sese] 



SES 

 and 



Clje treasury ai Matmx^, 



1054- 



id formerly combined with JEscliynomene. 

 They have pinnate leaves, composed of 

 numerous pairs of leaflets without a ter- 

 minal one, but haviug a bristly 'point in 

 place of it, the leaflets often possessing 

 the irritable nature of the well-known sen- 

 sitive plant. Their flowers, usually of a 

 yellow colour, are produced few or several 

 together on stalks rising from the leaf- 

 axils, and are succeeded by long narrow 

 cylindrical or flattened pods containing 

 many seeds, between which they are so 

 much constricted that the seeds appear to 

 lie in separate cells, but they are not truly 

 jointed like those of JEschynomene. 



S. aculeata, the Danchi of India, is an 

 erect slightly branched annual, with the 

 stems and leafstalks armed with minute 

 prickles, leaves composed of from twenty 

 to fifty pairs of narrow leaflets, and racemes 

 with few rather large flowers oq slender 

 stalks, producing erect almost cylindrical 

 or tapered sharp-pointed pods. It is cul- 

 tivated in India for its fibre, which, though 

 coarse, is of great strength andvery durable 

 in water or when repeatedly wetted, and 

 is consequently valuable for the ropes of 

 fishing-nets, &c. ; but it is not suitable for 

 ships' cordage, as it contracts very much 

 when wet. It is found also in the West 

 Indies, and in Tropical Africa. [A. S.] 



SESELI. A genus of Unibelliferce having 

 the following characters :— The calyx has 

 five short teeth ; and the fruit is oval or 

 oblong, each half of it having five promi- 

 nent ribs, the two lateral of which are 

 broadest : in each furrow there is usually 

 one rarely two oil-vessels, and two rarely 

 four at the line of junction. The species 

 are biennial or perennial herbs, with much- 

 divided leaves, and white rarely yellow 

 flowers. They are natives of Europe, Central 

 Asia, ancf North America. [G.D.J 



SESELI. (Fr.) Seseli.^ — COMMUN 

 Sinm Sisarum. -DE CRETE. Tordvlium 

 officinale. -DE MONTPELLIER. Silaus 

 pratensis. 



SESES. (Fr.) Cicer arietinum. 



SESLERIA. A genus of grasses belong- 

 ing to the tribe Festucece. The inflores- 

 cence is in simple spikes ; spikelets two to 

 six-flowered ; glumes two membranaceous, 

 nearly equal and pointed or mucronate; 

 flowering glumes three to five-toothed, 

 the central tooth longest ; stamens three; 

 styles two, short. This genus contains 

 twenty species, most of which are natives 

 of alpine or subalpiue countries, where 

 they reach to great elevations on the moun- 

 tains. In Britain it is represented by S. 

 ccendea, which is not a common grass 

 though generally plentiful where it grows. 

 French : Seslere. [D. M.] 



SESQFI. This term, prefixed to the 



Latin name of a measure, shows that such 

 measure exceeds its due length by one 

 half; thus, sesquipedalis means a foot and 

 a half. 



SESSEA. A genus of Peruvian shrubs 

 or trees belonging to the Solanacece. The 



flowers are in terminal panicles ; calyx 

 tubular, five-toothed; corolla funnel- 

 shaped, its limb with five spreading seg- 

 ments; anthers opening longitudinally ; 

 ovary two-cel-led ; fruit capsular, surround- 

 ed by the calyx, two-celled two-valved, 

 each valve splitting into two halves ; seeds 

 numerous, winged. [M. T. M.J 



SESSILE. Sitting close upon the body 

 that supports it, without any sensible 

 stalk. 



SESUVIACE^. A name given by Wight 

 to the Tetragoniece, a tribe of Ficoidea' or 

 Mesembryacece,. Other botanists limit .Sesw- 

 viece to a tribe of Tetragoniacece, consider- 

 ing the latter as a distinct order. 



SESUVIUM. This genus of Tetragoniacece, 

 or Mesembryacece, consists of half a dozen 

 species found on the shores of most tropical 

 countries, consisting of smooth herba- 

 ceous plants, with succulent opposite en- 

 tire nearly veiiiless leaves, and usually 

 solitary flowers. The latter have a five- 

 parted persistent calyx coloured inside, 



, and no petals ; and the fruit is a three to 

 five-celled capsule, opening crosswise 

 through the middle -when ripe, the upper 

 or lid-like half falling away and leaving 



! the lower, which contains the numerous 



I seeds, attached to the plant. 



S. Portulacastrum is common on the 

 sandy shores of the tropical and warm 

 regions of the Western Hemisphere. It 



I is a prostrate plant, with more or less 

 lance-shaped leaves and stalked flowers, 

 having the calyx green outside and purple 

 or white within. S. repens, the Eastern 

 species, has rooting stems ; leaves which 

 vary in form from round or oval to long 

 spatula-shaped ; and stalked flowers, with 

 the calyx purplish outside and rosy within. 

 Both are eatable as potherbs, but have a 

 rather saltish taste. The large tufts of S. 

 repens are frequently buried in the loose 

 sand, and then become blanched and ten- 

 der, and are greedily sought after by hogs. 

 French : SSsuve. [A. S.] 



SETA. A bristle of any sort ; a stiff 

 hair; a slender straight prickle; also the 

 stalk which bears the spore-case of plants 

 of the muscal alliance. 



SETACEO-SERRATE. Having the ser- 

 ratures ending in bristle-like points. 



SETARIA. A genus of grasses be- 

 longing to the tribe Panicece. The species 

 are now included under Panicum. French : 

 Setaire. [D. M.] 



SETHIA. By some this genus is com- 

 bined with Erythroxylon, which then forms 

 the sole genus of Eryihroxylacece ; while 

 others separate it, and characterise it by 

 the calyx being flve-lobed, and by the 

 styles being united together, and bearing 

 three distinct stigmas at the top. The 

 three described species are confined to the 

 Indian Peninsula and Ceylon. S. indica is 

 a small tree, with inversely egg-shaped or 

 oblong feather-veined leaves, pale-coloured 

 on the under-surface; and with yellow flow- 



