SAP 



SAP 



They have a very ornamental effect in the bor- 

 iJcrs and clumps, when kept properly trimmed in 

 and tabtet'ully intermixed with other similar 

 plants, in the fronts and more conspicuous 

 parts. 



SAPINDUS, a genus containing plants of 

 the tree, shrubby, and tender exotic kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Octamhia 

 Trigynia, aixl ranks in the naturil order of Tri- 

 hilalce. 



The characters are : that the calvx is a four- 

 leaved perianth, -sprcadrng ; leaflets subovatc, 

 almost equal, flat, spreading, coloured, decidu- 

 ous ; two of them exterior: the corolla has four 

 ovate, clawed petals ; two of them more ap- 

 proximating : nectary pf four oblong concEve 

 erect leaflets, inserted into the base of the pe- 

 tals : glands four, roundish, inserted also into 

 the base of the petals: the stamina have eight 

 filaments, length of the flower; anthers cordate, 

 erect: the pistillum is a triangular germ : styles 

 three, short : sticmas simple, obtuse: the pcri- 

 carpium has three capsules, fleshy, globular, 

 connate, inflated : the seed is a globular nut 

 (two-celled). 



The species arc : \. S. Sapot/avM, Common 

 Soa|i berry Tree; 2. S. rigidiis, A^h-leavcd 

 Soap-berry Tree. 



There are other species that may be culti- 

 vated for variety. 



The first rises with a woody stalk in its native 

 situation, from twenty to thirty feet high, send- 

 ing out many branches towards the toji, which 

 are garnished with winged leaves, composed of 

 three, four, or live pair of spear-shaped leaflets, 

 which are from three to four inches lonsr, and 

 , an inch and a quarter broad in the middle, draw- 

 ing to a point at both ^ends : the n)idrib has a 

 niemfjranaceous or leafy border running on each 

 side from one pair^f leaflets to the other, which 

 is broadest in the middle between the leafiets ; 

 thev are of a pale green colour, and are pretty 

 ptiflT; the flowers are produced in loose spikes 

 at the end of the branches; are small and white, 

 liiaking no great appearance : these are suc- 

 ceeded by oval berries as large as middling cher- 

 ries, son>etimes single, at others two, three, or 

 four are joined together ; these have a sapona- 

 ceous skin or cover, which incloses a very 

 ruiooth roundish nut of the same form and 

 of a shimng black when ripe. It is a native 

 of the Wax. Indies. 



The nuts were fornierly brought hither for 

 buttons to waistcoats, some tippid with silver, 

 and others with diflerent metals, and were very 

 durable, as they did not wear, and seldom 

 utoke. 



The second species, according to Miller, has 

 a strong woody stalk which rises about twenty 

 feet high, sending out many short stroni' 

 branches, covered with a smooth gray bark : 

 the leaves composed of two paiis of spear-shaped 

 leaflets, very stifle and smooth ; the inner pair 

 small, selaom more than an inch and half lonij; 

 the two outer near three inches long, and almiJst 

 an inch broad in the middle, drawing to points 

 at both ends ; they are oblique to the footstalk, 

 of a pale green, and sit close to the midrib : the 

 ends of tlie branches are divided into two or 

 three footstalks, each sustaining a loose spike 

 of flowers : the berriis roundish; generally two, 

 three, or four joinedtogether. It is a native of 

 the West Indies. 



Culture. — These plants may be raised from 

 seeds, procured from their native situations, 

 which should be sown in small pots filled with 

 rich fresh earth early in the spring, plun- 

 ging them in a hot-bed of bark, and "watering 

 them frequently: — when the plants appear, the 

 glasses should be raised daily to admit fresh air, 

 and when they have had some growth, they 

 should be shaken out of the pots, carefully se- 

 parated, and planted in distinct pots filled with 

 light rich mould, re-plunging them in the hol- 

 ~bed, and shading them from the sun till they have 

 ^ricken root, when they should have free air 

 admitted daily when the weather is warm, and 

 be frequently watered : as they soon fill the pots 

 with their roots, they should be often removed 

 into larger ones, and be gradually inured to the 

 open air, as when too much forced in the sum- 

 mer they are apt to die in the wiuler. In the 

 beginning of the autunm they should be re- 

 moved into the bark-bed of the stove, or be 

 placed upon the shelves of it, where they often 

 succeed better, being managed as other stove 

 plants of the same nature. 



They allord variety in stove collections. 



SAPONARIA, a genus containing plants of 

 the herbaceous perennial and annual kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Deiandna 

 Digijnia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Ciiri/ophil/ei. 



Tiie ehai-aetcrs are : that the calyx is a rjue- 

 Icafed, naked, tubular, five-toothed pernuuient 

 perianth: the corolla has five petals; claws, 

 narrow, angular, length of the calvx ; border 

 flar, w ith the plates wider outwards, blunt : the 

 stamina have ten awl-shajied filaments, lensith of 

 the tiibe of the corolla, alternately inserted into 

 the claws of the petals, five later; anthers oblontr, 

 blunt, incumbent : the pistillum is a subcyliu- 

 (Ineal germ : styles two, straight, parallel, 

 length of the stamens; stigmas acute : tlie pert- 



