SCOLYMUS 



SCdLTHUS (old Greek name used by Hesiod ) , Com- 

 pdsitce. Scolymus Hispanicus (Fig. 2279) is the vege- 

 table known as Golden Thistle or Spanish Oyster Plant. 

 It makes a root much like salsify, except that it is much 

 lighter colored and considerably longer. Its flavor is 

 less pronounced than that at salsify, but when carefully 



cooked, it |h,..> ■, \r,A , ^ i r . :,i,Ie quality which is 



somewhat it ■' I ' !■ : i.it of salsify and pars- 



nip. It i- ;i i : ': III. I. is of cooking em- 



ployed furiii.'-' ^■ -I i.iiM' -. I tM [Miiicular value of the 

 Spanish UysU-i i'lam, .i>i,l,- ii,.iii allording a variety in 

 the kitchen garden, is its large size and productiveness 

 as compared with salsify. The product may be nearly 

 twice as great, for a given area, as for salsify. The 

 seeds are much easier to handle and sow than those 

 of salsify. They are sown in March or April. The 

 seeds, or rather akeues, are flat and yellowish, sur- 

 rounded by a white scarious margin. The roots can be 

 dug either in fall or spring. Tlic greatest fault of the 

 Si-:iiii^li (>\^\.'\' T'laiit lii-s in tin- prickly character of 

 Ml. ■ li iiink.'^ ill. |.l;iiit uncomfortable to 



III. i ■■•- ar. ..fi. II III 11' in. long and 1 in. 



ilii.K. li I- - ii.i iliat 111., li.n.-aiid stalks are eaten 

 like cai,i. '-'IKS i.y thr [...i|i|. .li ^:ll,lnlanca; also that the 

 flowers are used t., a. lull. rut., -ailnin, 



Scolymus Hispain< ... Ijim,. i^ a biennial plant na- 

 tive to southern Eur..].... Fin radical Ivs. are very- 

 spiny, oblong, pinnatiH<t, dark green variegated with 

 pale green spots. The plant grows 2-2H ft. high, is 

 much branched and bears bright yellow flower-heads, 



SCROPHULARIA 



1633 



_if^\^, 



■which are sessile and contain only 2 or 3 fls., all of which 

 are ligulate. The heads are sessile, terminal and axil- 



Scolymus contains 4 species, all natives of the Medi- 

 terranean region. S. grandifloiiis, a perennial species, 

 is rarely cult, abroad for its fls., and S. maculatus, an 

 annual species, for its variegated foliage, l H. B. 



SCORPION GRASS. See Myosotis. 



SCORPItRUS. See Caterpillars and Worms. 



SCOKZONfiEA (old French scorzon, serpent; S. Bis- 

 pcniica was used against snake-bites). C'ompdsitm. The 

 vegetable known as Scorzonera or Black Salsify is a 

 plant with a long, fleshy tap-root like that of salsify, 

 but differing in having a black skin. The flesh, how- 

 ever, is white. It is cultivated and cooked like salsify, 

 but being somewhat 

 more difficult to raise 

 it is rarer than that 

 vegetable, although 

 considered by manj' to 

 be superior to it in fla- 

 vor. The leaves may be 

 used for salads. Scor- 

 zonera is a perennial 

 plant, but it is treated 

 in cultivation as an an- 

 nual or biennial crop. 



Botanically, also, 

 Scorzonera is closely 

 allied to salsify. The 

 two vegetables are eas- 

 ily distinguished in 

 root, leaf, flower and 

 seed. The Ivs. of Scor- 

 zonera are broader, the 

 fls. are yellow (those 

 of salsify being vio- 

 let), and the seeds are 

 white. Also, the in- 

 volucral bracts of Scor- 

 zonera are in many 

 series; of salsify, in 1 

 series. The genus 

 Scorzonera is a large 

 one-over 100 species, 

 all natives of the Old 

 World. Perennial 

 herbs, or rarely an- 

 nual, floccose, lanate 

 or hirsute: Ivs. some- 

 times entire and grass- 

 like, or wider, some- 

 times more or less 

 pinnately lobed or dis- 

 sected: heads long- 

 peduncled, yellow, the fls. all radiate : akenes glabrous 

 or villous. Cult, same as salsify. 



Hisp&nica, Linn. Scorzoneka. Black Salsipt. 

 Perennial herb 2 ft. high: stem much branched: Ivs. 

 clasping, lanceolate, undulate, glabrous: heads solitary 

 at the ends of the branches. Spain. y^ jj_ 



SCOTANTHUS. See Gymnopetuhtm. 



SCOTCH BROOM. Cytistis scoparins. 



SCOTCH PINE. Pinus sylvestris. 



SCOUEING-RUSH. Equisetum. 



SCREW BEAN. Prosopis pubescens. 



SCREW PINE. Pandanus. 



SCEOPHDIAKIA (a reputed remedy for scrofula). 

 Scrophularidce(B. Figwort. A genus of about 100 spe- 

 cies, mostly native of Europe, and of very little horti- 

 cultural value. They are mostly perennial, tall-growing 

 herbs, with usually large opposite leaves and small, 

 often dull-colored flowers in a terminal thyrse in mid- 

 or late summer. Corolla short; the tube globular or 

 oblong, ventricose; lobes 5, unequal, 1 reflexed or 

 spreading, the others erect; stamens 4, the sterile sta- 

 men represented by a scale on the throat of the corolla: 

 seeds numerous. 



noddsa, Linn., var. Maril&ndica, Gray. A tall-grow- 

 ing, hardy perennial herb, usually 5 ft. high, often more, 

 with large, dark green, ovate acuminate Ivs. and small, 

 dull purplish or greenish fls. in a nearly naked, open 

 thyrse. Throughout the United States. 



