3072 



SAP 



SAPIUM 



hundred atmospheres. The concentration is greatest in 

 mature leaves, and in the lilac this may be from twelve 

 to twenty-five atmospheres, while the roots of the same 

 plant may not show more than four or six atmospheres. 



D. T. MACDOUGAL. 



SAPINDUS (Latin, soap and Indian, alluding to 

 use of the fruit as soap in India). Sapindacese. SOAP- 

 BERRY. Trees or shrubs, sometimes somewhat climbing, 

 of economic use and sometimes used as ornamentals. 



Leaves alternate, without stipules, abruptly pin- 

 nate or simple, 1-lvd. in one species; the Ifts entire, 

 rarely serrate : racemes or panicles terminal or axillary : 

 fls. polygamous, regular; sepals 4-5, in 2 rows; petals 

 4-5, naked or bearing 1 or 2 glabrous or villous scales 

 above the claw; disk annular; stamens 8-10: berry 

 fleshy or leathery ; seeds frequently globose, with a bony 

 testa and no aril, black or nearly so. About 15 species, 

 tropical regions of the world. 



The fruit has an alkaline principle known as saponin 

 which makes it useful for cleansing purposes. The 

 fruit was much used in eastern countries before the 

 introduction of soap and is still preferred for washing 

 the hair and cleansing delicate fabrics like silk. The 

 seeds of some species are used for making rosaries, 

 necklaces, and the like. 



The soapberry trees in cultivation are evergreen or 

 rarely deciduous trees with pinnate, rather large foliage 

 and with terminal large panicles of small whitish flowers 

 followed by berry-like globose orange-brown to black 

 fruits. With the exception of S. Drummondii, which has 

 proved fairly hardy in sheltered positions as far north as 

 Massachusetts, they can be grown in subtropical 

 regions only, but S. Mukorossi is apparently somewhat 

 hardier than the rest. They are sometimes planted for 

 ornament in the southern states and in southern Cali- 

 fornia and some, particularly S. Mukorossi var. carina- 

 tus, may possibly be profitably planted for their fruits 

 which are rich in saponin. They do well in rather dry 

 and rocky or sandy soil. Propagation is by seeds which 

 germinate readily and by hardwood cuttings in early 

 spring. 



A. Lfts. obtuse or acutish, 4~9; rachis usually broadly 

 winged: petals without scales. 



Saponaria, Linn. A small tree, to 30 ft., with rough 

 grayish bark: Ifts. oblong-lanceolate and acute to 

 elliptic-ovate and somewhat obtuse, opposite or alter- 

 nate, entire, glabrous, veiny and lucid above, tomentu- 

 lose beneath, 3-4 in. long; rachis usually winged: 



Eam'cle 7-10 in. long; sepals rounded, petals ovate, 

 airy: fr. %-%in. across, globose, keeled, orange- 

 brown, translucent. Fls. in Nov. : fr. in spring. S. Fla., 

 W. India, and S. Amer. Cult, in S. Fla. and S. Calif. 

 S.S. 2:74, 75. 



AA. Lfts. acuminate, 7-19; rachis with narrow margin or 



marginless: petals with 2 scales. 



B. Trees evergreen. 



marginatus, Willd. A tree reaching ultimately 60 ft. 

 in height: Ifts. very short-stalked or nearly sessile, 7-13, 

 lance-oblong, acuminate, glabrous above, paler beneath 

 and somewhat pubescent on the midnerve, 2-5 in. long, 

 the upper nearly opposite, the lower alternate; rachis 

 narrowly margined or marginless: fls. white, sometimes 

 tinged with red, in pyramidal panicles; petals ciliate, 

 ovate to ovate-lanceolate; filaments villous: fr. yellow, 

 translucent, globose, keeled, %in. across. May, June. 

 S. C. to Fla. S.S. 13:623. Cult, for ornament in 

 S. Fla. 



Mukordssi, Gaertn. Tree, to 60 ft.: Ifts. 8-13, 

 stalked, the stalk K-J^in. long, oblong-ovate to oblong- 

 lanceolate, oblique and cuneate at the base, glabrous, 

 reticulate beneath, 3-6 in. long; rachis with narrow 

 margin: panicles 5-8 in. long; sepals suborbicular to 

 ovate, obtuse, petals ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acute, 



ciliate; filaments villous: fr. globose, yellow or orange- 

 brown, about %in. across, slightly keeled. China, 

 cult, in Japan. S.I. F. 1:71. Var. carinatus, Radlk. 

 (S. utilis, Trabut). Fr. more fleshy, strongly keeled. 

 According to Trabut this variety is cult, in Algeria for 

 its fr. which contains nearly 38 per cent of saponin ; the 

 trees come into bearing in 8-10 years and a tree may 

 yield 60-120 pounds of berries every year. 



BB. Trees deciduous. 



Drummondii, Hook. & Arn. WILD CHINA TREE. 

 SOAPBERRY. Tree, to 50 ft., with scaly red-brown bark: 

 branchlets pubescent while young: Ifts. 8-19, short- 

 stalked, lanceolate, broadly cuneate and oblique at the 

 base, glabrous above, pubescent beneath, 2-3 in. long; 

 rachis marginless: panicles pubescent, 6-9 in. long; 

 sepals acute, ciliate; petals much longer, ovate, 

 pubescent inside; filaments villous: fr. subglobose, not 

 keeled, J^in. across, yellow, finally black. May, June; 

 fr. Sept., Oct. Ark., La. to Ariz, and N. Mex. S.S. 2:76, 

 77 (as S. marginatus). B.B.(ed. 2) 2:500. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



SAPIUM (the Latin name used by Pliny for a 

 resiniferous pine). EuphorHacese. Tropical trees and 

 shrubs cultivated for their economic products and 

 sometimes for ornament. 



Glabrous: juice milky and poisonous: Ivs. alternate 

 or rarely opposite, simple, denticulate to entire; stipules 

 small, 2 conspicuous glands at the apex of the petiole 

 and on each of the scale-like bracts: fls. generally in 

 terminal spikes, the pistillate singly below, the stami- 

 nate in 3's above, all apetalous; calyx of staminate fls. 

 2-3-lobed, the lobes imbricate; stamens 2-3, filaments 

 free; ovary 1-3-celled, 1 ovule in each cell; a 3-parted 

 central column remaining after dehiscence of the caps.: 

 seed without a caruncle. Nearly 100 species, in the 

 tropics of both hemispheres, but chiefly in Amer. Two 

 intro. species are now found wild in S. Fla. Related to 

 Stillingia, Hura, and Homalanthus. 



In their native country a number of species of 

 Sapium are utilized in many ways. They are chiefly 

 important as a source of rubber. S. Jenmanii is the 

 chief source of rubber in British Guiana, where it is 

 found in the alluvial forests in humid situations. It 

 does best in well-drained clayey peat. S. verum, once 

 common in Colombia, has been cut for the rubber until 

 it is now rare, but does well under cultivation in higher 

 altitudes, yielding ten to eighteen pounds of raw rubber 

 to each tree. A number of other species are used for 

 rubber in South America. S. Pavonianum yields a 

 medium grade. It is easily grown but is scarcely in 

 cultivation. S. sebiferum is cultivated, especially in 

 China, for the wax of the seed-covering which is used 

 for candles, soap, and cloth-dressing. The wood of this 

 and other species is utilized. Some of the "jumping 

 beans" are seeds of sapium which contain insect 

 larvae. Sapium may be propagated by seeds or by 

 cuttings. The best varieties are sometimes top-grafted 

 on seedling stocks. 



Pavonianum, Huber (S. utile, Preuss. S. biglandu- 

 losum, Muell. Arg. in part). PALO DE LECHE. Tree, 

 30^-50 ft. high: Ivs. oblong, lanceolate, or oblanceolate: 

 spikes solitary, elongate: style cylindrical, not persist- 

 ent on the caps. : the seeds with red, aril-like covering, 

 soon separating from the central column. Colombia. 



verum, Hemsl. VIRGIN RUBBER. CANCHO BLANCO. 

 Tree, 60-75 ft. high: Ivs. oblong-lanceolate to elliptical, 

 acute at the base, apex rounded: style persistent on the 

 caps.: otherwise similar to the foregoing species. Col- 

 ombia and Ecuador. 



Jenmanii, Hemsl. A large tree: Ivs. oblong-lanceo- 

 late, abruptly and obtusely acuminate; glands of the 

 petiole short, sessile; lateral If .-veins more curved than 

 in the preceding species and the ovary 1-celled: style 

 not persistent. British Guiana. 



