388 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



SAB 



The Blue Palmetto belongs to the genus 

 Chamserops, C. hyatrix, also common on the 

 southern coast. S. Blackburniana, the Fan 

 or Thatch Palm, a native of the Bermudas, is 

 admirably suited for a window plant when 

 small, or for lawn decoration in summer. 



Sabba'tia. Named in honor of L. Sabbati, a 

 celebrated Italian botanist. Nat. Ord. Genti- 

 anacece. 



A genus of native hardy annuals and bien- 

 nials, some of which, though rather coarse- 

 growing, are quite ornamental plants, suitable 

 for the border. The flowers are purple, rose, 

 white, red and yellow. S. campestris, a native 

 of Texas, with rose and yellow flowers, is a 

 desirable border plant. S. angularis is held 

 in high esteem as a tonic medicine. S. chlo- 

 roides, with deep rose-colored flowers borne on 

 loose panicles, found by the borders of brak- 

 ish ponds and on salt meadows along the 

 coast from Massachusetts to Virginia south- 

 ward, is one of our handsomest native plants. 

 The only means of propagation is by seed, 

 which should be sown as soon as ripe and 

 wintered over in a cold frame like Pansies. 



Sabice'a. Sabisabi is the name of S. aspera in 

 Guiana. Nat. Ord. Rubiacece. 



A genus of plant-stove, twining shrubs, 

 often tomentose ; .natives of tropical America, 

 Africa and Madagascar. Only two species, 

 S. aspera and S hirta, have been introduced, 

 and are seldom found outside of botanical 

 collections. 



Sabi'nea. Named in honor of Joseph Sabine, 

 once Secretary of the Horticultural Society of 

 London. 



A genus of Leguminosce, embracing three 

 West Indian shrubs, having unequally pin- 

 nate leaves, somewhat like those of Robinia, 

 and pink pea flowers as large as those of 

 that plant, disposed in axillary fascicles of 

 two to four flowers. Propagated by cuttings 

 in heat. 



Saccate, Sacciform. Sac-shaped ; in the form 

 of a bag. 



Saccha'rum. Sugar Cane. From soukar, its 

 Arabic name. Nat. Ord. Graminacece. 



A genus of strong - growing, reed - like 

 grasses, indigenous to South America and 

 the East and West Indies. The most import- 

 ant species is Saccharum officinarum, a native 

 of India, the Sugar Cane of commerce. We 

 have but little knowledge of the Sugar Cane 

 previous to the thirteenth century. Hum- 

 boldt tells us it was cultivated in China in 

 the remotest times, and that, under the name 

 of honey, it was known to the Greeks and 

 Kornans, though they never cultivated it as 

 an article of luxury. It is supposed that 

 Theophrastus alludes to it when he says that, 

 besides being produced from bees, honey, or 

 sweet juice, is also the product of canes. 

 The Sugar Cane, however, seems to have 

 been early cultivated in China and India, and 

 from the latter region it was introduced into 

 Europe. Before the discovery of the West 

 Indies in 1492, or of the East Indies in 1497, 

 sugar was manufactured from the Sugar Cane 

 in considerable quantities in the islands of 

 Sicily, Crete, Rhodes and Cyprus. Soon 

 after the discoveries of Columbus, planta- 

 tions were established in the West Indies 

 and Brazil, and in the Southern States im- 



SAC 



mediately after their settlement. The plant 

 was first cultivated on the banks of the Mis- 

 sissippi about the year 1751, when some 

 Jesuits brought it from St. Domingo. These 

 Jesuits settled just above the present site 

 of New Orleans. In 1758 the first sugar-mill 

 was built near that locality by M. Dubreuil 

 on his sugar plantation. That was the 

 commencement of one of the largest and 

 most profitable of American industries. 

 The cane is always propagated from cut- 

 tings. Bentharn, in his "Flora of Hong 

 Kong," page 420, states "that we have no 

 authentic record of any really wild station 

 for the common Sugar Cane. Further than 

 this, in common with many plants that have 

 been for a long time under cultivation and 

 reproduced solely by means of buds and 

 suckers, the Sugar Cane so rarely produces 

 mature fruits, that no one, so far as we are 

 aware, has seen them. Certainly in the rich 

 Herbarium at Kew there are no seed-bearing 

 specimens. In botanical works the subject 

 is often referred to, but apparently only to 

 re-state the fact that botanists, like McFad- 

 yen in the West Indies and Roxburgh in 

 India, have never seen the seeds of the Sugar 

 Cane." Hooker's Botanical Miscellany, 1830, 

 vol. i., page 95. Professor H. Harrison, Gov- 

 ernment Inspector, Barbadoes, however, un- 

 der date September 17th, 1888, states that 

 seedling Sugar Canes had been found at Bar- 

 badoes, and that plants were in the course of 

 being raised at the botanical station there. 

 He, feeling satisfied that these were self- 



. sown, had them transplanted and carefully 

 cultivated, and amongst them appear to be 

 at least five or six different sorts. He further 

 states: " I have never heard of the Bourbon 

 Cane producing fertile arrows; in all the 

 alleged cases of fertility, the arrows were 

 either those of the purple or white transpar- 

 ent varieties, which are prone to variation. I 

 shall again attempt this year to obtain the 

 same result. Of course, if we can establish 

 the fact of the Cane occasionally and under 

 favorable conditions producing fertile seed, 

 it will open up an important field of investi- 

 gation." From cuttings the plants come to 

 maturity in about two months, and a planta- 

 tion well cared for and properly manured will 

 last a number of years. The successful 

 planter makes plantings nearly every year 

 for a constant succession. For planting, the 

 ground is prepared and marked out the same 

 as for corn, with rows about four feet apart, 

 and the plants two feet apart in the rows. In 

 cultivation, the plow and cultivator are al- 

 most wholly used in place of the hoe, as for- 

 merly was the custom. S. ^gypticum is a 

 vigorous perennial grass, forming ample 

 tufts of reed-like, downy stems, six to ten 

 feet high, and clothed with very graceful 

 foliage. It is well adapted for ornament- 

 ing the margins of pieces of water, the 

 slopes and other parts of pleasure-grounds, 

 etc. It is a native of North Africa, re- 

 quiring protection in winter, and is easily 

 and quickly multiplied by division in spring. 

 S. Maddeni is a quick-growing, hardy peren- 

 nial, attaining a height of about five feet. It 

 has handsome foliage, and is well worthy of 

 culture for associating with other large-grow- 

 ing grasses. 



Saccola'bium. From saccus, a bag, and labium, 



