1035 



QL\)z Creagurg of 23atanjn 



[SCHU 



SCHOPFIA. A genus of Olacacew, con- 

 sisting of tropical American or Asiatic 

 shrubs, or small trees, with alternate entire 

 leaves, and white flowers, often large for 

 the order, in short axillary racemes or 

 clusters. Their structure is in some re- 

 j spects curious, and has given rise to differ- 

 : ences of opinion. A small outer cup is 

 j considered by some as an involucre, by 

 ! others as a calyx, whilst the disk adnate 

 ! to the base of the ovary which bears the 

 j corolla is thought by some to be the true 

 | calyx. The petals are united into a cam- 

 panulate or tubular corolla as in the true 

 Monopetalce, and the lower part of the 

 J ovary to which the above-mentioned disk 

 is adnate is the only portion which en- 

 larges after flowering ; and its margin 

 shows a ring round the top of the ripe 

 drupe, thus offering the anomaly of a su- 

 perior ovary and an inferior fruit. There 

 are about ten species known, of which 

 rather more than half are Asiatic. 



SCHOTIA. A South African genus be- 

 longing to the Ccesalpinece section olLegu- 

 minnsce, in which the flowers are regular 

 instead of papilionaceous. The genus is 

 related to Cassia, but may at once be re- 

 cognised by the ten perfect stamens of 

 the flowers, which do not open by pores 

 at the apex but by slits along their whole 

 length. S. tamariiidifolia (or speciosa) is 

 i a scrubby bush of eight to ten feet, having 

 | simply pinnate leaves, and terminal pa- 

 I nicies of deep crimson blossoms; and from 

 j the calyxbeing slightly tubular, and colour- 

 ed like the petals, the flower bears some 

 resemblance to that of a short-tubed Fuch- 

 I sia. According to Dr. Atherstone, the beans 

 • from the pods of this plant are roasted 

 and eaten in the Albany districts, where 

 | they are called Boerboom, and the power- 

 j fully astringent bark is used medicinally 

 as well as in tanning. The genus was 

 named in honour of Richard Van derSchot, 

 the travelling companion and friend of 

 i Jacquin. TA. A. B.] 



SCHOUWIA. A genus of Criidfera? from 

 I Arabia, distinguished from Psychine by 

 ; their oval pouches with a narrow ring at 

 j the back of each valve. [J. T. S.] 



SCHRADERA. A genus of Cinchonaceos, 

 | consisting of tropical American pseudo- 

 i parasitical shrubs, bearing their flowers in 

 j terminal stalked heads encircled by an 

 ! involucre. The limb of the calyx is slightly 

 | five-toothed ; the corolla funnel-shaped, 

 I with a slender tube, a hairy throat, and a 

 j limb divided into five to eight spreading 

 lobes, which have a thickened keel-like 

 ridge on the outside, and sometimes a 

 small thick hook-like process within ; an- 

 thers sessile, partially projecting from the 

 tube of the corolla; fruit succulent pea- 

 shaped, two to four-celled ; seeds nume- 

 rous, small, embedded in pulp. [M. T. M.] 



SCHRA^KTA. A genus of Leguminosm, 

 with flowers like those of Mimosa, ; but the 

 pods, instead of being flat as in that genus 

 and jointed between the seeds, are four- 

 sided with continuous valves, linear in 



form, and covered with slender recurved 

 prickles. There are about a dozen species, 

 all American, and ranging from the South- 

 ern States to Brazil. Most are straggling 

 perennial herbs, with slender angular 

 stems, covered with numerous recurved 

 prickles like those on some roses, and bear- 

 ing twice-pinnate leaves, which are much 

 like those of Mimosa pudica, and have the 

 same singular property of closing when 

 I touched. The pink flowers are borne in 

 j round balls or spikes in the axils of the 

 leaves. The genus was named in honour 

 of F. Schrank, an eminent German bo- 

 tanist. [A. A. B.] 



j SCHREBERA. A genus of doubtful 



; affinity, placed by some with Bignoniacece, 



| by others with Jasminacew, but with 



I neither of which natural orders it seems 



I intimately connected. There is only one 



i species, S. swietenoides, the Muccaady or 



I Mogalinga-marum of India. It is a tall 



tree, deriving its specific name from a 



I certain resemblance to Swieten ia Mahagnni. 



| The leaves are pinnate ; the flowers dirty- 



I white, and arranged in panicles ; the calyx 



| tubular, and irregularly divided into three 



or five lobes; the corolla hypocraterimor- 



! phous, and divided into from five to seven 



lobes; the stamens two in number; and 



the fruit, a pear-shaped capsule, two-celled, 



and enclosing in each cell four winged 



seeds. The tree is found in valleys in 



various parts of India. [B. S.] 



SCHUBERTIA. A genus of Asclepiada- 

 cea?, containing several species of twining 

 hairy and milky shrubs from tropical South 

 America. They have opposite leaves, and 

 fleshy flowers in handsome umbels. The 

 calyx is deeply five-parted ; the corolla 

 funnel-shaped, the tube swollen below, and 

 the limb divided into five linear spreading 

 lobes ; the anthers terminated by a short 

 membrane; the pollen-masses obovate com- 

 pressed and pendulous; and the stigma 

 turbinate. [W. CJ 



SCHUERMANNIA. This genus com- 

 prises an Australian myrtaceous shrub, 

 with solitary axillary flowers, each pro- 

 vided with two opposite membranous 

 bracts. The five-ribbed tube of the calyx 

 is somewhat fleshy, adherent to the ovary; 

 its limb divided into five petaloid mem- 

 branous lance-shaped segments; petalsfive, 

 roundish concave ; stamens nine or ten, 

 alternating with an equal number of barren 

 stamens: anthers opening by pores ; style 

 thread-like protruding, twisted spirally 

 at the end; ovary one-celled, enclosed 

 within the calyx. [M. T. MJ 



SCHULTZIA. The name of a genus be- 

 longing to the order of umbellifers, and 

 distinguished from its congeners by its 

 fruit being cvlindrically prismatic, com- 

 pressed laterally, each half of it with five 

 narrow ridges ; and by having a single 

 oil-vessel in each groove, and two at the 

 line of junction. The only species is S. 

 crinita, a native of the Altai mountain 

 range. The genus was named in honour 



