3 T Y 
packthreads, to prevent the. wind from raifing the pa- 
per, which would Toon tear it when it became looie. 
The above defcription, together with the annexed 
plan, it is hoped will be fufficient inftrudtions for any 
one who is defirous of making thefe covers j and what 
has been before mentioned tinder the article Melon, 
will be directions enough for the Life of them; fo that 
I lhall only add one caution which may be neceffary 
to repeat here, which is, not to keep thefe covers too 
dole down over the plants, left it draw them too 
weak; fo that air fhould always be admitted to the 
plants at all times in proportion to the warmth of the 
feafon. 
Thefe covers of oiled paper are not only ufeful for 
covering of Melons, but are the belt things to cover 
cuttings of exotic plants, when planted, that can be 
contrived, and are alfo capable of being ufed for ma- 
ny other purpofes. 
The paper will feldom laft longer than one feafon, fo 
it will require a new covering every fpring •, but if 
the frames are well made, and when they are out of 
ufe, laid up in Ihelter from the wet, they will laft 
feveral years, efpecially if there is a band of ftraw 
laid round the Melons, upon which the frames may 
(land ; fo they will not reft upon the ground, and the 
ftraw-bands will prevent the damp from rifing fo 
as to rot them. Thefe ftraw-bands are fuch as are 
recommended for the hot-beds of Afparagus in winter. 
STRAMONIUM. See Datura. 
STRATIOTES. Lin. Gen. Plant. 607. Aloides. 
Boerh. Ind. alt. Plant. 2. p. 172. Water Soldier. 
The Characters are. 
It has one flower inclofled in a compreffled obtufle J heath , 
compofed ofl two leaves which are keel-Jhaped and perma- 
nent. Id he empalement ofl the flower is of one leaf , tri- 
fid and crept. It has three almcfl heartfioaped petals , 
which are twice the fize of the empalement , erect and 
fpreading , and about twenty Jlamina inferted in the re- 
ceptacle of the flower , terminated by fingle flummits. The 
germen is fituated under the empalement , fupporting fix 
Jlyles divided in two parts , crowned by fingle ftigmas. The 
germen afterward becomes an oval cap fule, narrowed on 
every fide , having fix angles , and as many cells filled with 
oblong incurved feeds. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the fixth fedtion 
of Linnseus’s thirteenth clafs, which includes thofe 
plants whofe flowers have many ftamina and fix ftyles. 
We know but one Species of this genus, viz. 
Stratiotes {Aloides.) Lin. Llor. Lap. 222. Water Sol- 
dier, Water Aloe, or Frefh Water Soldier. Aloe pa- 
luftris. C. B. P. 280. Marflo Aloe. 
This plant is in fliape like the Aloe, but the leaves 
are thinner, and ferrated on the edges very fharply ; 
they are of a grayifh colour, and about a foot long •, 
between the leaves, from the center of the plant, 
arife one, two, and fometimes three ftalks, almoft the 
length of the leaves, each being terminated by a 
three-forked fheath, out of which burfts one white 
flower compofed of three roundifli heart-fhaped petals, 
with many yellow ftamina in the middle. Below the 
flower is fituated a conical germen which isreverfed, 
the broad end (landing upward and the narrow down- 
ward. This becomes a fix-angled capfule, having fix 
cells filled with feeds. It flowers in July, and the 
feeds ripen in September. It grows plentifully in 
Handing waters in the Ifle of Ely, and many places in 
the North of England, from whence young plants may 
be procured in fpring, when they firft rife on the fur- 
face of the water ; and thefe being placed in large 
ponds or canals, will ftrike down their roots, and 
propagate without any farther care. In autumn the 
plants fink down to the bottom of the water, and rife 
again in the fpring. 
STRAWBERRY. See Fracaria. 
S T R A WB ERR Y-T REE. See Arbutus. 
STYLE. The Style of a flower is a body accompa- 
nying the germen, either ariflng from the top of it, 
or (landing as an axis in the middle of the germen, 
and fupports the ftigma, which is fuppofed the fe- 
STY 
male organ by which the farina is received and con- 
veyed to the germen. 
ST YR AX. T'ourn. Inft. R. H. 598. tab. 369. Lin, 
Gen. Plant. 527. Storax-tree. 
The Characters are, 
The flower has a jhort cylindrical empalement of one leaf, 
indented in five parts •, it has one funnel-fhaped petal, 
with a floort cylindrical tube the length of the empalement , 
whofe brim is cut into five large obtufle flegments which 
flpread open it has ten or twelve awl- f reaped fiamina dif- 
pofled circularly , ‘which are inferted in the petals, and ter- 
minated by oblong flummits, and a roundifh germen , fup- 
porting a fingle Jlyle the length of the fiamina , crowned 
by a ragged ftigma. The germen afterward turns to a 
roundifh fruit with one cell including two, nuts, which 
are plain on one Jide and convex on the other. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the firft fedlion of 
Linnaeus’s eleventh clafs, which contains the plants 
whofe flowers have twelve ftamina and one ftyle. 
We know but one Species of this genus, viz. 
Styrax {Officinale.) Plort. Cliff.- 187. The Storax-tree. 
Styrax folio mali cotonei. C. B. P. 452. The Quince- 
leaved Storax-tree. 
This plant grows plentifully in the neighbourhood 
of Rome, and alfo in Paleftine, and feveral of the 
iflands in the Archipelago, from whence the fruit has 
been brought to England, where there have been 
many plants raffed of late years in fome curious 
gardens. 
It has a woody (talk which rifes twelve or fourteen 
feet high, covered with a fmooth grayifh bark, and 
fends out many (lender ligneous branches on every 
fide, which are garnifhed with oval leaves about two 
inches long, and one inch and a half broad,- of a 
bright green on their upper fide, but hoary on their 
under ; they are entire, and are placed alternately on 
(hort foot-ftalks. The flowers come out from the 
fide of the branches, upon foot-ftalks which fuftain 
five or fix flowers in a bunch •, thefe have one very- 
white petal which is funnel-fhaped, the lower part 
being tubulous and cylindrical ; the upper part is di- 
vided into five obtufe fegments which fpread open, 
but not flat, rather inclining to an angle. Thefe appear 
in June, and are fometimes fucceeded by berries in 
England, which ripen in autumn. 
It may be propagated by fowing the feeds in pots 
filled with frefh light earth, and plunged into a mode- 
rate hot-bed. This fhould be done as foon as poffi- 
ble when the feeds are procured, for if they are 
fown the latter end of fummer, and the pots kept in 
a moderate hot-bed of tanners bark all the winter, the 
plants will come up the fucceeding fpring ; whereas 
thofe fown in the fpring, often remain in the ground a 
whole year before the plants come up. 
When the plants are come up, they fhould be harden- 
ed gradually to the open air, into which they fhould 
be removed in June, placing them in a ftieltered fitu- 
ation, obferving to keep them clean from weeds, as 
alfo to fupply them with water duly in dry weather. 
In this place they may remain till autumn, when they 
fhould be placed under a common hot-bed frame, 
where they may be fereened from hard froft in win- 
ter, but in mild weather enjoy the free air as much 
as poflible, for if they are kept too clofe their tops 
are very fubjedt to grow mouldy. The leaves of theie 
plants fall off in autumn, and in the fpring, before 
they begin to fhoot, they (hould be fhaken out of the 
pots, and their roots carefully parted, and each tranf- 
planted into a feparate fmall pot filled with light 
freih earth, and plunged into a very moderate hot- 
bed, obferving to water and fhade them until they 
have taken root ; after which they fhould be inured 
to the open by degrees, into which they muft be 
removed in June, placing them in a warm fituation ; 
in which place they may remain till the end of Octo- 
ber, at which time they fhould be removed into fhel- 
ter for the winter feafon. Thefe plants are tolerably 
hardy, and only require to be (heltered from fevere 
froft while they are young ; for in Italy they grow 
extremely 
7 
