374 DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES SEA 



Sea Trumpet. {See Trumpet.) 



Seaside Grape (Coccoloha itvifera), a small tree of the Buck- 

 wheat family (Polygonaceee). It has cordate oval leaves, and is a 

 native of Barbadoes and other West Indian islands. The flowers 

 are in spikes, and the calyx when ripe, becoming fleshy, has the 

 apj)earance of a grape. The bark is astringent, and has been 

 used for tanning leather. 



Seaweeds, a general term for the plants com^Drehended 

 under the order Algse of the Linn&ean class Cryptogamia, known 

 as flowerless plants. It includes not only plants growing in the 

 sea, as the name Seaweed implies, but also in fresh water, and 

 on moist earth, rocks, stone, and living and diseased vegetable 

 substances, in the form of slime and jellies. They vary in form 

 from microscopic bodies to large plants several feet in length. 

 The number of species is extremely numerous, and included by 

 modern botanists in about 300 genera, which are arranged under 

 five distinct natural families. But few are of economic import- 

 ance ; the principal ones will be found noticed under their 

 respective local names. 



Sebestens, the name in India for the fruit of Cordia myxa 

 and C, latifolia, small trees of the Borage family (Boraginaceie), 

 natives of India. Their fruit, which grows in clusters, consists 

 of a drupe, an inch or more in diameter, yellow when ripe, the 

 pulp of which is soft and clammy. C. latifolia is the larger, 

 but both are eaten by the natives. 



Sedge. — Sedges, grass-like plants of the Cyperus family 

 (Cyperaceae), of which there are many species. The principal 

 genus, Carex, includes about 66 species, natives of this country. 

 C. arenaria grows on the sea-shores, forming hassock-like tufts, 

 which, with its running roots, bind and hold the loose sands (see 

 Marrum). 



Semolina, or Semola. — In some kinds of wheat, especially 

 Italian, the gluten and starch combine in the form of small hard 

 grains, which separate from the flour in the process of grinding, 

 and which come to this country from Italy under the name of 

 SemoHna. It is used for puddings and invalids' food. 



