S I s 



for being rough with little glandular hairs, which fall off 

 as the capfuh ripens. Thefe have not been noticed in any 

 other fpecies. 



12. S. ixioides. White New Zealand Sifyrinchium. 

 Forit. Prodr. 6i. (Ferraria ixioides; WiUd. Sp. PI. v. 3. 

 582. Morea ixioides ; Thunb. Morxa n. 7.) — Stalk tri- 

 angular, branched. Leaves linear, with cartilaginous edges. 

 Outer petals half the fize of the inner — Gathered in New 

 Zealand, by Forlter, whofe fpeciniens are before us. The 

 root is woody, furnifhed with very long, tough, zigzag 

 fibres. Stalks a fpan high, nearly leaflefs, branched in the 

 upper part. Leaves fliortcr than the ftalks, ereft, flat, 

 linear, a quarter of an inch wide, itrongly ftriated, with a pale 

 cartilaginous edge, but not fword-ihaped, as they have no 

 prominence or rib in the middle ; their bafes are fheathing, 

 or equitant. Partial jio-wer-Jlalks rigid, widely fpreading, 

 two, three, or four together, with very imall lanceolate 

 (heaths at their origin. Flowers about half an inch broad, 

 white, their tiiree outer petals fomewhat coloured, if we 

 mayjudge from the dried ipecimen. Germen fmooth. The 

 fpecimens Thunberg faw were taller than our's. The in- 

 equality of the petals probably led Willdenow to make this 

 plant a Ferraria ; but it wants the genuine charafter of 

 that genus, the jagged and curled corolla, and has alto- 

 gether the habit of a true Sifyrinchium. 



13. S. palmifolium. Palm-leaved Sifyrinchium. Linn. 

 Mant. 122, excluding the fynonym. Willd. n. 7. Ait. 

 n. 5 ? (Morxa palmifolia ; Thunb. Morasa n. 6.) — Stalk 

 two-edged, winged, denfely corymbofe at the fummit. 

 Leaves fword-fhaped, llrongly ribbed. — Gathered in Brafil, 

 by father Panegai, who fent it, with many other new plants, 

 to profeflbr Arduino of Padua, by whom they were tranf- 

 mitted to Linnjeus. The prefent has all the appearance of 

 a true Sifyrinchium, with a fibrous perennial root. The 



Jlem is two feet high, ereft, unbranched, naked, with two 

 cppolite leafy wings. Leaves equitant, ereft, fliorter than 

 the ftem, three-quarters of an inch wide, having about five 

 principal ribs in the middle part, and a few finer ones to- 

 wards the edges. Floiuers very numerous, in a denfe, co- 

 rymbofe, compound, terminal panicle, two or three inches 

 high, accompanied by one ereft ribbed leaf, about the fame 

 height. Bradeas and Jheaths near an inch long, ovate, 

 pointed, ftriated, concave, membranous at the edges. 

 Flo-wers apparently pale, with numerous dark or purplifli 

 veins ; tlieir partial JlaUs longer than the (heaths. Germen 

 roundifh, fmooth. We are unable to account for the 



flowers having been termed fpiled, unlefs Thunberg has 

 confounded any thing elfe with this rare fpecies. Linnasus 

 fays the flyle is three-cleft m.ore than half way down. 



14. S. flriatum. Yellow Striated Sifyrinchium. Sm. 

 Ic. Pift. t. 9. Willd. n. 8. Ait, n. 6. Redout. Liliac. 

 t. 66. (S. fpicatum ; Cavan. Ic. v. 2. 2. t. 104. Moraea 

 fertata ; Jacq. Hort. Schoenbr. v. i . 6. t. 11. Marica 

 ftriata ; Ker in Curt. Mag. t. 701.1 — Stem much branched, 

 leafy, eomprefled, winged, many-flowered. Flowers fafci- 

 culatcd, with a fimple flieath to each. — Native of Mexico ; 

 a hardy perennial in our gardens, propagating itfelf fpon- 

 taneoufly by feed. The root is fibrous, tufted. Stems 

 feveral, two or three feet high, accompanied by copious, 

 equitant, fword-fliaped, ftriated, glaucous kaves, edged 

 with purple, and tinged with faffron-colour at their bafe. 

 Flowers very numerous, inodorous, forming tufts along 

 the branches, as if whorled, each tuft accompanied by a 

 large concave fimple IraSea, and each of the numerous 

 partial ftalks attended by a fimple membranous Jhealh. 

 Corolla above an inch wide, expanding in funfliine only, 

 when the flowers make a handfome appearance, lailing in 



S I T 



fucceflion through moft part of the fummer. Petals obtufe 

 with a point, flightly cohering at the bafe, into the form 

 of a bell, yellow and more or lefs fpotted within ; their 

 upper part widely fpreading, pale yellow above, ftriated 

 with purple veins beneath. Germen roundilh, fmooth. 

 Capfuh the fize of a black currant, gibbous. It will be 

 perceived that the (heaths of this fpecies do not exaftly 

 anfwer to the generic charafter, yet nothing can be a more 

 genuine Sifyrinchium. Much has been done to difcriminate 

 the genera of this order, and great improvements have been 

 made, but much is ftill wanting. 



SiSYRlxcHiUM, in Gardening, contains plants of the flowery 

 perennial kind, of which the fpecies cultivated are, the Iris- 

 leaved ilfyrincliium (S. bermudiana) ; and the narrow- 

 leaved fifyrinchium (S. anceps). 



It is obferved, that the leaves, ftalks, and flowers of the 

 firft fort are three times as large as in the fecond, and the 

 ftieath inclofes fix or feven flowers ; whereas the fecond has 

 rarely more than two, and thefe expand only for a ftiort 

 time in the morning, while, in the former, they continue open 

 the whole day. 



Method of Culture. — Thefe plants may be increafed by 

 feeds and partint; the roots : in the former method, the feeds 

 of the firil fort fliould be fown in the autumn, as foon as 

 they become ripe, on a border which has an eaftetn afpeft, 

 in drills at three or four inches diif ance, covering them about 

 half an inch with fine mould ; they fliould afterwards be 

 kept clean from weeds with care. They fueceed beft in a 

 loamy foil in a fliady fituation, and where the ground has 

 not been manured. But in the latter fort the feeds ftiould 

 be fown in pots, in order that they be protefted in the grecn- 

 houfe, or by fome other means. 



The firft kind affords ornament in the large open borders 

 and clumps of pleafure-grounds, and the latter among other 

 green-houfe plants of the fame growth. 



SISZEK, in Geography, a town of Croatia, at the 

 conflux of the rivers Save and Kulpa, fortified with a w-all 

 and moat ; captured by the Turks in 1593, and burned by 

 them in 1594, but rebuilt by the Hunganans; 48 miles S. 

 ofVarafdin. N. lat. 45^ 38'. E. long. 16^44'. 



SIT, an ifland in the Adriatic. N. lat. 4^^ 14'. E. long. 

 15" 24'. 



SITA, in Hindoo Mythology, is a celebrated incarnation 

 of the goddefs Lakflimi, celeftial confoit of Viflinu, in his 

 avatara, or defcent in the form of Rama. In the language 

 of Hindoo fable, flie was his fakti, or energy ; and number- 

 lefs poems have been written in honour of her beauty, merits, 

 and deeds. She is one of the moft popular goddefles of the 

 Hindoo Pantheon, and is indeed one of the moft virtuous 

 and interefting charafters in their puranic or heroic legends. 

 Her hiftory and that of her lord forms the fubjeft of the 

 Ramayana, which epic poem, like the Iliad, is grounded on 

 a rape. (See Ramayana J As noticed in that article, and 

 Ravexa, the carrying off, by the treachery of the tyrant 

 of that name, the virtuous fpoufe of Rama, roufed that hero 

 to the mighty deeds neceflary for her refcue from the hands 

 of her powerful perfecutor, and celebrated in the fine poem 

 of Valmiki ; and, as noticed above, in numberlefs others of 

 fecondary and minor fame. 



The outhne of Sita's hiftory is this. The childlefs raja 

 Janaka, (fee Jaxaka,) having duly propitiated the gods, 

 was led to the benevolent adoption of a female child about 

 five years old, found inclofed in a box by a Brahman in a 

 field. She was called Sita, iromfit or_/f/, meaning a furrow or 

 field ; and Janeki, after her adoptive father. Sita, however, 

 means alfo_/a/V, and may be thence derived, and is in this fenfe, 

 of denoting beauty, given alfo to Parvati and Sarafwati, con- 



fortg 



