SOL 



SOP 



and half high, smooth, with a brown bark : the 

 leaves smooth, spear-shaped, entire, three inches 

 long, and three quarters of an inch broad : the 

 flowers come out on branching footstalks on the 

 side of the stalks, are ranged on one side, and 

 have a few small leaves under the flowers, which 

 appear at the end of August. It is a native of 

 North America. 



The fifth has smooth erect stalks, a foot and 

 half high: the leaves narrow, smooth, entire, 

 dark green : the flowers in close compact pa- 

 nicles'at the top of the stalk ; spikes short, clus- 

 tered : the flowers large, bright yellow, appearing 

 m September. It is a native of North America. 



The sixth species has the lower leaves oval, 

 six inches long, and three broad, ending in acute 

 points, serrate^ having several strong longitudi- 

 nal veins on long footstalks which have leafy 

 borders or wings : the stalks a foot and half 

 high, branching out almost from the bottom, 

 garnished wil,h small, spear-shaped, entire 

 leaves: the braAches grow erect, are closely fur- 

 nished with sinall leaves below, and are ter- 

 minated by short close spikes of white flowers ; 

 or rather, having a yellow disk and a white ray, 

 in close racemes. It is a native of North Ame- 

 rica, flowering in September. 



The seventh has the stalks two feet high : the 

 lower leaves ovate, stiff", smooth and entire, four 

 inches long, and two inches and a half broad, 

 on footstalks four inches in length ; those on 

 the upper part of the stalk are spear-shaped, 

 entire, and embrace the stalk half round : the 

 flowers in loose, spreading, terminating panicles ; 

 spikes short, clustered, bright yellow, appearing 

 in August. It is a native of New England. 



The eighth species has the stalk slender, 

 smooth, a foot and half high : the leaves nar- 

 row-spearshaped, two inches long, and half an 

 inch broad, indented on their edges, and ending 

 in acute points : the flowers in a loose ter- 

 minating panicle, with the spikes closer and 

 thicker towards the top. It is a native of Mary- 

 land, flowering in September. 



The ninth has the lower leaves four inches long, 

 and almost two broad; their footstalks two inches 

 long, having a membrane or wing on each side: 

 the stalk riscri two feet high ; they are slender, 

 smooth, and of a light purple colour : the leaves 

 ovate-lanceolate, indented, near two inches long, 

 and three quarters of an inch broad, of a pale 

 green on their under side : the flowers are pro- 

 duced in short bunches from the axils almost 

 the whole length ; the lower spikes are an inch 

 long, but the upper ones are almost round : the 

 flowers are of a brimstone colour, and appear 

 late in August. It is a native of Canada. 



The tenth species is remarkable for its red 

 stalk J higher than a man, with very smooth and 



somewhat fleshy leaves, a little rugged at the 

 edge, continuing the whole winter ; it flowers 

 very late, so that in the Northern countries the 

 frost conmionly prevents them from opening. 

 It is a native of North America. 



Culture. — These plants are all readily in- 

 creased by slipping or parting the roots, and 

 planting them out in the autumn or winter 

 soon after their stems decay, or very early in the 

 spring before they begin to shoot ; but the 

 former is the better season, in the places where 

 they are to grow : they succeed in almost any 

 soil or situation, and afterwards require only to 

 be kept clean from weeds, and to have the de- 

 cayed stems cut down when they begin to decay 

 in the autumn. When they have increased con- 

 siderably in the roots, they should alv\ays be slip- 

 ped as above. 



In planting out they require much room, as 

 they spread considerably. 



They afi"ord considerable variety and ornament 

 in larger borders and clumps. 



SOLOMON'S SEAL. See Convallaria. 



SOPEBERHY. See Sapindus. 



SOPEWORT. See Saponaria. 



SOPHORA, a genus containing plants of the 

 herbaceous, flowery, perennial, and shrubby 

 exotic kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Decandria 

 Monogijnia, and ranks in the natural order of 

 Papilionacece or Leguminosce. 



The characters are : that the calyx is a one- 

 leafed perianth, short, bell-shaped, gibbous at 

 the base above : mouth five-ioothed, oblique, 

 obtuse: the corolla papilionaceous, five-petalled: 

 standard oblong, gradually wider, straight, re- 

 flexed at the sides : wings two, oblong, appen- 

 dicled at the base, length of the standard : keel 

 two-petalled, with the petals conformable to the 

 wings, the lower margins approximating and 

 boat-shaped : the stamina have ten filaments, 

 distinct, parallel, awl-shapcd, length of the 

 corolla within the keel : anthers very small, ri- 

 sing : the pistiilum is an oblong germ, cylindrical ; 

 style size and situation of the stamens : stigma 

 obtuse : the pericarpinm is a legume very long, 

 slender, one-celled, kn<3bbed at the seeds : the 

 seeds very many, roundish. 



The species cultivated are: 1. S. leiraptera. 

 Wing-podded Sophora ; 2. S. microplujUa, 

 Small-leaved Shrubby Sophora; 3. S. a/opecu- 

 roides, Fox-tail Sophora; 4. S. auslraUs, Blue 

 Sophora; 5. S. liiicloria, Dyer's Sophora; 6. S. 

 alba, White Sophora ; "] . S. tojitentosa. Downy 

 Sophora; 8. S.occideiitalis, Occidental Sophora; 

 9. S. japovica, Shining-leaved Sophora; 10. S. 

 captnsis, Vetch-leaved Sophora; 11. S. aureUy 

 Golden-flowered Sophora; \-2. S. myitillifalia, 

 Kound-leaved Sophora. 



