SPINACH 



succession or cumpaniou crop, as it occupies the laud 

 for a small part of the year. Ther.- are very tVw iu- 

 st'cts aud diseases that are generally truublesuiiie. 



SpiiuiL-h is usually transported to market iu barrelj. 

 or crates. I'lauts are usually (.-ut so that an inch or so 

 of the root is U' ft with them. AU dirt is reuu>ved, as 

 also all brokru and dead leaves. Thr plants arc pafkcil 

 tii^ht. It is essential that the plants Ik- dry brl'ore they 

 are shipped. 



There are several important varieties oi Spina.di. 

 The lar^e, broad-leaved varieties are most popular in 

 the markets, such as the Viroflay and the Rouuddeavrd. 

 The prickly 8piua(.di is cousiderVd to bo tin' must hardy 

 and is L-hietly recommended for fall smwIu--. l H B " 



SPINACH OKACH, or SEA PURSLANE {AfripJrx 

 hoiitiisiii] is also sometimes called .^b'unlaiu S[duach. 



SPINACIA (from spina: alluding to the spiny fruit). 

 Ch':iiop<>('lidr,up. Spinach. Spina<_;e. Accordiui? to 

 Volkens lin Eugler it Prantl's PHanzenfamilieni, there 

 are only two species of Spinacia, ^'. oleracea, Linn., 

 the common Spinach, and ^'. tetnnidni , Stev. The lat- 

 ter is an annual herb of the Asia Minor-Persian region, 

 anti is not in enltivatum. *!^'. oJfracca, the Spinach, is 

 probalily native to southwestern Asia, but it is now 

 Avideiy eultivateil. It is an annual herl). developing 

 rather large, arrow-shaped root-leaves, and these leaves 

 are eaten for "greens." Later in the season it sends up 

 a branching flower-stem 2-;i ft. high, bearing axillary 

 clusters of seed-like fruits. In one type these fruits are 

 spiny: this is the form once described as S. sphiosa, 

 Mcench, but which is not now considered to be specifi- 

 cally distinct. Whether the ronnd-seetled or the prickly- 

 seeded type is the original form of the Spinach is not 

 known, but as a matter of nonienclature, Linmeus' *S'. 

 oJeracecf, which is the oldest nann-, is held to include all 

 forms. 



Spinacia belongs to the atriplex tribe. The genus is 

 distinguished from Atriplex in the fart that the pistil- 

 late flowers are bractless, whereas those of Atriplex 

 are inclosed in a pair of enlarging calyx-like bracts. 

 Spinacia is dicecions. bearing the flowers in small axil- 

 lary clusters: stamens 4 or 5, in a 4-5dobed calyx: 

 ovary 1, with 4-5 styles or stigmas, in a '2-4-toothed 

 calyx, this calyx hardening and inclosing the akene and 

 often becoming horned on the sides and giving rise to 

 "prickly-seeded" Spinach. The cultivated forms have 

 developed much thicker and broader radical leaves, 

 which are used for greens, often showing little of the 

 halberd or sagittate sbajie. L H B 



SPINDLE TREE. I-Jno^njwus. 



SPIE..ffiA (ancient Greek name of a plant u.sed for 

 garlands, derived fTon\ vpeirx , band, wreath; probably 

 first used for t^e present genus liy Clusius). liosdcew. 

 Ornamental deciduous shrubs, with alternate, estipu- 

 late, simple and rather small Ivs., and small white, 

 pink or almost crimson fls. in sliowy umbels, corymbs 

 or panicles. Many are hardy riortli; s(.me of the best 

 of them are Sphnn ori/ufc. Tint )ihrn/l . I'mi IJoHtlci, 

 pubescens, frilobaf", hnirfcaia , mrdia. iih>i i fnlia , niha, 

 Donglasi, Menzii'.'<i . t<niunitiiso . Spira a hliiynln , Ja- 

 ponica and albif/ora require a sheltered i>osition or 

 protection during the winter, though ji'. J'tjjoiiiva and 

 its allies, even if killed almost to the ground, will pro- 

 duce flowers on slioots of the same season. Splri^a 

 Canton iensis. Blunn-i, Ch'nir nsi.^, canesceiis and bella 

 are more tender and ]iot to lie recommended for the 

 North but are hardy or nearly harily in the Middle 

 States. S. prvnifdia is hardy norrh of Boston and is 

 half hardy as far north as (»ltawa, Canada. 



In regard to the flowering season, the Spireas can be 

 divided into two groups. The first one contains the 

 species of the section Chamsedryr-n, with white flowers 

 in umbels and blooming in spring, from April to June. 

 The second group is composed of the sections Calospira 

 anil Spiraria, with white or pink flowers in corymbs or 

 panicles appearing from June to fall. Some of the most 

 important species, arranged according to their relative 

 flowering time, are the following: Early-flowering Spi- 



SPIR.EA 



1(199 



reas^N. Thnnbfy.ii, o njnl,! , Jufprririfo/la . i>ruinlu/U(, 

 }>teili<i, J'iki'iriviisis, piihes<-('iis, rliaxutili ijinl ia , trilo- 

 bittii, \'<ni Moutti^i, Oau/oiu-tisi.s, hnir1r,i(a. . Late-flow- 

 ering Sidreas — ^'. hulhi, r<inj„ihn.-«i^ (U}isif/ora, ca- 

 iies<'rns, Juponica, <i Ibiflont . sulirifnlin, alhd, i)reii.tlesi, 

 Jjoiii/hisi, toiH.Hfi-s,i. Tbi- siMMMcs <if the secmid ^-ronp 

 do not produce tlieir flowers all at om-c like those o1' 

 the first group, but continue biomuing for a longei 

 time. 



The Spireas are all medium-sized or low shnilis and 

 well adapted for b..rders of shrultberies. as sin^^-le s|ieci- 

 mens on the lawn or for rocki-ries. Espeeiall)' the spe- 

 cies of the early-flowering grou]. possess a graceful 

 habit and make efl"ective single spe<-imens, except per- 

 haps *S. chiutKPdryfo/ia and nicd'ai , whi(di are somewJiat 

 stifferand less handsomi' and pr-jdm-e sin-kers. ,Sj>in.ra 

 ccDtescens has also the graceful habit of the first group. 

 ^piripa ./iipo)iira ami its numerous hybrids form mostly 

 low, rouii'l bushes and ai'<- pretty as single specimens or 

 in th(^ boi-der. :Spinia a/ha, J><ni<//asi , J/cuiiys/ and fo- 

 men((isa should be planted i]i shrubberies oiily and es- 

 pecially in situations where their spreading by sucl;<'rs 

 does no harm; they are sometimes used for low 

 ornamental liedges. For rockern-s Sjnrcu drc/onlnHS , 

 corijinhosa, drnsif/tn;/ , biillala. au<l some dwarf hylirids 

 of -S'. J<i jxniu-a are to be reconiun.MMled. 



The species of the Section rbaiiuedryon, and also 

 S. cavc'.sc'Hs and be/la, should be iiruued as little as 

 possible, — only thinned out and the weak wood renioved, 

 — wdiile those of the sections Spiraria ami Calospira can 

 be pruned more severely' if necessary, since they pro- 

 duce their flowers at the ends of the young shoots. 

 Some of the early-flowering Spireas, especially S. or- 

 gnfa, primifoUa, Win Il'nif/ei and .S. Jiiona'hhi , are 

 sometimes forced. 



The Spireas grow in almost any moderately niojst 

 soil, the Spiraria species bein;< !j:enerall> nu>re moisture- 

 loving; and S. tomentosa thrives widl only in a ]ieaty 

 or sandj' soil, wdiile those recommended above for i-ock- 

 eries require a \vell - drained soil and sunny sitiiation. 

 Prop, by seeds sown in spring and covered only sliglitly 

 with soil, or by hardwood or greenwood cuttings. The 

 species of Chamsedryon grow very well from greenwood 

 cuttings under glass, wliile the Spirarias are usually 

 raised from hardwood cuttings. The (.'alospiras seem 

 to grow erpially well in both ways. Tlie Spirarias are 

 also often I'lrop. by ili\ision and by smd^ers. 



About fii) SI lories in the tern pi -rate regions of the 

 nortiieru liemispliere. in America south to Mexico. Lvs. 

 simple, short -potiojeil, entire or serrate, sometimes 

 lobed, without sfipub's: Ms. in umbel-like racemes, eo- 

 rymlis or panicles, ]H-rfect, rarely polyiramous; calyx 

 cup-shaped or cainjianulate, 5-lol.>ed; petals 5, rounded; 

 stamens 15-fiO, inserted be-tween calyx and disk; pistils 

 usual!}' 5, distinct, develojiing into follicles dehiscent 

 along the inner suture, with sc\"<.u'al or rarely two mi- 

 nute, oblong seeds. Many sjiecies formerly included 

 under Spiri^a are now referred ro other genera; see 

 Physocarpus, Schizonotus anct Sorbaria for shrubby 

 species and Aruncus, Ulmaria and also Astilbe for the 

 herbaceous ones. There is a monograph of Spiraea and 

 the allied genera by I\Iaximowicz in Acta Horti Pi'tro- 

 politani, vol. !l. p. inri-'JCd (isTl'l au<l a monograiib of 

 the cnltixated sjiecies, with their numerous hvlu'ids 

 fully desci-ibed bv H. Zabel, Die strauchigen s'piilien 

 <ler'.leuts(dM^n Garten (IS!);"!). There is much horticul- 

 tural literature on S]>irea.s, for the plants are po]>u!ar 

 and the species are many. Alfi;ed Rei-ider. 



I. "Wheju^ver 

 used the di- 



The name Sj>i/-aa is often sjiidled Sjiir 

 the generic and s]iecific name are both 

 graph should be eiufih.iyed. thus : Sp> ' 

 Whem'Vi;^' one sjieaks of "Sl-dreas" in an iiuteohnical 

 wa}', we spidl the luime without the digraph, in har- 

 mony wiib the Editor's writings. The name Spirea 

 shoulil be considered as an English word in conunon 

 speech just as geranium and chrysantlienium are. In 

 fact, nu\ny people speak of plants as " Spii'eas'' which do 

 not belong to the genus. For example, a delightful 

 white-flowered bushy herb which is grown indoors in 

 great quantities, especially at Easter, is pr<iperly an 

 Astilbe. Comparable instances are peony, boi;i:aiuvilli.-a, 

 etc. W. M. 



