S M Y 



SOL 



be sown in pots filled with fine mould in the 

 spring, being plunged in a hot-bed to lorwnrd 

 their coming up: when the plants have attained 

 some growth thev should be planted out and 

 managed as the others. 



The twn last tender sorts may be increased 

 by layers of the young shoots, and dividing the 

 roots, which shculd be laid down, or planted 

 out in the spring season in pots, in order to 

 have the culture of other woody green-house 

 plants of the same nature. 



The layers will be ready to take off in the 

 spring following. 



The first sorts are proper for shady situations, 

 borders, &c. and the latter afford variety in the 

 green-house collections. 



SiM YRNIUM, a genus containing a jilant of 

 the herbaceous esculent kind. 



It belongs to the class and order Pentandria 

 Digi/nia, and ranks in the natural order of Um- 

 letlalcE or Umlellifc-rce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is an uni- 

 versal umbel, unequal, becomins; daily biffser : 

 partial erect : the involucre universal none : 

 partial none : perianth proper scarcely apparent : 

 the corolla is universal uniform : floscules of the 

 disk abortive : proper of five lanceolate petals, 

 slightly bent-in, keeled : the stamina have five 

 simple filaments, length of the corolla: anthers 

 simple: the pistillum is an inferior germ : styles 

 two, simple : stigmas two, simple : there is no 

 pericarpium : fruit oblong, striated, bipartile: the 

 seeds two, lunulate, on one side convex, marked 

 with three angles, flat on the other. 



The species cultii'ated isS. Olusatrum, Com- 

 mon Alexanders. 



It has a biennial root, fleshy, branched : the 

 whole herb of a pale bright green, often of a 

 sickly yellowish cast, smooth, succulent, in fla- 

 vour something like Celery, but more strong and 

 bitter: the stem round, strong, deeply grooved : 

 the upper leaves teriiate, lower tritcrnate ; leaf- 

 lets wide, varying in form, gashed and serrate, 

 subpetioled : the common petiole dilated at the 

 base, ventricose, and nerved : umbels terminat- 

 ing, globular, many-rayed : the flowers small, 

 numerous, irregular, greenish yellow : the fruit 

 large, black, remarkably gibbous, deeply grooved. 

 It is a native of France, Spain, Italy, ike. 



Culture. — These plants are raised from seeds, 

 which should be sown in the spring in any light 

 soil and open situation, in shallow drills, fifteen 

 or eighteen inches asunder; and when the plants 

 are come up two or three inches high, be thin- 

 ned out to six or eight inches distance in the 

 rows, to give them room to shoot up strong ; 

 when earth must be drawn up about them gra- 

 dually, in order to blanch or whiten them a 

 little below, that they may be more crisp and 



fender for autumn and winter use ; but as in 

 the spring following they shoot out again vigo- 

 rously, some earth should be hoed up close about 

 each plant, and in three or four weeks they will 

 be blanched fit for use. 



It is used as a culinary plant, when blanched, 

 in the same manner as celery, and is of a warm 

 aromatic quality. 



SOIL, the mould or earth in which plants 

 grow. For the general purposes of gardening, 

 those of the dry, light, friable, loamy kinds are 

 the most valuable, especially when they have 

 been well impregnated and enriched with ma- 

 nure. See Eakth, Compost, and Manure. 

 SNAIL-FLOWER. See Phaskolus. 

 SNAIL-TREFOIL. See Medicago. 

 SNAKE-GOURD. See Tricosanthes. 

 SNAP-DRAGON. See A.NTiRKHiNtJM. 

 SNAP-TREE. See .Iusticia. 

 SNOWBALL-TREE. See Viburnum. 

 SNOWBERRY. See Chiococca. 

 SNOWDROP. See Galanthus. 

 SNOWDROP-TREE. See Chionanthus. 

 SOAP-BERRY. See Sapindus. 

 SOAPWORT. See Saponaria. 

 SOLANUM, a genus containing plants of 

 the herbaceous, shrubby, and tuberous-rooted, 

 esculent kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Peiitandria 

 Monogynia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Luridce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianth, half-five-cleft, erect, acute, per- 

 manent : the corolla is one-petalled, wheel- 

 shaped : tube very short : border large, half- 

 five-cleft, from reflex flat, plaited : the stamina 

 have five awl-shaped filaments, very small : an- 

 thers oblong, converging, subcoalescent, opening 

 at the top by two pores : the pistillum is a 

 roundish germ : style filiform, longer than the 

 stamens: stigma blunt: the pericarpium is a 

 roundish berry, smooth, dotted at the top, two- 

 celled ; with a convex fleshy receptacle on each 

 side : the seeds very many, roundish, nestling. 



The species cultivated are : 1 . .S'. Lycopersi- 

 aim, Love-Apple, or Tomato ; 2. 5. ^thiopi- 

 cum, Ethiopian Nightshade ; 3. S. JSItlongtna, 

 Large-fruited Nightshade, or Eeg Plant; 4. S. 

 DiUcamara,'W ooAy Nightshade, or Bitter-sweet j 

 .'). S. verbascijolium. Mullein-leaved Nightshade; 

 6, S. Pseudo-Capsicum, Shrubby Nightshade, or 

 Winter Cherry ; 7- S. querclfulhim, Oak-leaved 

 Nightshade; 8. S. mammosum. Dug-fruited 

 Nightshade; 9. S. Indicum, Indian Nightshade; 

 10. S. CaroUnense, Carolina Nightshade; 11. S. 

 sodojtieum, Black-spined Nightshade; 12. 5. 

 sanclum, Palestine Nightshade; 13. S. tnlero~ 

 sum, Tuberous-rooted Nightshade, or Common 

 Potatoe. 



