876 STAPHYLEA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. STEPHANANDRA, 



is a neat downy plant with showy spikes 

 of reddish-purple or rosy flowers from 

 May onwards, sometimes used in the 

 rougher parts of the rock garden. A 

 good form of this is grandiflora-superba 

 with deep purple flowers. Division. 



STAPHYLEA (Bladder Nut). Of the 

 older kinds only S. colchica is important, 

 this being a beautiful shrub with pinnate 

 leaves and large terminal clusters of snow- 

 white flowers in early summer. It is 

 hardy, grows well in any good soil, pre- 

 ferring partial shade, and is commonly 

 forced into flower for the greenhouse in 

 early spring. Increase by suckers, layers, 

 and ripe autumn cuttings rooted under a 

 handlight in sandy soil. A pretty variety 

 called colchica Hessei has flowers flushed 

 with rose. S. coulombierii, a cross be- 

 tween 5. colchica and S. pinnata, bears 

 long loose clusters of creamy white 

 flowers which are larger and expand more 

 widely than in the parents. 



STATICE (Sea Lavender). Plants of 

 the Leadwort or Plumbago family, all dwarf 

 perennials or annuals, chiefly natives of 

 shore and mountain districts. Most of 

 them bear large twiggy flower-stems 

 covered with myriads of small flowers, 

 which are for the most part dry and mem- 

 braneous, and retain their colour long 

 after being cut, so that they are frequently 

 mixed with other everlasting flowers for 

 vase decoration or wreath-making in win- 

 ter. The larger species require least care 

 when in an open exposed bed of sandy 

 soil, while many of them are admirable 

 for the rock-garden, being green through- 

 out the year. They are deep-rooting 

 plants and dislike disturbance, taking 

 some while to regain strength. The best 

 of the larger kinds are S. Limonium, of 

 which there are several varieties ; S. lati- 

 folia, the finest of all, with wide-spreading 

 flower-stems and a profusion of small 

 purplish-blue flowers ; and S. tatarica, a 

 dwarfer species, with distinct red flowers. 

 The smaller species, such as S. minuta* 

 S. minutiflora, S. caspia, S. eximia, are 

 good rock-plants. Among the half-hardy 

 annuals and biennials the best are : S. 

 Bondnelli (yellow), a biennial if protected 

 in winter ; S. spicata, with spikes of small 

 rosy flowers ; Thouini (violet), very free 

 flowering ; and sinuata (purple and white), 

 pretty, and easy to grow. There are 

 several varieties of 6". sinuata hybrida of 

 varied colour, which make pretty border 

 flowers. All the annual and biennial 

 Statices should be raised from seed in 

 early spring, and planted out when large 

 enough. The half-hardy bienniajs need 

 protection during winter, and should not 



be put out until the spring after they are 

 raised. 



STAUNTONIA. S. kexaphylla is afine 

 evergreen twining pinnate-leaved shrub 

 from China, hardy enough in the warmer 

 parts of these islands for wall-culture. 

 Its small flowers are whitish, fragrant, and 

 produced in early summer. Occasionally 

 these are succeeded by large reddish- 

 purple oval fruits, filled with soft juicy 

 pulp. It must have a sheltered wall, but 

 in a place not too dry and sunny or the 

 leaves turn a sickly yellow. During severe 

 frosts the plant should be protected in a 

 simple way. 



STEIRONEMA. Showy perennials of 

 the Primrose order from North America, 

 nearly allied to Loosestrife and thriving 

 under the same conditions. Two kinds 

 are useful at the waterside or in the bog- 

 garden, S. ciliata with leafy stems i to 3 

 ft. high, bearing showy pale-yellow flowers ; 

 and S. longifolium with shorter square 

 stems clothed with narrow shining green 

 leaves, and crowned with heads of bright 

 yellow flowers. 



Stenactis. See ERIGERON. 



STENANTHIUM. A small group of 

 bulbous-rooted plants of the Lily order, 

 mostly from the pacific coast of North 

 America. The only species certainly in 

 cultivation is S. robustum, a hardy plant 2 

 to 3 ft. in height, with massive spikes of 

 closely packed creamy-white and fragrant 

 flowers in August. 



STEPHANANDRA. Graceful shrubs 

 allied to the Spiraeas. They like a good 

 loamy soil, well drained, but still moist 

 and are some of the most easily propa- 

 gated of shrubs. Cuttings taken towards 

 the end of the summer before the wood 

 is too hard root readily ; they can also be 

 increased by division. When plants of S. 

 flexuosa which have been growing long 

 in one spot are removed, quite a little 

 thicket of young plants will spring from 

 the roots left in the ground. 



S. FLEXUOSA. Although the earlier intro- 

 duced of the two species, this has not long 

 been in cultivation. It grows 3 ft. to 4 ft. 

 high with us, but will probably get to be quite 

 twice as high in more favourable climates. It 

 forms a thick bush, suckering freely from the 

 base like a Spirsea or a Kerria, and, like those 

 plants, is improved by an occasional thinning, 

 ft is chiefly for its graceful habit and prettily 

 cut foliage that it is grown, though the soft red 

 of the young shoots in spring and the crimson- 

 purple leaf tints in autumn, render it attractive 

 through a long season. Its branches are thin, 

 wiry, and crooked, coming in June, the flowers 

 crowded on short branching panicles, small and 

 greenish white. Japan and Corea. Syn. , 

 Spircea incisa. 



