SOUTHERNWOOD 



SPARAX1S 



1693 



SOUTHERNWOOD (Artemisia Abrotnnum, which see 

 for botanical account) is a European herb, aromatic, 

 much branched, woody-stemmed, rather tender, per- 

 ennial, 3-5 ft. tall, with pale green or grayish often 

 variegated leaves, small yellowish flowers and minute 

 seeds. Fig. 2:557. It is occasionally found in family 

 gardens, where it is grown from seed (or more often 

 from its easily rooted cuttings, which are most readily 

 obtained in early summer) for its pleasant taste and 

 tonic properties, which resemble those of wormwood. 

 It is seldom offered by seedsmen in this country be- 

 cause of its slight importance. M. G. KAINS. 



SOW BREAD. An old name for Cyclamen. 



SOY BEAN (Glycine hispida, which see for botanical 



2357. Southernwood (X %). 



description) is a legume, and while it has long been a 

 staple crop in Japan it has but somewhat recently been 

 cultivated in the United States. Figs. 191, 195. It grows 

 to perfection only in a tropical or semi-tropical climate. 

 In its native country, Japan, the seed is an important 

 human food product, but in the United States its prin- 

 cipal use at present is as a forage plant for farm live . 

 stock and as a soil renovator. It is an upright, leafy, 

 branching plant, growing 3-4 ft. high. Two distinct 

 plants are often called Soy Bean ; the smaller one 

 (Phaseolus radiatus) is grown principally in Japan; 

 the larger species, the true Soy Bean, is Glycine 

 hispida. This latter species has become popular in 

 some sections of the United States because of its power 

 of resisting drought and for the further reason that it 

 may supply a large amount of forage rich in protein. 

 In the northern states it is probable that the Soy Bean 

 will be acclimated and that it will serve as an adjunct to 

 the maize crop as a food for stock, although it is coarse 

 in leaf and stalk. 



It thrives best upon a warm, well-drained loamy soil, 

 and seed should not be planted until all danger from 

 frost is over. The land should be prepared by plowing 

 and harrowing in the early spring, and the harrow should 

 be used two or three times before the seeds are planted. 

 Best success is attained by planting in drills, rows to be 

 from 2%-3 ft. apart and the hills in the row 18-20 in. 

 apart. During the early periods of growth cultivation 

 should be frequent, preferably with a fine-toothed im- 

 plement. After the plants have grown so that the 

 ground is well shaded the tillage may be discontinued. 

 It is doubtful whether the curing of the plants for hay will 

 ever come into general practice, but the crop may be 

 largely grown for green soiling and for ensilage pur- 

 poses. It may be cut into the silo with corn and serves 

 to improve the quality of the food. 



To the horticulturist the Soy Bean is valuable chiefly 

 as a soil renovator. The soil of the orchard can be given 



clean culture during the early summer and the Soy 

 Beans may be sown broadcast about July 1 and harrowed 

 in. One bushel of seed per acre will be required. One 

 bushel of rye per acre should be sown at the same time, 

 for when the beans are killed down by the frost in the 

 fall the rye will then serve as a cover-crop during the 

 winter. When the soil is so hard and forbidding that 

 clover will not thrive the Soy Bean may be made to 

 .serve as a nitrogen-gatherer, and when plowed under it 

 serves to greatly improve the physical condition of the 

 land. See also Glycine. L. A. CLINTON. 



SPANISH BAYONET. See Yucca. 

 SPANISH BROOM. S/><trtium junceum. 

 SPANISH LIME. Melicocca bijuga. 

 SPANISH OYSTER PLANT. Scohjmus. 



SPAR AXIS (Greek word referring to the torn or lac- 

 erated spathes, a character which distinguishes this 

 genus from Tritonia). Iridacece. WAND FLOWER. 

 Sparaxis is a group of spring-blooming "Cape bulbs" of 

 the Ixia tribe, with spikes of 6-petaled, more or less 

 funnel-shaped flowers one inch or two across and ex- 

 hibiting an extraordinary range of color and throat 

 markings. These plants are less popular than Ixias, 

 which they much resemble. The plants are dwarfer and 

 more compact than Ixias, usually 6-12 in. high, the 

 spikes are shorter and fewer-flowered, and the blossoms 

 are sometimes larger. Sparaxis is essentially distin- 

 guished from Ixia and other allied genera by the sub- 

 regular perianth, unilateral and arcuate stamens, and 

 scarious, lacerated spathe-valves. Other general fea 

 tures are: the rootstock acorm; Ivs. linear or lanceo- 

 late and arranged in a basal rosette; inflorescence a 

 simple or panicled spike; perianth-tube short: ovary 

 3-celled; ovules many, superposed. Sparaxis is native 

 to the southwestern provinces of Cape Colony, S. 

 Africa. 



Although a few plants of Sparaxis are occasionally 

 cultivated in America by bulb fanciers, one may search 

 through many American catalogues without finding 

 them listed. The Dutch bulb growers offer 25 distinct 

 kinds, which is perhaps a quarter of the number of 

 varieties of Ixias in cultivation. According to J. G. 

 Baker, there is "only one species in a broad sense, vary- 

 ing indefinitely in the size and coloring of the flowers." 

 For practical purposes Baker recognizes the 3 species 

 given below; of these the most important and variable 

 is S. tricolor. 



Sparaxis pulcherrima of the Dutch trade is properly 

 Dierama pulcherrima. Baker. This grows 6 ft. high or 

 more and has pendulous fls. bright blood-purple but ap- 

 parently with pale rose and perhaps other varieties (also 

 a white var. ). It is distinguished by its pendulous fls. 

 with regular perianth, simple style-branches, equilat- 

 eral stamens, and large bracts which are not laciniate. 

 B.M. 5555. F.S. 17:1810. Gn. 20:315; 44, p. 281. This 

 plant is said by F. W. Burbidge to be "perhaps the 

 most graceful of all the Cape Irids." 



A. Throat of flower same color as seg- 

 ments. 

 B. Fls. small: segments %-% in. 



long 1. bulbifera 



BB. Fls. larger: segments 1 in. or more 



long 2. grandiflora 



AA. Throat of flower bright yellow, often 

 with a dark blotch on the lower part 

 of each segment 3. tricolor 



bulbifera, Ker. Corm globose, %-% in. thick: basal 

 Ivs. about 4, linear or lanceolate, %-l ft. long : stems 

 Yi-\ ft. long, simple or branched, bearing low down 2-3 

 small Ivs., often with bulbils in the axils: fls. solitary 

 or few in a spike, yellow; perianth-tube % in. long. 

 B.M. 545 (Ixia bulbifera). To this species Baker refers 

 S. albiflora, Eckl., with fls. whitish inside, and S. vio- 

 lacea, Eckl., with dark purple fls. 



grandifldra, Ker. Habit, corm, Ivs. and spathe just 

 as in S. bulbifera but the fls. larger, the limb 1 in. or 



