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CIjc CrcaSurg at aSrjtanji. 



1071 



SORBIER, or S. DES OISEAUX. (Fr.) 

 Pyrus Aucuparia. — DES BOIS. Pyrus 



torminaiis. 



SORBINE. A saccharine matter obtained 

 from the berries of the Mountain Ash, Py- 

 rus Aucuparia. 



SORBUS. The generic name given by 

 Linnams to the Mountain Ash or Rowan- 

 tree, the cultivated Service-tree, and a few 

 others which, by their pinnate leaves 

 more than anything else, appear to differ 

 from Pyrus. Modern botanists are, how- 

 ever, unanimous in referring these trees 

 to the same genus as the apple and pear. 

 See Pyrus. [A. A. B.] 



SORDIDUS. Any dirty or muddy colour: 

 thus sordide luteus = dirty yellow. 



SOREDIA. A name given to the little 

 mealy patches which are so common on 

 the thallus of lichens, and which arise 

 from the rupture of the outer surface, and 

 the protrusion of the gonidia by which 

 the lichen is multiplied. [M. J. B.] 



SOREMA. A genus of Nolanacece from 

 Chili, consisting of prostrate annuals, 

 having convolvulaceous blue flowers, and 

 twenty free ovaries heaped about the base 

 of the style. The drupes are one-celled, 

 one-seeded, open at the base. [J. T. SJ 



SORGHO. (Fr.) Sorghum. 



SORGHUM. A genus of grasses belong- 

 ing to the tribe Andropogonece. The in- 

 florescence is in panicles; glumes two- 

 flowered, one neuter, the other herma- 

 phrodite ; pales of the hermaphrodite flow- 

 ers bearded, of the neuter beardless. The 

 species of Sorghum are extensively culti- 

 vated for food, particularly S. vulgare. In 

 Spain, Italy, and other parts of the South 

 of Europe, as well as in Arabia and Asia 

 Minor, the Millet or Guinea Corn occupies 

 a place similar to that which oats and 

 barley hold in the fleld-culture of the nor- 

 thern parts of Europe. The flour which 

 the round hard seeds yield is very white, 

 and makes good bread when properly ma- 

 nufactured. It is called Dana in India, 

 and is said to be used chiefly by the lower 

 classes of the population. It is also em- 

 ployed for feeding horses, swine, poultry, 

 &c, where it is extensively grown. It 

 is frequently cultivated in Botanical Gar- 

 dens in England, where it has been tried 

 also as a general crop, but the climate 

 has been found too cold and damp for 

 ripening its seeds properly. [D. M.] 



SORI. The patches of spore-cases found 

 on ferns. 



SORIDIUM. A little slender leafless 

 annual from Brazil, forming a genus of 

 Trhiridacece, only differing from Sciaphila 

 in the number of divisions of the perianth 

 and of the stamens, these being four and 

 two respectively, instead of six and three. 



SOROCEA. A Brazilian tree, forming a 

 genus of Artocarpacece. The leaves are 

 serrated ; the flowers dioecious, the female 

 ones borne in axillary clusters. Surround- 



ing the ovary is a tubular five-toothed 

 perianth, which becomes incorporated 

 with the succulent fruit. There is a single 

 pendulous seed. [M. T. M.] 



SOROMANES. One of the genera of 

 acrostichoid ferns, consisting of robust 

 scandent or creeping plants, with large 

 pinnate fronds, dimorphous as usually 

 occurs in this group. The veins are pinnate, 

 the venules connivent,all anastomosing at 

 an acute angle and without free included 

 veinlets. The fertile fronds are contracted. 

 S. serratifolium, the only species, is a native 

 of Mexico and Columbia. [T. MJ 



SOROSIS, SOROSUS. The fleshy mass 

 formed by a consolidation of many flowers, 

 seed-vessels, and their receptacles— as the 

 Pineapple, the Bread-fruit, &c. 



SORREL. Eumex Acetosa. — , CLIMB- 

 ING. Begonia scandens. — , GARDEN, 

 Rumex Acetosa. — , INDIAN. Hibiscus 

 Sahdariffa. — , MOUNTAIN. Oxyria. — , 

 RED. Hibiscus Sabdariffa. — , SHEEP'S. 

 Rumex Acetosella. —, SWITCH. Doduncea 

 viscosa. — , TREE. Rumex Lunaria. — , 

 WOOD. Oxalis Acetosella; also Begonia 

 acutifolia. 



SORREL-TREE. Eubotrys or Lyonia 

 arborea. 



SOTOR. A name given by Fenzl to 

 Kigelia pinnata. 



SOUARI-WOOD. A durable timber of 

 Demerara, obtained from Caryocar tomen- 

 tosum. 



SOUCHET. (Fr.) Cyperus. — A PA- 

 PIER. Papyrus antiquorum. —SULTAN. 

 Cyperus esculentus. 



SOUCI. (Fr.) Calendida'. — D'EAU. 

 Caltha palustris. — DES JARDINS. Ca- 

 lendula officinalis. — HYGROMETRE, or 

 PLUVIAL. Dimorphotheca pluvialis. 



SOUDE. (Fr.) Salsola^ — COMMUNE. 

 SalsolaSoda. — CODCHEE. Salsola Kali. 



SOUFRE VEGETAL. (Fr.) Lycopodium 

 clavatum. 



SOULAMEA. A genus of the Simaru- 

 iacece peculiar to the Moluccas and the 

 Feejee Islands, and represented by a single 

 species, S. amara, a tree with simple alter- 

 nate stalked obovate leaves, and small 

 green flowers disposed in short axillary 

 spikes. The fruits are singular, being very 

 markedly heart-shaped, whence the plant 

 has been called Cardiophora and Cardio- 

 carpus. They are compressed, coriaceous 

 in texture, and about an inch in length ; 

 and in their absence the plant may be 

 known from its allies by the flowers, which 

 have three sepals, six stamens, and a two- 

 celled and two-ovuled ovary tipped with 

 two short styles. Like the Quassia and . 

 most others of the family, this plant is 

 excessively bitter in all its parts. The root 

 and bark, bruised and macerated in water, 

 are used in India, Java, the Moluccas, &c, 

 as an emetic and tonic, in pleurisy, asthma, 

 cholera, snake-bites, epilepsy, &c. These 



