SIDEROXYLOX 



SILEXE 



3163 



in. long, and small yellow fls.: fr. about %in. through. 

 W. Indies; cult, in S. Calif. Said to yield a sort of 

 chewing-gum. Wood useful in furniture-making. 



F. W. BARCLAY. 



SffiVEKINGIA (named for Dr. Sieveking). Orchi- 

 dacfs. Pseudobulbous orchids suitable for the warm- 

 house; of secondary importance. 



Pseudobulbs usually clustered, 1-lvd.: If. usually 

 petioled: labellum immobile, angled with the column, 

 ventrieose, either simple or tridentate at the apex. 

 About 3 species, natives of Cent, and S. Amer. Allied 

 to Lacsena. 



Reichenbachiana, Hook, f . Pseudobulbs clustered, 1 

 in. long, ovoid or obpyrifprm, blotched with blood-red 

 when old: If. single, 4-5 in. long, petioled, elliptic-lan- 

 ceolate, acuminate at both ends, dark green, strongly 

 5-ribbed : fls. about 6 in a pendulous corymb, about 1 J^ 

 in. across; sepals subequal, ovate, pale straw-colored; 

 petals linear, acute, golden yellow, they and the lip 

 margined with long flexuous golden hairs; lip spread 

 out, side lobes large, dimidiate-ovate, subfalcate, gol- 

 den yellow, blotched with blood-red, midlobe small, 

 linear, lacerate. Ecuador. B.M. 7576. 



suavis, Reichb. f. Pseudobulbs pyriform, approxi- 

 mate: If. petioled, cuneate-oblong, acute, plicate: fls. 

 about 3 in a pendulous raceme; sepals greenish yellow, 

 ovate; petals and lip deep yellow, the latter with a few 

 minute blackish dots inside and some larger ones on the 

 basal crest. Costa Rica. 



There is a third species in the trade, S. peruriana, Rolfe, but 

 while mentioned in Orchid Review it seems never to have been 



F. TRACY HUBBABD. 



SIGMATOGYNE (Greek S and female, referring to 

 the S-shaped gynostemium, the peculiar column of 

 the orchids). Orchidacese. Epiphytic herbs with peren- 

 nial 2-1 vd., small pseudobulbs: Ivs. perennial, mem- 

 branaceous: scape various-fld.(?), rising below the 

 pseudobulb, 1-fld.: fls. perfect, small, diaphanous; peri- 

 anth spreading, upside down, withering; sepals 3, free, 

 the dorsal keeled, the lateral almost straight forward 

 and symmetrical; petals 2, rather similar to the sepals; 

 labellum free, inserted at the base of the S-bent rather 

 broad gynostemium, somewhat mobile; column broad, 

 thick, much shorter than the labellum; pollinia 4, in 

 pairs; rostellum (beak) little bent down: caps, unknown. 

 Two species, Himalayas. 5. Panilingii, Pfitz. Plant 

 small: scape scarcely exceeding the narrowly ovate 

 pseudobulbs: sepals scarcely %in. long, oblong, the 

 dorsal carinate, acute, the lateral concave at base; pet- 

 als similar, narrower; labellum entire, oblong, slightly 

 dilated toward the apex. Assam. The color of the fl. 

 is not described and the scape including the fl. is only 

 about \Y in. long. jr TRACY HUBBARD. 



SIGMATOSTALIX (Greek S and stake). Orcfridacex. 

 Low herbs with very short, few-lvd. sts., covered with 

 distichous sheaths and terminated by a 1-lvd. pseudo- 

 bulb, suitable for the warmhouse: fls. in racemes, short- 

 pedicelled, pendulous, medium-sized or small; sepals 

 free, about equal, spreading, acute or acuminate; 

 petals similar to the sepals only narrower; labellum 

 long-clawed, 2-keeled; column elongated, very narrow; 

 pplfinia 2: caps, ovoid, 3-edged, beakless. About 12 spe- 

 cies, Trop. Amer. S. bicorniita, Rolfe. Cespitose, about 

 2 in. high: pseudobulbs elliptic-oblong, apex 1-lvd., 

 base 4-lvd.: Ivs. linear, subobtuse or minutely denticu- 

 late: scapes lateral, slender, few-fld. : fls. small, yellow 

 with deep purple-red stripes; sepals linear-lanceolate, 

 reflexed; petals linear-lanceolate, with 2 fleshy coni- 

 cal horns; labellum sessile,. somewhat spreading, reni- 

 form-orbicular. Peru. S. Elise, Rolfe. Pseudobulbs 

 compressed, ovate-oblong, apex 1-lvd., base 2-3-lvd.: 

 Ivs. oblong and very short bidentate, base attenuate: 

 scapes slender, many-fld. : fls. yellow, spotted with red- 



dish brown; sepals and petals oblong-lanceolate, acute, 

 reflexed; labellum spreading, broad-clawed, 3-lobed, 

 midlobe renif orm-orbicular, lateral lobes reflexed, linear- 

 oblong. Colombia. S. perwiana, Rolfe. Cespitose, 

 about 2-3 in. high: pseudobulb ovoid or ovoid-oblong, 

 apex 1-lvd., base 4-lvd.: Ivs. linear, subobtuse, or 

 minutely denticulate, base conduplicate : scapes lateral, 

 slender, few-fld. : sepals and petals straw-colored with 

 purple band at base of dorsal sepal and the petals, lip 

 light yellow with a shiny orange-yellow crest; sepals 

 oblong spreading; petals suberect, oblong; labellum sub- 

 sessile, deltoid-renlform, undulate. Peru. 



F. TRACY HUBBARD. 



SILENE (Greek name of one of Bacchus' companions 

 described as covered with foam, also connected with 

 sialon, saliva; referring to the stickiness of the stem and 

 calyx of some species). Including Hdiosperma and 

 Meldndrium in part. Caryophyttaceae. CATCHFLY. 

 CAMPION. Erect, cespitose, decumbent or diffusely 

 climbing annual, biennial, or perennial herbs, some of 

 them tender and grown in the greenhouse, others hardy 

 and planted outdoors for their ornamental effect; often 

 excellent plants for the rock-garden. 



Leaves opposite, entire: fls. solitary or variously 

 cymose, white, through pink to rose and purple; calyx 

 5-toothed, 10- to many-nerved, naked at the base; pet- 

 als mostly crowned with a scale at the base of the blade; 

 stamens 10; styles 3, rarely 4: pod 1-celled, sometimes 

 3-celled. Over 400 species described, widely scattered 

 over the world. There is a monograph of Silene, with a 

 key, in the Journal of the T..inn?p-a.n Society, vol. 32 

 (1896), by F. N. Williams, with 390 good species. 

 Williams refers the common S. virginica and S. pennsyl- 

 vanica as well as the European S. viscosa to the genus 

 Melandrium, characterized by a strictly unicellular 

 caps, with no trace of septation at the base. Only a 

 few of the known species are in cult. 



Silenes are of easy culture. They mostly bloom in 

 summer, and a few continue well into autumn. By 

 good management the season of bloom may be con- 

 tinued through spring and summer. Toward this end 

 the seeds of the common annual kinds should be sown in 

 early autumn, instead of spring. As a rule, the common 

 kinds prefer a sandy loam and full sunlight, but the 

 rock-garden kinds require special treatment, and other 

 suggestions for cultivation are given after the specific 

 descriptions. The most popular kinds are the pink and 

 rose annuals, S. Armeria and S. pendida. Of the peren- 

 nials the most popular among the white-fld. kinds are 

 S. maritima and S. alpestris, while S. virginica, S. penn- 

 sylvanica and S. Schafta. are amongst the most popular 

 kinds with colored flowers. A good horticultural review 

 of the kinds in cultivation is found in The Garden, vol. 

 11, pp. 10-13 (1877). 



