434 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



STI 



A genus of glabrous trees or shrubs, natives 

 of Brazil and Guiana. S. chrysantha is a 

 showy, evergreen shrub, with orange-colored 

 flower heads two inches in diameter. It 

 requires a well-drained, light, airy situation, 

 and is propagated by cuttings of the young 

 wood. 



Stigma (pi. Stigmata). That surface of a style, 

 usually at its extremity, to which the pollen 

 adheres when it fertilizes the ovules. 



Stigmaphy'llon. From stigma, a stigma, and 

 phyllon, a leaf ; alluding to the stigmas being 

 expanded into a sort of leaf. Nat. Ord. Mai- 

 pighiacetK. 



A genus of about fifty species of handsome 

 tropical trees and shrubs. Some of the latter 

 are climbers. They are natives of Brazil and 

 the West Indies. A few of the species are 

 cultivated for the sake of their fine yellow 

 flowers and beautiful foliage. S. ciliatum 

 (Golden Vine) is a very free-flowering, hand- 

 some, green-house climber, bearing clusters 

 of beautiful, fringed, yellow, Oncidium-like 

 flowers during the early winter months. It is 

 freely propagated by cuttings of the ripened 

 wood. 



Stigmatose. When the stigma is long, lateral, 

 or on one side of the style. 



Stilli'ngia. Tallow-tree. Named after Dr. B. 

 Stillingfieet, an English botanist. Nat. Ord. 

 Euphorbiaceae. 



S. sebifera, the Tallow-tree, is a native of 

 China and the adjacent islands. This tree 

 is highly valued for its fruits, which are about 

 half an inch in diameter, and contain three 

 seeds thickly covered with a fatty substance 

 which yields the tallow. This is obtained by 

 steaming the seeds in large caldrons, then 

 bruising them sufficiently to loosen the fat 

 without breaking the seeds, which are re- 

 moved by sifting; and the fat is afterwards 

 made into flat, circular cakes, and pressed in a 

 wedge-press, when the pure tallow exudes in 

 a liquid state, and soon hardens into a white, 

 brittle mass. This tallow is very extensively 

 used in China for candle-making. The tree 

 yields a hard wood, used by the Chinese for 

 printing blocks, and its leaves are employed 

 for dyeing black. Syn. Exccecaria. 



Sti'pa. Feather Grass. From stipe, feathery or 

 silky. Nat. Ord. Ghraminacece. 



S. pennata, the species chiefly grown as an 

 ornamental plant, is a hardy, herbaceous per- 

 ennial, a native of Europe, and is grown for 

 the sake of its beautifully feathered beards, 

 which are used for winter bouquets, both in 

 the natural color and dyed. This species is 

 propagated by division or from seeds sown in 

 spring. 



Stipe. The stalk of Ferns up to the first pin- 

 nae ; or the stem of a Fungus. 



Stipules. Processes or appendages of various 

 kinds, usually leaf-like, arising from the base 

 of a leaf, usually from its sides ; leaf-like 

 appendages at the base of the petiole. 



Stitch-wort. A common name for Stellaria 

 Holostea. 



Stobae'a. In honor of Dr. Stobceus of Lund, a 

 friend of Linnaeus. Nat. Ord. Composites. 



A genus of thistle-like herbs, with winged, 

 spinous branches, and spiny-toothed leaves. 

 S. purpurea, known also as Berkheya purpurea, 



STR 



has large flower-heads something like a Pas- 

 sion-flower in outline, of a dull white color, 

 tinged with purple. They are borne from 

 within a foot of the ground to the tops of the 

 stalks, which are over three feet high. This 

 species and S. sphcerocephala (syn. Stephano- 

 coma) with bright yellow flower-heads, are 

 exceedingly showy and handsome, hardy per- 

 ennials. 



Stock. Synonym for a race. A plant to which 

 a graft or bud has been applied. A caudex, 

 rhizome, or root-like base of a stem. 



Stock. Cape. A common name for the genus 



Heliophila. 



Night-scented. Mathiola tristis. 

 Virginian. The popular name of Malcomia, 

 maritima. 



Stock and Stock-Gilliflower. See Matthiola. 



Stokes' Aster. Stokesia cyanea. 



Sto'kesia. In honor of Dr. Jonathan Stokes, the 

 coadjutor of Withering in his arrangement of 

 British plants. Nat. Ord. Compositce. 



8. cyanea, Stokes' Aster, the only known 

 species, is a pretty little herbaceous, peren- 

 nial evergreen, found rarely in the wet pine 

 barrens of South Carolina and westward. 

 Flowers bright blue, produced in large ter- 

 minal heads. This beautiful late-flowering 

 plant is now largely grown in England to 

 supply the cut-flower market with blue flowers 

 in autumn. It is readily increased by divi- 

 sion or from seeds. 



Stole, Stolon. A sucker ; a lax trailing branch 

 given off at the summit of the root, and taking 

 root at intervals, whence fresh buds are 

 developed. 



Stoloniferous. Bearing or propagated by stol- 

 ons, runners, etc. 



Stoma, Stomata. An organic aperture in the 

 skin of a plant, by means of which respiration 

 is maintained, to provide for which it is 

 always placed over a cavity in the parenchyma 

 beneath it. 



Stone. A hard body found in certain fruits, 

 which are generally known as stone-fruits, 

 and produced by the ossification of the endo- 

 carp, or lining of the fruit. 



Stone Crop. See Sedum. 



Stone Piiie. A common name for Pinuspinea.' 



Stool. A plant from which "layers" are prop- 

 agated, by bending its branches into the soil, 

 so that they may take root. 



Storax. See Styrax. 



Stork's-Bill. See Pelargonium. 



Stramo'nium. See Datura. 



Stratio'tes. Water Soldier. From stratiotes, a 

 soldier; in allusion to its long, sword-like 

 leaves. Nat. Ord. Hydrocharidacece. 



A genus of hardy aquatics. S. aloides, a 

 native of England, is a very singular plant. 

 It resembles our Aloes in miniature ; hence its 

 specific name. It is attached to the mud by a 

 cord-like runner, or is suspended free in the 

 water, elevating only its flowers and a portion 

 of its leaves above the surface. It increases 

 very fast, and will grow freely in the aqua- 

 rium. It increases too fast for small ponds, as 

 it will soon choke out all other plants. 



Strava'dium. From tsgeria samstravadi, the 

 Malabar name of one of the species. Nat. 

 Ord. MyrtaceoB. 



