1081 



Elje CrraSurn at SSotaug. 



SPHA 



sixty miles from the sea, and in the estua- 

 ries of several rivers in the Southern 

 States of America. The same species is 

 found also in New Zealand. [M. J. B.] 



SPH-EROCOCCUS. A genus of rose- 

 spored Algce, the type of the natural order 

 Splimrococcoidece. It once embraced many 

 species now referred to other genera, and 

 is now nearly restricted to the European 

 S. coronopifolius and .9. crinitus. The cha- 

 racters of the genus, as given by Dr. 

 Harvey, are :— Frond cartilaginous, com- 

 pressed, two-edged, linear, with two-ranked 

 branches and an internal rib, cellular ; cen- 

 tral cells fibrous ; medial many-sided, those 

 of the surface minute and disposed in fila- 

 ments. Fruit spherical tubercles, having 

 a thick fibro-cellular pericarp, and contain- 

 ing a mass of minute spores on a central 

 placenta, S. coronopifolius is common on 

 the Irish shores, but rare in Great Britain, 

 except on the southern coasts. [M. J. B.] 



SPHiEROCCCMA. A dwarf much branch- 

 ed shrub or undershrub, with small oppo- 

 site linear fleshy leaves, and small flowers 

 in dense clusters, which after flowering 

 become globular heads, hispid with the 

 numerous abortive sepals. It is a native 

 of the deserts about Aden, and forms an 

 exceptional genus of Caryophyllacece, allied 

 to Polycarpoea, but having only two 

 ovules to the ovary, and a single seed in 

 the small utricular fruit. 



SPH^EROLOBIUM. A genus of a small 

 group of Leguminoso?, exclusively Austra- 

 lian, in which the ten stamens are free, 

 and the minute pods contain, but two 

 seeds. It differs from its near allies in 

 the distinctly two-lipped calyx, the upper 

 lip the larger and bifid, the lower three- 

 parted. The species are small bushes, 

 with wiry terete rush-like stems usually 

 devoid of leaves, and abundantly clothed 

 near the apex with small red or yellow 

 pea-flowers. S. alo.tum is exceptional in 

 having winged stems; and S.vimineum— 

 cultivated in England— is peculiar to Tas- 

 mania and South-eastern Australia, while 

 all the others are natives of Western 

 Australia. [A. A. B.] 



SPHiEROPTERIS. Peranema. 



SPH.EROSPORE. The quadruple spore 

 of some algals. 



SPH.EROSTEMA. A name under which 

 the Asiatic species of Schizandra have 

 been distinguished as a genus. 



SPH^ROSTEPHANOS. Mesochlcena. 



SPH-EROSTIGMA. About a dozen spe- 

 cies of (Enothera, having spherical instead 

 of four-lobed stigmas, have been on this 

 account separated as a distinct genus by 

 some botanists with the above name. The 

 most desirable species is CE. bistorta, a 

 larcre-flowered variety of which, called 

 Veitchio.no., is in cultivation. It is a pretty 

 annual, with stems about a foot high, fur- 

 nished with linear or lance-shaped and ses- 

 sile sharply-toothed leaves, and axillary 

 solitary bright-yellow flowers about an inch 



across. It is a native of California, as are 

 most of the species, and was introduced 

 into England in 1858. The flowers of most 

 | of the species are diurnal. [A. A. B.] 



I SPH.EROTHALAMTTS. Under this name 



Dr. Hooker has described a new genus of 



Anonacece, comprising a shrub, native of 



Borneo, with lance-shaped nearly sessile 



leaves, handsome orange-coloured flowers, 



having three roundish leafy erect sepals, 



: six thick petals in two rows, placed with 



\ the numerous stamens on a globular tha- 



! lamus, and numerous carpels, each with a 



I short style and two ovules. The only spe- 



i cies, R. pulcherrimus, is stated to be a very 



i handsome plant. [M. T. M.] 



SPH.EROZYGA. A genus of green- 



j spored Alga containing many beautiful 

 ; microscopical objects, allied to Oscillatoria, 

 and distinguished by the free threads, 

 which are not immersed in a dense jelly, 

 as in Nostoc, exhibiting at intervals large 

 swollen connecting joints, either solitary 

 or in chains, which are sometimes fur- 

 nished with cilia, and ultimately contain 

 zoospores. 8. spiralis is remarkable for 

 its spiral threads, which occur in such 

 I quantities as to tinge the water in which 

 J they grow of a delicate green. The spe- 

 ; cies occur in various parts of the world, 

 and though many of them affect com- 

 ; paratively high latitudes, they are also 

 j abundant in some hot springs, where they 

 are used en masse as an application to 

 j diseased glands, to which they may pos- 

 sibly do good from containing in minute 

 quantities an alkaline iodide. [M. J. B.] 



j SPHAGNEI. A natural order of mosses 

 distinguishable at once by their habit, but 

 ! technically characterised by their apparent 

 \ perfectly sessile globose capsule, sup- 

 ' ported upon the elongated swollen sheath 

 1 (vaginula^, within which is a very short 

 | stem, the spore-sac passing over the top 

 of the short columella, their pale tint 

 often changing to lilac, their fasciculate 

 branchlets, the absence of proper roots, 

 and the peculiar structure of the leaves, 

 which consist of large cells with orbicular j 

 perforations in their walls, between which ] 

 runs a spiral thread, and surrounded by j 

 narrow elongated cells derived from the j 

 stem. The veil does not burst till the lid | 

 flies off. When this is ruptured, according i 

 to some authorities, a slight but distinct | 

 detonation takes place. The female flowers ! 

 occupy the place of a branch, while the i 

 male flowers (which are globose and 

 stalked like those of Juvgermamiiacece) are 

 seated at the tips of the branches— not in 

 the axils but at the side of the leaves, as 

 in Fontinalis. The branches, moreover, 

 have a similar origin. 



Sphagnei are essentially aquatic plants, 

 and though sometimes left dry by the 

 subsiding of the water, they cannot flou- 

 rish without considerable moisture. Few 

 plants more rapidly form turf-beds, but 

 unless mixed with other plants the turf 

 which arises from them is useless for 

 economical purposes on account of its 



