3070 



SANGUISORBA 



SANSEVIERIA 



SANGUISORBA (Latin, blood and drink up, from 

 reputed styptic properties in folk-medicine). Rosacese. 

 Chiefly perennial herbs, grown as salad plants and also 

 sometimes used in the hardy border. 



Leaves unequally pinnate; stipules adherent to the 

 petiole: fls. small, often polygamous or dioecious, 

 crowded in a dense head or spike at the summit of a 

 long, naked peduncle; calyx-tube persistent, with 4 

 broad petal-like spreading deciduous lobes; petals none; 

 stamens 4-12: achene (commonly solitary) inclosed in 

 the 4-angled dry and thickish calyx-tube. About 35 

 species, natives of the North Temperate Zone. See 

 Poterium. 



minor, Scop. (Poterium Sanguisdrba, Linn.). 

 BURNET. Perennial, growing in clumps, glabrous or 

 sparsely hairy: Ivs. long, odd-pinnate, narrow, the 

 small Ifts. 6-10 pairs and orbicular to oblong and deep- 

 toothed :sts. 1-2 Yi ft. tall, terminating in small globular 

 or oblong heads: lower fls. in the head staminate, the 

 others perfect, the stigmas purple, tufted and exserted. 

 Eu., Asia, and naturalized in this country. Sometimes 

 grown in the herb-garden for the fresh young Ivs., 

 which are used in salads. It is also an interesting plant 

 for the hardy border. Also recommended as a pasture 

 plant, particularly for sheep. It thrives in dry soils. 



canadensis, Linn. Taller, larger in every way than 

 the above: Ifts. oblong to almost triangular-oblong, 

 truncate or cordate at the base, long-stalked, obtuse, 

 sharp-toothed: fl.-heads cylindrical, 2-6 in. long, the fls. 

 all perfect, whitish. Low grounds, Mich., east and south. 

 An interesting plant, worthy a place in the hardy 

 border, and sometimes sold for that purpose. It pro- 

 duces much foliage. Grows 5-6 ft. tall. 



S. atrosangutnea, Hort., is a form listed in the trade as having 

 wiry sts. 3 ft. high bearing heads of rich crimson fls. Possibly the 

 European S. omcinalis, Linn. F TKACY HuBBARD.f 



SANICULA (name said to be from sanare, to heal; 

 or perhaps from San Nicolas). Umbelliferse. SANICLE. 

 BLACK SNAKEROOT. Perennial rather tall glabrous 

 herbs, useful sometimes as a ground-cover. 



Leaves few, palmately lobed or parted, those from 

 the base long-petioled : umbels irregular or compound; 

 fls. greenish or yellowish, capitate in the umblets, per- 

 fect and with staminate ones intermixed; involucre and 

 involucels few-lvd.: fr. globular, carpels not separating 

 spontaneously, ribless, thickly clothed with hooked 

 prickles. About 39 species (Wolff, Das Pflanzenreich, 

 hft. 61), temperate regions of the world. The sanicles 

 have no particular horticultural merit, being rather 

 weedy in habit; but they are useful in wild-gardens 

 and for colonizing hi woods. 



A. Fls. yellow. 



Menziesii, Hook. & Arn. St. solitary, 1-2% ft. high, 

 branching: Ivs. round-cordate, 2-3 in. across, very 

 deeply 3-5-lobed: fr. about 1 line long, becoming dis- 

 tinctly pedicellate. Calif, and northward. 



AA. Fls. purple (rarely yellowish). 



bipinnatifida, Douglas. About 1 ft. high, with a pair 

 of opposite Ivs. at the base and 1-3 above, long-petioled, 

 triangular to oblong in outline, 2-3 in. long, pinnately 

 3-5-lobed: fr. sessile. Calif, to Brit. Col. 



AAA. Fls. greenish white. 



mariUndica, Linn. St. stout, lJ^-4 ft. high: Ivs. 

 bluish green, the basal long-petioled, the upper sessile, 

 5-7-parted: fr. sessile. Atlantic to Brit. Col. Common 

 fr woods. Fi TRACY HuBBARD.f 



SANSEVIERIA (after Raimond de Sangro, Prince of 

 Sanseyiero, born at Naples 1710. The spelling Sanse- 

 viera is not the earliest). Lilidcese. BOWSTRING HEMP. 

 Herbaceous perennials, essentially tender foliage 

 plants, although beautiful in flower, adapted to the 



coolhouse. They are grown for the stiff erect Ivs., 

 which are usually variegated. 



Rhizome short, thick, sometimes stolonif erous : Ivs. 

 in a basal rosette, thick cartilaginous, frequently 

 elongated, rather flat or terete: scape simple, tall, stout: 

 fls. greenish white, medium-sized or long, clustered in 

 an often dense raceme; perianth-tube slender, some- 

 times very long; stamens 6; ovary free, 3-celled. Trop. 

 and S. Afr. and India; the most recent treatment is by 

 N. E. Brown in Kew Bulletin, 1915, where 54 species are 

 described. The genus is important in yielding fiber. 



Sansevierias are easily propagated by division or 

 they may be raised from leaf-cuttings about 3 inches 

 long. These cuttings form roots in sandy soil after 

 about one month, after which a long stolon-like bud is 

 formed, which produces the new plant at some dis- 

 tance from the cutting. Sansevierias are well adapted 

 to house decoration, since they do not require much 

 sunlight. A rather heavy soil suits them best. 



A. Lvs. fiat or nearly so. 



thyrsifldra, Thunb. (S. guineensis, Willd:). Lvs. 2-4 

 to a growth, from a stout creeping rootstock, erect and 

 smooth, to \Yi ft. long and 3K in. broad, lanceolate, 

 acute or obtuse, on both sides marked with pale green 

 transverse bands which become obscure with age, 

 tapering into a channelled petiole: fls. greenish white, 

 fragrant. Trop. Afr. B.M. 1179 (properly 1180). 



AA. Lvs. concave. 



zeyldnica, Willd. Lvs. 1-3 ft. long, 8-15 in a cluster, 

 sword-shaped, subterete, variegated with transverse 

 markings of a grayish white: scape longer than the 

 Ivs. : bracts many : fls. whitish green, l%in. long. India. 

 B.R. 160. Var. Laurentii, Hort. (S. Laurentii, Wildem.) 

 has a band of creamy yellow ^-^in. or more wide 

 along the If .-margins in addition to the regular variega- 

 tion. Trop. Afr. G.W. 13, p. 125. R.B. 30:169. 

 AAA. L^s. cylindrical. 



cylindrica, Bpjer. Lvs. often 3-4 ft. long, 8-10 in a 

 tuft, terete, solid within, dark green, often banded with 

 paler lines, acuminate, occasionally furrowed: scape 

 with infl. shorter than the Ivs.: raceme about 1 ft. long; 

 fls. creamy white, tinged with pink. Trop. Afr. B.M. 

 5093. G.C. III. 16:222. R.H. 1861, p. 448, 450. 



The following species have been grown in various botanical 

 gardens but are not known to be in general cult, unless otherwise 

 specified. S. xthidpica, Thunb. Succulent, stemless subshrub: Ivs. 

 somewhat rosulate, suberect or erect-spreading, 5^-16 in. long, thick, 

 linear-lanceolate, acute, running out into white awl-like tips 2-3 in. 

 long, concave-channeled, back strongly convex, sometimes trans- 

 versely dark green-banded, margins red or white, somewhat glau- 

 cous: infl. 16-30 in. long; fls. white. S. Afr. B.M. 8487. S. arbor- 

 escens, Cornu, has sts. reaching a height of 4 ft., furnished entirely 

 with short spreading Ivs. E. Trop. Afr. S. conspicua, N. E. Br., is 

 a stemless herb: Ivs. 3-5, lanceolate, 9-24 in. long, green on both 

 surfaces, with dark lines above and rusty brown margins: fls. white, 

 E. Trop. Afr. S. Cornui, Ge>. & Labr., is stemless, the Ivs. not bor- 

 dered and only a little striped at the base and on the outside. 

 Senegambia; properly S. senegambica, Baker. S. Crdigii, Hort., 

 is offered in the American trade as a form with variegated Ivs. S. 

 fascidta, Cornu, is stemless: Ivs. flat, leathery, 2J4 ft. long, 5 in. 

 broad in the middle, bright green, striped and bordered with brown. 

 Congo. S. glaiica, Hort., not Haw., resembles S. zeylanica, but the 

 Ivs. are somewhat shorter and not striate. Cochin-China. S. 

 grdndis, Hook. f. Stemless: Ivs. few, rosulate, obovate-oblong, the 

 largest 3-4 ft. long, 6 in. broad, dull green with broad bands of much 

 darker green: scape 2 ft. high, bearing a densely fld. terminal spike- 

 like panicle 2-3 ft. long: fls. pure white, about 2 in. across. Trop. 

 Afr. B.M. 7877. It produces a very strong, silky fiber. S. inter- 

 media, N. E. Br., is very similar to S. cylindrica, but the Ivs. are 

 channeled, the edges of the channel being acute below and obtusely 

 rounded above. E. Trop. Afr. S. liberica, G6r. & Labr. Lvs. more 

 than 3 ft. long, bordered with ivory-white, not striped. W. Trop. 

 Afr. S. metdllica, G6r. & Labr., is closely allied to what is called 

 S. guineensis having shorter and somewhat broader Ivs., which 

 have a metallic tint and fewer markings. S. rdrida, N. E. Br. 

 (Sanseverina rorida, Lanza), is almost stemless: Ivs. 2-ranked, 

 erect-spreading, horn-shaped, terete beneath, deeply channeled 

 above: scape flexuous, longer than the Ivs.: panicle elongated with 

 many short reflexed branches: fls. small. Italian Somaliland. S. 

 Stiickyi, Godefr., is stemless: Ivs. quite cylindric except a small 

 furrow on the upper surface. E. Afr. S. zanzibdrica, Ge>. & Labr., 

 is short-stemmed: Ivs. in a distichous rosette, subterete, without 

 furrows, very rigid, up to 5-6 ft. long. Zanzibar. 



F. TRACY HUBBARD. 



