3120 



SCIRPUS 



SCORODOSMA 



BB. Rootstocks almost wanting: sts. cespitose, forming turf, 



S-12 in. high, very slender. 



ceriums, Vahl (S. grdcilis, Koch. Isdlepis grdcilis, 

 Hort.). Fig. 3579. Sts. very slender or filiform, cylin- 

 drical, erect or more often drooping: basal sheaths 

 leafless or with a very short filiform blade: involucral 

 bract subulate, about equaling the spikelet, the latter 

 usually solitary, oblong-lanceolate, 1-3 lines long; 

 scales oblong-oval, obtuse, pale brown or whitish; 

 bristles none; styles 3: achene in greenhouse plants 

 rarely maturing. Widely distributed, common in Eu. 

 G. 21:614; 25:111. <Jrows well in damp pots, the 

 drooping sts. producing a very graceful effect. This 

 plant is now considered under Scirpus by practically 

 all authors. S. cernuus is an older name than S. gradlis. 



K. M. WlEGAND. 



SCLEROCARPUS (Greek, hard and fruit, the achenes 

 are inclosed in a hardened palea). Syn., Gymnopsis, in 

 part. Compdsitx. Annual or perennial strigpse-pubes- 

 cent herbs, suitable for outdoor planting in the S.: 

 sts. branching: Ivs. alternate or the lower rarely all 

 opposite, dentate or subentire: heads small or medium, 

 at the ends of the branches, pedunculate, many-fid.: 

 fls. yellow; the ray-fls. few to several, fertile; pappus 

 wanting: achenes more or less 4-sided with a broad flat 

 summit. About 15 species. N. Amer., region of Texas 

 and Mex., Trop. Afr., and Trop. Asia. S. uniseridlis, 

 Benth. & Hook. f. (Gymndpsis uniseridlis, Hook. 

 Gymnolomia uniseridlis, Hort.). Annual, 1-2 ft. high, 

 loosely branched: Ivs. alternate, slender-petioled, del- 

 toid- or rhombic-ovate, or the uppermost lanceolate, 

 coarsely dentate, the strigose pubescence of the lower 

 surface canescent: corollas orange. Texas and Mex. 

 RH. 1853:261. G.C. III. 28:165. 



SCLEROCARYA (Greek, hard and nut or kernel). 

 Anacar diocese. Trees or shrubs, one of which, S. caffra, 

 has been intro. into S. Calif.: Ivs. aggregated toward 

 the ends of the branches, alternate, odd-pinnate, 

 glabrous; Ifts. opposite, long-petiolate, very entire, 

 glaucous below: the male fls. spicate; fls. polygamous; 

 sepals 4, orbicular, colored, imbricate; petals 4, oblong, 

 obtuse, spreading, reflexed, imbricate; disk depressed, 

 entire; stamens in the male fls. 12-15, in the female 

 fewer; ovary subglobose, 2-3-celled: drupe somewhat 

 fleshy, the shell woody, 2-3-celled. About 5 species, 

 Trop. and S. Afr. S. cdffra, Sond. Glabrous: Ivs. 

 alternate, 6-12 in. long; Ifts. 1M-2 in. long, with a short, 

 often oblique tapering point, base acute, pale below: 

 male spikes 2-4, terminal: fls. very short-pedicelled, 

 bracteolate, the dried pedicel red: drupe suborbicular, 

 the size of a small walnut. S. Afr. 



SCOLOPENDRIUM (from Scolopendra, the name of a 

 centiped, the resemblance being found in the lines of 

 linear sori on the backs of the Ivs.). Polypodidcese. The 

 name most common in the trade for the hart's-tongue 

 ferns (known as Scolopendrium vulgare) and its varie- 

 ties. See Phyllitis. 



SCOLOPIA (Greek, thorn or stake, probably so 

 named on account of the spines). Flacourtidcese. Spiny 

 trees, the spines often compound, one of which, S. 

 crenata, has been intro. in S. Calif.: Ivs. alternate, 

 entire; stipules minute or none: fls. small, racemed, 

 axillary, dioecious; sepals 4-6; petals 4-6, subsimilar; 

 stamens many; ovary 1-celled: berry 2-4-seeded. 

 About 30 species, Afr., Asia, and Austral. 



crenata, Clos. Branches of young trees armed, of old 

 unarmed: Ivs. 2-6x1-2 in., ovate or oblong-lanceo- 

 late, base acute, obtusely or acutely acuminate, sub- 

 crenate, glabrous: racemes axillary, 1-3 in. long: sepals 

 and petals 5-6 each: fr. globose, green, when dry the 

 size of a cherry. India, China, and the Philippines. 

 Intro, into Calif. 



SCOLYMUS (old Greek name used by Hesiod). Com- 

 pdsitse. Three or four herbs, all natives of the Medi- 

 terranean region. S. grandiflorus, a perennial species, 

 is rarely cultivated abroad for its flowers and S. 

 maculatus, an annual species, for its variegated foliage. 

 Scolymus hispanicus (Fig. 3580) is the vegetable 

 known as golden thistle or Spanish oyster plant. It 

 makes a root very like salsify, except that it is much 

 lighter colored and considerably longer. Its flavor is 

 less pronounced than that of salsify, but when care- 

 fully cooked, it possesses a very agreeable quality which 

 is somewhat intermediate between that of salsify and 

 parsnip. It is adapted to all the methods of cooking 

 employed for those vegetables. The particular value of 



the Spanish oyster plant, 

 aside from affording a 

 variety in the kitchen- 

 garden, is its large size 

 and productiveness as 

 compared with salsify. 

 The product may be 

 nearly twice as great, for 

 a given area, as for 

 salsify. The seeds are 

 much easier to handle 

 and to sow than those of 

 salsify. They are sown 

 in March or April. The 

 seeds, or rather achenes, 

 are flat and yellowish, 

 surrounded by a white 

 scarious margin. The 

 roots may be dug either 

 in fall or spring. The 

 greatest fault of the 

 Spanish oyster plant lies 

 in the prickly character 

 of the leaves, which 

 makes the plant uncom- 

 fortable to handle. The 

 roots are often 10 to 12 

 inches long and 1 inch 

 thick. It is said that 

 the leaves and stalks are 

 eaten like cardoons by 

 the people of Salamanca; 

 also that the flowers are 

 used to adulterate saf- 

 fron. 



The S. hispanicus, Linn., is a biennial plant, native 

 to S. Eu. The radical Ivs. are very spiny, oblong, pin- 

 natifid, dark green, marked with pale green spots. 

 The plant grows 2-2^ ft. high, is much branched and 

 bears bright yellow fl. -heads which are sessile and con- 

 tain only 2 or 3 fls., all of which are ligulate. The heads 

 are sessile, terminal, and axillary. L H. B. 



SCOPOLIA (named in honor of Joh. Ant. Scopoli, 

 1725-1788). Solandcese. Erect slightly branched gla- 

 brous hardy perennial herbs for outdoor planting: TVS. 

 membranaceous, entire: fls. lurid purple or greenish, 

 veined, nodding, borne on solitary filiform pedicels; 

 calyx broad-campanulate, membranaceous truncately 

 or broadly 5-lobed; corolla campanulate, the limb 

 folded, 5-angled or shortly and broadly 5-lobed; sta- 

 mens 5; ovary conical, 2-celled almost to the apex: caps, 

 included in the calyx. About 5 species, 1 in Eu., 

 1 in Himalaya, and the others in Japan and China. S. 

 carniolica, Jacq. (Hyoscyamus Scopolia, Linn.). About 

 1 ft. or more high: Ivs. entire, petiolate, about 3 in. 

 long, ovate or obovate-oblong, subcuspidate : fls. soli- 

 tary, axillary, nodding; corolla lurid red, yellow, or 

 green inside. Russia. B.M. 1126. Somewhat used in 

 medicine. 



SCOROD6SMA: Ferula; supplementary list. 



3580. Spanish salsify, or golden 

 thistle. Scolymus hispanicus. 



