3156 



SEQUOIA 



SERJANIA 



from the present waste which technical chemists are 

 able to make profitable. This is also true of the S. 

 gigantea when lumbered on private lands; the beauty 

 and durability of the timber, and the value of its pos- 

 sible by-products make care in reforesting eminently 

 desirable. Pencil manufacturers are beginning to use 

 the wood of selected trees of S. gigantea. The rapidity 

 of growth of both sequoias when young, and when 

 favorably situated, is so great that the forestry of the 

 future is likely to extend rather than diminish these 

 forests. CHARLES HOWARD SHINN. 



SERAPIAS (ancient name of an orchid, derived from 

 Serapis, an Egyptian divinity). Orchidacese. Terres- 

 trial herbs with the habit of Orchis: sepals connivent 

 in the form of a helmet; petals included, small; label- 

 lum not spurred, with erect lateral lobes and a larger 

 undivided, middle lobe; pollinia with a common viscid 

 disk; rostellum laterally compressed. Four or 5 species 

 are known from the Medit. region. Keep the plants 

 partially dry during winter months. Give plenty of 

 water when in vigorous growth. Pot in leaf-mold, 

 loam, and sand. 



The above is the genus Serapias as formerly under- 

 stood and known to horticulturists. With the recent use 

 of this name for the Cephalanthera-Epipactis group, 

 however, the following species are thrown in the genus 

 Serapiastrum, taking the names S. cordigerum, A. A. 

 Eaton, and S. Lingua, A. A. Eaton. See Vol. Ill, p. 1357. 



Lingua, Linn. St. erect, up to 1 ft. high, bearing 

 several narrow, acute Ivs. : sepals lanceolate, greenish or 

 purplish labellum much longer; lateral lobes rounded, 

 erect middle lobe oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, smooth, 

 red. Medit. region. B.M. 5868, B. G.C. III. 48:482. 



cordigera, Linn. Resembles the preceding species in 

 habit: labellum brownish red, middle lobe ovate, acumi- 

 nate, subcordate at the base, pilose. Medit. region. 

 B.M. 5868, A. R.H. 1892:390. G.C. II. 20:341. 



S. Helleborine, Linn., of Eu. and very local in this country, ia 

 not a horticultural subject. REINRICH HASSELBRING. 



L. H. B.f 



SERENOA (after Sereno Watson, distinguished 

 American botanist, 1826-1892). Also written Serensea. 

 Palmacese. Low shrubby or tree-like, more or less 

 armed palms. 



Caudex creeping, branched, clothed with the fibrous 

 bases of the If .-sheaths: Ivs. terminal, orbicular, coria- 

 ceous, deeply plicate-multifid, glaucous beneath, with 

 narrow bifid infolded segms.; rachis none; ligule short; 

 petiole plano-convex, dentate on the margins: spadix 

 long, tomentose, the flexuous rachis covered with 

 deeply obliquely fissured, tubular sheaths, the spread- 

 ing branches forked, the alternate branchlets very slen- 

 der: spathes many, sheathing the peduncle: bractlets 

 minute: fls. white: fr. ovoid, black, an inch long. 

 Species 2, Fla. to S. C. Cult, in the temperate house, or 

 outdoors from Charleston southward. 



The saw palmetto is the native creeping fan-leaved 

 palm. Those who are clearing land in Florida con- 

 sider it a nuisance. It is, however, of great interest to 

 northern tourists, many of whom like to take home a 

 small Florida palm in a pot or tub. This species does 

 very well hi pots, though it is of slow growth. Relatively 

 speaking, it is very hardy, as it will stand a tempera- 

 ture of 10 F. The leaves of the saw palmetto, both 

 fresh and dried, are sent north in great quantities for 

 Christmas decoration. The "crowns" are also largely 

 used for the same purpose and deserve a greater popu- 

 larity. Crowns are whole tops cut off; they have no 

 roots, and only a part of the stem. They give the effect 

 of the whole plant and are therefore much more desir- 

 able for some purposes than single leaves. They will 

 last for weeks, if kept moist, in the shade and free from 

 drafts. Crowns 3 to 5 feet high are considerably used for 

 large decorations. (E. N. Reasoner.) 



serrulata, Hook. f. SAW PALMETTO. A shrub: st. 

 creeping, branching, 4-8 ft. long: Ivs. 2-4 ft., erect, cir- 

 cular in outline, fan-shaped, shorter than the slender, 

 spiny-edged petiole; segms. slightly cleft at the apex, 

 without thread-like filaments: spadix densely tomentose, 

 shorter than the Ivs.: drupe black, %~% m - long. 

 Summer. 



arborescens, Sarg. Tree, 30-40 ft. high, with 1 or 

 several erect or decumbent sts.: Ivs. semi-orbicular, 

 truncate at base, yellowish green above, bluish green 

 below, 2x2 ft., divided nearly to the base into narrow 

 linear-lanceolate lobes: spadix drooping, about 3 ft. 

 long, the fls. yellow-green. S. Fla. Differs from fore- 

 going in arborescent habit, more elongated spadix, much 

 smaller fls. and smaller, globose fr. and seeds. 



N. TAYLOR-f 



SERICOCARPUS (Greek, silken fruit). Compdsitx. 

 Five species of perennial herbs from N. E. U. S. closely 

 allied to Aster and scarcely distinguishable from the 

 section Biotia of that genus. The achenes are not so 

 strongly compressed as in Aster. The fl. -heads have 

 white rays and pale yellow disks which sometimes 

 become purplish. They are erect perennials with alter- 

 nate Ivs. and medium-sized heads of white ray- and 

 disk-fls. S. rlgidus, Lindl., the only western represen- 

 tative of the group (Brit. Col. to Calif.) was once offered. 



SERICOGRAPmS: Jacobinia. 



SERISSA (from the Indian name). Rubiacese. 

 Branched shrub, glabrous or the branches puberulent, 

 fetid when bruised, adapted to the greenhouse: Ivs. 

 rather small, opposite, subsessile, ovate; stipules per- 

 sistent: fls. rather small, axillary or terminal, solitary 

 or fascicled, white; calyx-tube obconical, limb 4-6- 

 parted, the lobes subulate-lanceolate; corolla funnel- 

 form, tube and throat pilose inside, limb 4-6-lobed, 

 short, the lobes obtusely 3-lobed; stamens 4-6; ovary 

 2-celled: fr. subglobose. One species, S. E. Asia. 



foetida, Lam. (S. japdnica, Thunb.). About 2 ft. 

 high: Ivs. rather leathery, ovate, acuminate: fls. white. 

 Japan. B.M. 361 (asLyciumjaponicum). Var. variegata, 

 Hort., has yellow-margined Ivs. F. TRACY HUBBARD. 



SERJANIA (named in honor of Paul Serjeant). 

 Sapindacex. Climbing or twining shrubs adapted to the 

 warmhouse, and grown in the open in warm countries: 

 Ivs. alternate, without stipules (or with minute stipules), 

 ternate, twice-ternate or odd-pinnate, frequently pel- 

 lucid-punctate: racemes or panicles axillary, frequently 

 bearing 2 tendrils; fls. yellowish, irregular, polyga- 

 mous; sepals 5 (or 4, 2 connate), imbricate, the outer 

 ones smaller; petals 4, the fifth seat vacant; disk undu- 

 late, swollen into 4 glands, 2 larger and 2 smaller, some- 

 times obsolete ; stamens 8 ; ovary 3-celled, sessile or short- 

 stipitate: samara? 3, indehiscent. About 190 species, 

 Trop. and Subtrop. S. Amer. Probably very little cult. 



cuspidata, Cambess. (Urvillea ferruginea, Lindl.). 

 Climbing: branches acutely triangular, the angles 

 densely brown-pilose: Ivs. ternate; Ifts. somewhat cor- 

 date at base, generally ovate in outline, somewhat 

 3-lobed, irregularly and coarsely toothed, the terminal 

 1ft. somewhat decurrent on the petiolule: fls. rather 

 large for the genus; petals usually glabrous: fr. large, 

 ovate, 3-winged. Brazil. B.R. 1077. Gt, 63, p. 325. 



fuscifolia, Radlk. Tall climbing rufous-pubescent 

 shrub with costate branches: Ivs. biternate, the Ifts. 

 ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acute or somewhat obtuse, 

 simply or double serrate, more or less rufous pubescent 

 beneath and on the nerves above, minutely pellucid- 

 punctate, the terminal one contracted into a petiolule 

 and the lateral ones sessile: fls. small, somewhat pedi- 

 cellate, sepals tomentose: fr. ovate-elliptic, mostly 

 puberulent or velutinous. Brazil. Cult, in Calif. 



F. TRACY HUBBARD. 



