SECHIUM 



SEDUM 



3125 



Florida and the Carolinas, a vine may yield fifty to one 

 hundred or more fruits in a season. The fruit can easily 

 be shipped, and stored for two to four months at mod- 

 erate temperatures. In tropical and subtropical regions 

 there are numerous varieties, differing somewhat in 

 flavor and value. NATHAN MENDERSON. 



SECURINEGA (Latin, securis, hatchet, and negare, 

 to refuse, alluding to the hard wood). Euphorbiacese. 

 Shrubs sometimes grown for the bright green foliage. 



Deciduous: Ivs. alternate, short-petioled, entire, stip- 

 ulate: fls. dioecious or monoecious, apetalous, axillary, 

 the pistillate solitary or few, the staminate in fascicles; 

 sepals 5; stamens usually 5, with a 5-lobed disk at the 

 base; pistillate fls. with entire disk; ovary 3-celled, with 

 3 2-lobed styles: fr. a 3-lobed dehiscent caps., 3-6- 

 seeded. About 10 species in temperate and subtropical 

 regions of S. and Cent. Amer., Asia, Afr., and S. Eu. 



The species in cultivation are bushy round shrubs 

 with slender wand-like branches, rather small bright 

 green foliage, inconspicuous greenish white flowers in 

 axillary clusters or solitary and with small subglobose 

 greenish capsules. They have proved fairly hardy at 

 the Arnold Arboretum, usually only the tips of the 

 young branchlets being winter-killed, and do not seem 

 particular as to the soil. Propagation is by seeds which 

 are usually freely produced w r hen the two sexes are 

 present, and by greenwood cuttings under glass. 



ramifldra, Muell. Arg. (Geblera suffruticosa, Fisch. & 

 Mey. Fluggea suffruticosa, Baill. Acidbton ramiflbrus, 

 Kuntze). Shrub, 3-6 ft. high, with greenish branchlets: 

 Ivs. short-petioled, oval or ovate to ovate-lanceolate, 

 acute or obtuse, cuneate at the base, entire, bright or 

 yellowish green, glabrous, thin, 1-2 in. long: staminate 

 fls. about \y<i lines across, in 5-10-fld. clusters; pistillate 

 solitary: fr. about ^ m - across, greenish. July, Aug. 

 S. Siberia to Amurland and X. China. 



S. flueggeoides, Muell. Arg. (S. japonica, Miq.). Very similar to 

 S. ramiflora: branchlets soon becoming brown or purple: Ivs. usually 

 more obtusish: pistillate fls. 2-5. Japan, Korea, N. and Cent. China. 

 5. Leucopyrus, Muell. Arg.=Fluggea Leucopyrus. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



SEDASTRUM (Sedum and star). CrassuLacese. A 

 genus founded in 1905 to include seven species, most 

 of which had been theretofore referred to Sedum, but 

 differing from that genus in having erect rather than 

 spreading carpels, slender styles, and other characters. 

 Mexican cespitose perennials, with numerous sts. aris- 

 ing from a dense basal rosette of Ivs. and dying to base 

 after flowering: st.-lvs. alternate, mostly broad, fleshy: 

 fls. in a more or less paniculate leafy infl.; calyx green 

 and deeply cleft; corolla white or whitish, with dis- 

 tinct spreading lobes. Probably none is regularly in 

 cult., but at least S. ebractedtum, Rose (Sedum ebrac- 

 tedtum, Moc. & Sesse), has been listed abroad: fl.-sts. 

 about a foot long, ascending or procumbent, pubescent, 

 leafy, somewhat branching, bearing sessile or short- 

 pedicelled w r hitish fls. : basal Ivs. obovate or spatulate, 

 flattened and fleshy, hairy or at least ciliate on margins. 



SEDUM (Latin, sedes, tc sit: the plants fix them- 

 selves on rocks and walls) . Crassuldceae. Succulent herbs, 

 rarely subshrubs, mostly ha-dy and perennial, useful for 

 rockeries and one species, S. spectabile, a frequent showy 

 border plant. See Succulents, Vol. V, page 2672. 



Plants glabrous or glandular-pubescent, fleshy, erect 

 or decumbent, sometimes cespitose or moss-like: Ivs. 

 very variable, opposite, alternate or whorled, entire or 

 serrate: fls. cymose in a few axils and solitary, white, 

 yellow, or rose, rarely red or blue, hermaphrodite or 

 unisexual by abortion; calyx 4-5-lobed; petals 4-5 

 (rarely 6-7), free; stamens 8-10 (rarely 12-14); ovary 

 4-5-carpelled : follicles 4-5, free, many- or few-seeded. 

 About 280 species, mostly natives of the temperate and 

 colder regions of the northern hemisphere. The hardy 

 sedums are monographed, from a horticultural point of 



view, by M. T. Masters in Gardener's Chronicle for 

 1878. Masters' descriptions and treatment have been 



Eartially followed in the present revision. The varia- 

 ility of the If. is very noticeable both in thickness and 

 breadth, some being thick and terete, others flat and 

 thin, though all of them tending toward fleshy. Some are 

 quite linear and from that they range to nearly 1 J^ in. 

 broad. The margin is also variable from entire to deeply 

 dentate. The synonymy of the species is much involved 

 and in some groups, especially the Telephium group, the 

 specific delimitation is very uncertain; in fact the whole 

 genus needs monographic study. The present key is an 

 attempt to differentiate the more prominent forms as 

 they occur in horticulture and is based in part on litera- 

 ture and in part on herbarium specimens. It is unfor- 

 tunately not altogether satisfactory but may prove of 

 some value in separating the species. 



Sedums are of the easiest culture. As a rule, they 

 prefer sandy soil, and are very averse to a wet position 

 in winter. Some are useful plants for carpeting poor 

 and sandy waste places where few other things will 

 grow. The little yellow-flowered plant with pulpy foli- 

 age that spreads in nearly every cemetery is Sedum acre. 

 Sedums are also general favorites in all forms of rock- 

 gardening. They are much used for carpet-bedding, 

 especially the kinds with mealy or glaucous foliage, and 

 those with various metallic shades of purple. In the 

 hardy border, the more robust and bushy kinds, like S. 

 maximum and S. spectabile, are preferred, though any of 

 the lower-growing kinds are suitable for edgings and 

 any of the evergreen kinds are welcome in winter when 

 the hardy border shows few other bits of color or signs 

 of life. As a rule, sedums like the sun, but a few of the 

 species may help to solve the difficult problem of car- 

 peting the ground underneath the trees where the soil 

 is dry and shaded. Sedums are also favorites for baskets 

 and vases, especially the kinds with trailing stems and 

 minute leaves. For greenhouse decoration, S. spectabile 

 is the favorite, as it is perhaps the showiest of the genus. 

 It may be had in flower at any season of the year and 

 remains in bloom a long time. It is also one of the 

 favorite sedums for window-sills, balconies, and house- 

 tops, especially in crowded cities. Sedum acre, however, 

 is everybody's plant. A piece of it is often the only 

 pleasant sight in an ugly city alley. Sedums can be prop- 

 agated by seeds, but they are easily multiplied by the 

 young offsets. These rosettes are somewhat bulb-like 

 in nature and sedums could probably be propagated if 

 it were worth while by using each leaf of a rosette. 

 (Wilhelm Miller.) 



INDEX. 



