310 SELECT PLANTS FOR INDUSTRIAL CULTURE 



perennial herb and of the allied annual S. brachycarpa (F. v. 

 M.) serves as fodder, which cattle are ravenously fond of. 

 According to Mr. T. Gulliver, the green pods, as well as the 

 seeds, are nutritious, wholesome, and of pleasant taste. 

 Roxburgh mentions the leaves and young pods of S. grandi- 

 flora as excellent for spinach. 



Sesbania cannabina, Persoon, 



South Asia. An annual herb of easy growth in wet 

 localities, requiring less attention in weeding and otherwise 

 than the Jute plant. The crop for fibre ripens in about five 

 months. 



Sesleria coerulea, Arduino.* 



Most parts of Europe. Of this perennial grass Lengethal ob- 

 serves that it is for dry and loose limestone what Elymus are- 

 narius is for loose sand. It stands well depasturing by sheep, 

 and is one of the earliest grasses in the season. S. dacty- 

 loides, Nuttall (Buchloa dactyloides, Torrey), is the Buffalo 

 Grass of Kansas. 



Sesuvium Portulacastmm, Linne. 



All around the globe on the shores of tropical and sub-tro- 

 pical countries, occurring naturally as far south as Port 

 Jackson. A perennial creeping herb, fit to fix the sandy silt 

 on the edges of sea-coasts. 



Shepherdia argentea, Nuttall. 



The Buffalo Berry. From the Missouri to Hudson's Bay. 

 This bush bears red, acidulous, edible berries. 



Shorea robusta, Gaertner. 



The Sal Tree. India, up to 3,000 feet. It attains as a maxi- 

 mum a height of 150 and a girth of 25 feet. One of the most 

 famed of Indian timber trees. Drs. Stewart and Brandis 

 found it on sandstone, conglomerate, gravelly and shingly 

 ground, where loose water-transmitting soils are mixed with a 

 large portion of vegetable mould. The climatic conditions 

 within a Sal area may be expressed as mean annual rainfall, 

 40 to 100 inches; mean temperature, in the cool season 55 Q to 

 77, in the hot season 77 to 85 F. Sal will stand the occa- 

 sional sinking of the temperature below freezing point. The 

 heart wood is dark brown, coarse-grained, hard, very heavy, 

 strong, tough, with fibrous cross-structure, the fibres inter- 

 laced. For buildings, river boats, and railway sleepers it is the 



