S T A 



S T A 



Brought by Mr. Maflon from the Cape to Kew in 17951 

 tliough it does not occur in his work. The ^ower moll • 

 agrees with his guttata, but the habit of the plant is very 

 different. 



Sedion 4. Flowers not yet obj'erved. One fpecies. 

 JVil/denoiv ■ 



S. clavnta. Club-fhaped Stapeha. Willd. n. 49. — 

 " Stem fimple, thicit, club-fhaped, reticilated with obfcure 

 warts, flowering at the lummit." — Gathered by governor 

 Patterfon, in fandy fields beyond Kopperlerg, at tlie Cape. 

 He has delineated the fruit only in his travels, tab. 8, ac- 

 cording to the German edition, cited by Willdenow. 



Wc beg leave to obferve that tlie two (irft fedlions t-jf the 

 prefent genus are entirely artificial, the fringe of the corolla 

 not leading to any natural affinities of fpecies. 



Stapeli.'V, in GiirJtni/ig, contains plants of the fucculent 

 perennial kind, of which the fpecies cultivated are, the 

 hairy ilapelia (S. hirfuta) ; and the variegated ftapclia (S. 

 viriegata). 



Method 0/ Culture. — Thefe forts of plants are readily in- 

 creafed by cuttings or (lips of the young braiiche';, which 

 ftiould be expofed a few days in a dry covered place to heal 

 over the cut part, a^d be then planted in pots, filled with 

 light, poor, dry, frtfh, fandy earth, with lime rubbidi, 

 plunging them in the tan-bed of the ftove, where they foon 

 itrike root. When they are well rooted, they may be re- 

 moved into feparate pots, replunging them in the bed till 

 frefh rooted, when they may be placed on the tops of the 

 flues, or on the fhelves in the hot-houfe. They are alfo 

 capable of being preferved in the greenhoufe. Thev have 

 a fine effedl in their leaflcfs, protuberant, warted appear- 

 ance, and the beauty of their flowers, which are large, 

 ftellatcd, variegated, fpotted, and differently (Iriped. 



STAPES, in Anatomy, one of the fmall bones of the 

 ear, exaftly refembling in fhape the iron part of a ftirrup. 

 See Ear and Cuanium. 



STAPHISAGRIA, in Botany and Gardening. See 

 Delphinium. 



Staphlsackia, in the Materia Medica. See Staves- 

 acre. 



STAPHYLiEA, in Botany, abridged by Linnxus from 

 Staphylodendrum of Toiirnefort and of ancient authors, de- 

 rived from o■Ta,■t/^>^, (7 lunch, or clujler, and htt^K, a tree, 

 becaufe the cluttered fruit of this fhrub refcmbles a bunch 

 of grapes in it> mode of growth. — Linn. Gen. 148. Schreb. 

 198. WiUd. Sp. PI. V. I. 1497. Mart. Mill. Dia. v. 4. 

 Sm. Fl. Brit. 377. Prodr. Fl. Gric. Sibth. v. i. 208. 

 Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 2. 171. Purfh v. i. 129. Jufl'. 377. 

 Touriuf. t. 386. Lamarck Dift. v. 7. 391. lUultr. 

 t. 210. Gacrtii. t. 69. — Clafs and order, Pentandria Tri- 

 gynia. Nat. Ord. Trihilatii, Linn. Rhamni, Juil. 



Gen. Ch. Cnl. Perianth inferior, of one k-af, five-cleft, 

 concave, rouiidilh, coloured, the fizc of the corolla. Cor. 

 Petals five, oblong, ereft, like the fegments of the calyx. 

 Neftary at the receptacle of the fruftification, in the bafe 

 of the flower, concave, urn-ftiapcd. Stam. Filaments five, 

 oblong, eredl, the length of the calyx ; anthers fimple, 

 Pifl. Germen fuperior, thickifli, three-cleft ; (lyles three, 

 fimple, a little longer than the (lamens ; ftiemas obtufe, 

 contiguous. Peric. Capfules three, inflated, flaccid, united 

 longitudinally by a future, pointed at the tip, burfting in- 

 wardly. Seeds two, bony, globular, with an oblique point, 

 and an orbicular excavation at the fide of the orifice. 



Obf. In S. pinnata the germen, inilead of being three- 

 cleft, is moftly bifid, and there are generally but two cap- 

 fules. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx inferior, in five fegments. Fetali five. 



Capfules inflated, joined together. Seeds two, globofe, 

 with a fear on one fide. 



1. S. occidentalit. Jamaica Bladder-nut. Willd. n. I. 

 Swartz Ind. Occ. v. i. 566. (Arbor jamaicenfis fraxini 

 alatis foliis, flonbue pentapetalis corymbofis ; Pluk. Aim. 

 45. t. 269. f. I.) — Leaves doubly pinnate. Capfules tri- 

 angular. Seeds folitavy. . Stem arboreous. — Native of 

 fields in the mountainous parts of Jamaica, flowering in the 

 fpring and autumn. A tree from twenty to thirty feet in 

 height, with a fnioolh trunk, and round, fmoothifli, fliining 

 branches. Leaves alternate, ftalked ; leaflets two or three 

 pair, ovate, pointed, ferrated, fmooth, fhining. Slipulas 

 two, between each pair of leaflets, fmall, incurved. Floiuers 

 in terminal, ere£t, lax clutters, white, fragrant, three on 

 each ftalk. Capfules fcarcely inflated. 



2. S. pinnata. Bladder-nut Tree. Linn. Sp. PI. 3R6. 

 Engl. Bot. t. 1560. "Schmidt. Arb. t. 80." — Leaves 

 pinnated. Styles and capfules but two. — Native of the 

 louth of Europe ; but of fuch rare occurrence in this 

 country as to be fcarcely deemed indigenous, although it is 

 admitted into the Britifli Flora. It bloffoms in May or 

 June, and perfefts fruit rather late in the autumn. Stem 

 ftirubby, five or fix feet high, branched, fmooth. Leaves 

 unequally pinnate ; leaflets five, oppofite, ovate, ferrated, 

 acute. Slipulas large, membranous, brownifli. Floivers 

 in terminal, compound, drooping clullers, bell-ftiaped, pale 

 yellow. BraSeas fetaceoiis, membranous. Capfules two, 

 rarely three, membranous, inflated, each containing two 

 large, globular feeds, which when ripe are hard, light 

 brown, and look as if varniflied. 



The general appearance of this /hrub fomewhat refembles 

 that of the common Afli. 



3. S. trifolia. Three-leaved Bladder-nut. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 386. "Schmidt. Arb. t. 81." — Leaves ternate.— 

 Native of dry hills, in rocky fituations from New York to 

 Upper Carolina, flowering in May and June. Purjh. Stem 

 ftouter than in the lall fpecies ; the older branches grey ; the 

 younger green, fmooth. Leaves three together, ovate, 

 pointed, ferrated, the terminal one largeft. Flowers pro- 

 duced from the fides of the branches, in longer duller*, but 

 on fliorter fl;alks, of a clearer white, and fomewhat larger 

 than in the laft. 



Staphyl.«a, in Gardening, contains plants of the hardy, 

 deciduous, flowering, flirubby kind, of which the fpecies 

 cultivated are, the five-leaved bladder-nut (S. pinnata); 

 and the thice-leaved bladder-nut (S. trifolia). 



Method of Culture. — Thefe plants may be increafed by 

 feeds, fuckers, layers, and cuttings. The feeds fliould be 

 fown as foon as they become ripe, in the autumn, in a bed 

 of common earth, to the depth of an inch : they fliould be 

 kept clear from weeds, and refrefhed in dry weather with 

 water frequently. In the following autumn or fpring, the 

 large plants fliould be removed into nurfery-rows, at two 

 feet apart, and one foot diitant in the rows, to remain till 

 of fufficient growth for the ftirubbery. The fuckers may 

 be feparated and taken up in autumn, or early in the fpring, 

 with root-fibres to them, and planted in nurfery lines in the 

 above manner. The layers may be put down from the 

 young branches, being either (lit or twitted ; and, when 

 properly rooted in the following autumn, be planted out in 

 the nurfery as above. The cuttings (hould be made from 

 the lower parts of the young fliooti of the j)reccJing year, 

 planting them in a (hady border in the autumn, and water- 

 ing them frequently during the fpring and fiimmer, when 

 the weather is dry ; and when well rooted, in the autumn 

 following, planting them out in the nurfery-rows as above, 

 or where they arc to remain. They aflord oruainent and 

 5 fi a variety 



