1037 



EIjc CmtsSurg of 23 a tang. 



[SCLE 



vegetable matter or leaf-mould. The small 



I flowers, in a terminal raceme, are mouce- 



I cious, with a perianth of six divisions and 



1 three stamens ; the ovary consists of 



several distinct carpels with lateral styles, 



and one ovule in each, and the fruit is a 



little head of small seed-like nuts like that 



of some Alismas. There are eight species 



known— four from tropical America, four 



from Ceylon, Java, or the Philippine 



Islands. 



SCILLA. A genus of bulbous plants 

 giving name to the suborder Scillece of 

 liliaceous plant;, distinguished from Al- 

 lium by having the flowers inserted one 

 above the other on the scape, and from 

 Omithogalum by having the petals decidu- 

 I ous. Two species areindigenous to Britain: 

 ; S. verna, a beautiful little plant four to six 



■ inches high, with long narrow leaves, and 

 dense corymbs of bright-blue fragrant 



| flowers, very abundant on the cliffs of Corn- 

 , wall, and frequent also in the Orkney and 

 [ Shetland Isles ; and S. autumnalis, which 

 I grows also in Cornwall and in other parts 

 ] of England, not being exclusively confined 

 ! to the seashore. In this species the co- 

 j rymbs of flowers, which are of a dull pur- 

 plish-blue, are elongated, and the leaves 

 I and flowers do not appear simultaneously. 

 Of the cultivated species, S. prcecox, S. 

 sibirica, and S. bifolia are most prized, as 

 they put forth their brilliant blue flowers 

 at the very beginning of spring. S. italica 

 and S. peruviana are far more pretentious 

 plants, but they bloom later in the season, 

 when flowers are more abundant ; the 

 former is a native of Switzerland and Italy, 

 the latter of the Spanish peninsula, from 

 whence it was introduced to South Ame- 

 rica by the early colonists, and naturalised 

 in various parts of Chili and Peru. French : 

 Scille ; German : Meerzwiebel. [C. A. J.] 



SCTMITAR-SHAPED. The same as Aci- 

 naciforin. 



SCIXDAPSUS. A genus of Indian herbs 



belonging to the Orontiacece. The species 



! have a scrambling stem, and perforated or 



■ pinnately-divided leaves on long chan- 

 I nelled stalks. The spadix is sessile or 

 I nearly so, with female flowers at the lower 

 I partand perfect flowers above, encircled by 



a spreading spathe, which soon falls off ; 

 ovaries one-celled, with one or two erect 

 ovules. .S'. officinalis is cultivated at Midna- 

 pore, in Bengal, for the sake of its fruit, 

 which is cut into pieces, dried, and em- 

 ployed medicinally. The fruit otS.peii.usus 

 is likewise employed as a remedy in skin- 

 diseases, rheumatism, &c. Several species, 

 known for the most part under the name 

 of Pothos, are in cultivation. The holes in 

 the leaves of some of these plants have 

 been taken as the indications of future 

 lobes, but Trecul, who has examined them 

 carefully as to thi3 point, says that the 

 perforations depend upon the distention 

 of certain portions of the tissue of the 

 leaf with gas, and upon the subsequent 

 bursting of the skin of the leaf. As the 



leaves increase in size and age, so the gaps 

 grow larger. [M. T. M.] 



SCIPOULE. (Fr.) Urginea Scilla. 



SCIRPUS. A genus of sedge-grasses be- 

 longing to the tribe Scirpece. It has the 

 inflorescence in solitary spikes or several 

 together, clustered and forming heads; 

 glumes imbricated on every side, none of 

 the scales empty ; style jointed at the base, 

 and deciduous ; the flowers furnished with 

 bristles beneath the ovary. This genus, 

 as adopted by some authors, is extensive, 

 and contains many species, which have a 

 wide geographical distribution. Steudel 

 has described them under different genera, 

 and only retained a few under the original. 

 There are fourteen of them natives of the 

 British Isles, nearly all growing in situa- 

 tions where they are frequently covered by 

 water during the winter. S. lacustris, the 

 well-known Bulrush, is extensively used 

 for making bottoms of chairs, floor-mats, 

 &c, in most parts of Europe. [D. M.] 



SCITAMIiSTEiE. A large order of mono- 

 cotyledons, which, taken in a comprehen- 

 sive view, corresponds with the amomal 

 alliance of Lindley. It is almost entirely 

 tropical, and includes many plants of con- 

 siderable size, and all remarkable among 

 monocotyledons for their leaves (which are 

 often large, and have pinnate or diverging 

 veins), and for their unsymmetrical flowers: 

 theirperfect stamens beingalways reduced 

 to five or fewer, whilst the perianth divi- 

 sions are of the normal number, six. The 

 ovary is usually three-celled, and the seeds 

 albuminous. The whole group comprises 

 three tribes or orders— Musacece, v/'th more 

 perfect anthers than one; Zingiberaeece, 

 with only one perfect two-celled anther; 

 and Marantacew, with only one perfect one- 

 celled anther— the other stamens (if pre- 

 sent) being always converted into barren 

 mostly petal-like staminodia. 



SCLAREA. Salvia Sclarea. 



SCLAREE. (Fr.) Salvia Sclarea. 



SCLERACHNE. A genus of grasses be- 

 longing to the tribe Agrostideas. The in- 

 florescence is in contracted shining pani- 

 cles, the spikelets of which are linear and 

 one-flowered ; glumes two equal, or the 

 lower a little the smaller ; pale with a short 

 awn at the apex. This small genus con- 

 tains only two species, which are annuals, 

 and natives of the Southern States of 

 America. [D. M.] 



SCLERANTHACE^l The genus Scle- 

 ranthusand two or three others belonging 

 to the Paronychiacece have been proposed 

 as a separate order under the above name, 

 on account of their deep calyx-tube bear- 

 ing the stamens at the top, and hardening 

 round the nut when in fruit; but the 

 separation is not generally adopted. 



SCLERANTHUS. Unimportant weeds 

 giving name to the order Scleranthacem. 

 They rarely exceed a few inches in length, 

 and have much-branched diffuse stems, 

 opposite linear leaves (which are united 



