SAPO] 



EI)e QLxwSuvy of -Botanp. 



1018 



sensation like that from a capsicum. The 

 young fruit is acid and eaten as a condi- 

 ment, while at tne same time the fruit is 

 one of the ingredients used for poisoning 

 alligators. The ripe fruits are woody tri- 

 lohed capsules, about an inch across, with 

 three cells, and one oily seed in each. 



The Milkwoodof Jamaica, S. launfolium, 

 receives its name from the milky juice 

 which abounds in the stem, and isa source 

 of annoyance to sawyers and others when 

 the wood is green. S. salicifolium affords 

 in Paraguay a bark which is used instead 

 of that of oak for tanning. Most modern 

 authors unite this genus with Stilhngia, 

 from which there are no reliable characters 

 to distinguish it. [A. A. B.] 



SAPODTLLA. Sapota Achras. The "West 

 Indian Sapodilla-wood, yielded by this tree, 

 is a fancy wood used for furniture. 



SAPONAIRE. (Fr.) Saponaria officina- 

 lis. — FAUX-BASILIC. Saponaria ocy- 

 moides. 



SAPONARIA. A genus of herbaceous 

 plants belonging to the order Caryophylla- 

 cece, and allied to Dianthus, from which 

 they are distinguished, by the absence of 

 bracts at the base of the calyx, and by the 

 seeds not being flattened. S. officinalis, 

 or Soapwort, is admitted into the British 

 Flora, but is never found except in the 

 neighbourhood of human dwellings, and 

 is not considered to he a native. In its 

 foliage this plant resembles the sweet- 

 william, but the flowering stalks are 

 stouter and taller; the flowers are of a 

 delicate rose-colour and fragrant, and are 

 collected into a dense terminal panicle. 

 A variety with double flowers is common 

 both in waste places and gardens. The 

 plant takes its name from the peculiarity 

 that its leaves bruised in water may be 

 worked into a lather. French : Savonniere ; 

 German : Seisenkrcrut. [C. A. J.] 



SAPOR. The taste which a thing has. 



SAPOTACE^E. An order of monopeta- 

 Ious dicotyledons, consisting of trees and 

 shrubs chiefly tropical or subtropical, with 

 the juice frequently milky, alternate un- 

 divided leaves without stipules, and small 

 flowers, solitary or clustered in the axils of 

 the leaves. It is distinguished from all 

 other Monopetalce by the perfect stamens, 

 either opposite to the lobes of the corolla 

 or twice as many ; by a superior ovary 

 divided into two or more cells, with one 

 ovule in each ; and by the fruit, which is 

 either a berry or a drupe. There are about 

 twenty genera, of which the most import- 

 ant are Chrysophyllum, Lucuma, Sapota, 

 Sideroxylon, Isonandra, Bumelia, Bassia, 

 and Mimusops. 



SAPOTA. A genus that gives its name 

 to the order Sapotacem, and which con- 

 sists of trees, natives of tropical America 

 and extratropical Australia. The flow- 

 ers have a calyx of five or six overlap- 

 ping sesments; a somewhat bell-shaped 

 corolla, with an erect five to six-parted 

 limb ; twelve stamens, six fertile, six with- 



out anthers, the filaments flattened awl- 

 shaped, the anthers extrorse; ovary six to 

 twelve-celled, with a single ovule in each 

 cell ; fruit succulent, frequently one-celled, 

 by the suppression of the other cavities. 

 S. inammosa [now Lucuma] yields the 

 Marmalade fruit sometimes called the Vege- 

 table Egg. The milky juice of this tree has 

 emetic properties, and is used as a caustic 

 to destroy warts ; it is said also to be used 

 to form a kind of sympathetic ink. S. 

 Achras yields an edible fruit called in the 

 West Indies the Sapodillaplum. The bark 

 of this tree is astringent and febrifugal; 

 the seeds also are aperient and diuretic. 

 The fruits of the species mentioned are 

 highly esteemed in the West Indies, but 

 those that have ripened in this country 

 have been little esteemed. [M. T. M.] 



SAPOTE NEGRO. (Fr.) Biospyros. 



SAPPADILLE. (Fr.) Anona. 



SAPPANWOOD. A wood of commerce 

 obtained from Ccesalpinia Sappan. 



SAPROLEGNIE.E. A natural order of 

 doubtful affinity, forming a peculiar group, 

 consisting of Saprolegnia, Achlya, and 

 one or two other more or less perfectly 

 defined genera, with the habit of moulds 

 and the fructification of Alga. They grow 

 for the most part on dead or living animals, 

 and are nearly colourless. The fruit is con- 

 tained in swollen parts of the threads, 

 which sometimes produce a succession of 

 sporangia by the repeated protrusion of 

 the inner membrane into the cavity, or 

 sometimes by the formation of lateral 

 cysts. In Pythium one sporangia only is 

 produced. Impregnation takes place by 

 conjugation between the sporangia and the 

 swollen tips of the lateral branchlets. The 

 reproductive bodies are zoospores, which 

 move by means of lash-like appendages. 

 The cell-walls consist of nearly pure cellu- 

 lose, exhibiting a brilliant blue when 

 treated with iodine. These plants differ 

 from all known Algce in growing princi- 

 pally on animal substances, though their 

 mode of reproduction in some respects 

 strongly resembles that of Vaucheria. It 

 is curious that the same animal has been 

 observed, when immersed, to produce a 

 Saprolegnia, and when surrounded merely 

 with air to produce a Mucor. Were zoo- 

 spores of the same type known amongst 

 Fungi, these productions would doubtless 

 be referred to them; but in the present state 

 of our knowledge, they stand on the con- 

 fines of both. There is some reason how- 

 ever to believe, from the observations of 

 Hofmeister, that impregnation is effected 

 in truffles much in the same way as it is 

 in Saprolegnieais They are great enemies to 

 fish and other animals preserved in aqua- 

 ria, which are frequently infested with 

 them when living. It is said that doses of 

 carbonate of soda prevent their growth, 

 and if so it is probable that bisulphate of 

 potash may be more effectual from its 

 known effects on obscure cryptogamic 

 growths. [M. J. B.] 



