedicels erect; petals longer than the calix; 

 flowers large, white. Grows in shady woods, on rich soil, 

 from Pennsylvania to Carolina. 



19. Stellaria Media. Leaves ovate, glabrous ; stalks pro- 

 cumbent, with a line, lateral, hairy, alternate; stamina three, 

 five, or ten. A common North American species, growing in 

 cultivated grounds, and flowering from April to September. 



Stellera; a genus of the class Octandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: none. Corolla: one- 

 petalled, funnel-form, permanent; tube filiform, long; bor- 

 der four or five-cleft, with the lobes ovate. Stamina : fila- 

 menta eight or ten, very short; antherce oblong, alternately 

 in the middle of the tube, and within the throat. Pistil : 

 germen subovate; style very short, permanent; stigma head- 

 ed. Pericarp: none. Seed : one, shining, beaked nut. 

 Observe. The first species has eight, and the second ten 

 stamina. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: none. Co- 

 rolla: mostly four-cleft. Stamina: very short. Nut: soli- 

 tary, beaked. The species are, 



1. StelleraPasserina; Flax-leaved Stellera. Leaves linear; 

 flowers axillary, sessile, four-cleft. Root slender, fusiform, 

 scarcely branched, yellow on the outside, white within; stem 

 upright, from a hand and half to a foot in height, very much 

 branched from the very bottom; leaves alternate, shaped like 

 a sparrow's tongue. This plant is acrid, bitter, and purgative. 

 Gmelin says, that the Russians require half a drachm or two 

 scruples for a purge, whereas twelve grains are sufficient for 

 other people. Native of dry sunny fields in Germany, Swit- 

 zerland, France, and Italy, flowering in July and August. 



2. Stellera Chamsejasme ; Siberian Stellera. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate; flowers terminating; racemes nkaed, five-cleft. Per- 

 ennial. Native of Siberia, on the banks of rivers. 



Stemodia; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angio- 

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, five-parted, erect, equal, permanent. Corolla: one- 

 petalled, irregular; tube length of the calix ; border subbi- 

 labiate, almost upright; upper lip ovate, entire; lower three- 

 parted, with the parts rounded, equal. Stamina: filamenta 

 four, almost equal, length of the tube, all bifid ; antherse 

 eight, each placed on each division of the filamenta. Pistil: 

 germen bluntish ; style simple, length of the stamina; stigma 

 bluntish. Pericarp: capsule oblong, ovate, two-celled, 

 two-valved ; partition contrary. Seeds i numerous, globu- 

 lar. Receptacle: subcylindrical. ESSENTIAL CHARAC- 

 TER. Calix: five-parted. Corolla: two-lipped. Filamenta: 



four, cloven, two-anthered. Capsule : two-celled. The 



species are, 



1. Stemodia Maritima. Leaves opposite, half embracin"-; 

 flowers sessile, solitary. Root long, round, with lateral hori- 

 zontal fibres ; stem from one to three feet high, erect, four- 

 cornered, hirsute, sometimes in hedges near the sea^coast in 

 a manner scandent; corolla blue and soon falling. This plant 

 has a pleasant aromatic smell, with a bitterish taste. Native 

 of Jamaica, very common in the southern coasts. 

 VOL. ii. -118. 



2. Stemodia Durantifolia. Leaves ternata find connate; 

 flowers subtern, siibsessile. Stem herbaceous, a foot high, 

 erect, branched, leafy, quadrangular at the bottom, but the 

 angles are rounded towards the top, hirsute, viscid ; corollas 

 blue, small; calix almost five-leaved.- Native of Jamaica. 



3. Stemodia Viscosa. Leaves opposite, embracing; flowers 

 peduncled, solitary. This is a small, annual, herbaceous 

 plant, with a pleasant aromatic smell ; stem generally bent 

 to one side, with many spreading branches from its base.-^- 

 Native of Coromandel, in rice-fields. 



4. Stemodia Ruderalis. Leaves ovate, serrate, petioled ; 

 flowers axillary, opposite. Native of the East Indies. 



5. Stemodia Camphorata. Leaves ovate, stalked ; flowers 

 in clusters. Stem herbaceous, a foot high; flowers yellowish- 

 green. Native of Ceylon. 



Sterbeckia ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth three or 

 five leaved; leaflets roundish, concave, acute. Corolla: 

 petals three or five, roundish, crenate, clawed, longer than 

 the calix. Stamina: filameuta very many, capillary, inserted 

 into the receptacle; antheree roundish. Pistil: germen ovate, 

 superior; style long, curved in at the tip; stigma headed, 

 concave. Pericarp : capsule cylindrical, long, corticose, 

 one-celled, not opening. Seeds: many, large, angular, in- 

 cumbent on each other, nestling in the pulp. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix: three or five leaved. Corolla: three 

 or five petalled. Capsule : corticose, not opening, legume- 

 shaped, many-seeded. Seeds: imbricate, nestling in pulp. 

 The only species is, 



1. Sterbeckia Lateriflora. Leaves subopposite, petioled, 

 elliptic, acuminate, quite entire, veined, smooth ; peduncles 

 many-flowered, very short, lateral ; flowers white, small. It 

 is a scandent shrub. Native of Guiana, in woods. 



Sterculia; a genus of the class Dodecandria, order Mono- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one- 

 leafed, very large, coriaceous, flat, coloured, deciduous, 

 five-parted ; parts lanceolate-acute. Corolla : none, but a 

 nectary placed on a cylindric column, bell-shaped, small, 

 five-toothed; teeth subtrifid. Stamina : filamenta ten or 

 about fifteen, very short, two or three on each tooth of the 

 nectary ; antherse ovate. Pistil : germen globular, five- 

 grooved, in the bottom of the nectary ; style filiform, curved 

 in ; stigma club-shaped, bifid, or five-lobed. Pericarp : 

 capsules five, ovate, reniform, from spreading reflexed, one- 

 celled, opening by the interior angle. Seeds: many, oval, 

 fastened to the suture. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : 

 five-parted. Corolla: none. Nectary: bell-shaped, five- 

 toothed, staminiferous, fastened to the column of the germen. 

 Germen: pedicelled. Capsules: five, one-celled, opening by 

 the inner side, many-seeded. The plants of this genus are 

 propagated by seed, and treated in the same way as Sido, 

 which see. The species are, 



1 . Sterculia Lanceolata ; Lance-leaved Sterculia. Leaves 

 lanceolate ; capsules oblong. This is a moderate-sized tree. 

 Native of China. 



2. Sterculia Balanghas. Leaves ovate-lanceolate; cap- 

 sules obovate. This is a tall tree, with a stem two feet in 

 diameter; branches thick, covered with an ash-coloured bark. 

 Native of Malabar and Amboyna, where the inhabitants 

 consider the steds as esculent, and roast them, while the cap- 

 sules are burnt to prepare the pigment called Cassomba. 



3. Sterculia Crinita. Leaves ovate or three-lobed ; cap- 

 sules crinite at the base. This is a tree sixty feet higih, 

 branching in a spreading manner at the top. -Native of 

 Guiana, in the woods of Sinemari, and near the river Gn* 

 libien, flowering in October. 



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