SARCANTHUS. 
b) 
a native of Peru. It takes the name “ clammy’ 
from its herbage. 
SARCANTHUS. A genus of ornamental, tro- 
pical, epiphytous plants, of the orchis order. 
The name signifies “ flesh-flower,” and alludes to 
the texture of the sepals. A number of species 
have been introduced to British orchis-houses 
from India and China; and three of the most 
beautiful of these are the spotted, the bitten, 
and the panicled. 
SARCOCAULON. A small genus of ornamen- 
tal, Cape-of-Good-Hope, evergreen, undershrubs, 
of the geranium tribe. Two or three purple- 
flowered, summer-blooming species have been 
introduced to Britain. 
SARCOCEPHALUS. See Guinea Pracu. 
SARCOCOLL. The concrete juice of the Afri- 
can evergreen shrub Penwa sarcocolla. It re- 
sembles gum arabic in both appearance and 
properties, but is closely allied to the saccharine 
matter of liquorice in chemical constitution. 
It is sweetish, and forms a mucilage with water. 
SARRACENIA. A genus of curious, ever- 
green, herbaceous, North-American, thalamiflor- 
ous plants, constituting the natural order Sarra- 
ceniacee. Six species are known; and all are | 
A medicinal, hardy, deciduous, North American 
inhabitants of swamps. They differ from plants 
of the poppy and the water-lily orders principally | tree, of the laurel genus. 
in having a broad peltate leafy stigma; and they 
are sometimes popularly called side-saddle-flow- 
ers; but they excite the attention of the curious, 
and claim a place in garden collections, chiefly on 
account of the very singular form of their leaves. 
The earliest-known one may serve as a specimen of | 
the whole; and is described as follows by Miller: 
—‘“ This hath a strong fibrous root, which strikes 
deep into the soft earth, from which arise 5, 6, 
or 7 leaves, in proportion to the strength of the 
plant; these are about 5 inches long; they are 
hollow like a pitcher, narrow at their base, but 
swell out large at the top; their outer sides are 
rounded, but on their inner sides they are a little 
compressed, and have a broad leafy border run- 
ning longitudinally the whole length of the tube; 
and to the rounded part of the leaf there is on 
the top a large appendage or ear standing erect, 
of a brownish colour; this surrounds the out- 
side of the leaves about two-thirds of the top, it 
is eared at both ends, and waved round the bor- 
der. From the centre of the root, between the 
leaves, arises a strong, round, naked footstalk 
about a foot high, sustaining one nodding flower 
at the top, which has a double empalement.” 
The sarracenias cannot be very easily managed 
in gardens; and require frame protection, a bog 
soil, and constant moisture. They are propagated 
by division of the root. 
SARSAPARILLA. A North-American, climb- 
ing, medicinal plant, of the smilax genus and 
order,— Smilax sarsaparilla. The root is peren- 
nial, and divides into straight, brown, internally 
white branches, 3 or 4 feet long, and rather 
thicker than a goose-quill; the stems are long, 
SATY RIUM. 145 
slender, shrubby, and spinous; the leaves are 
alternate, petiolate, ovate, and pointed, and have 
long tendrils at the base; the flowers grow in 
groups of 3 or 4upon one peduncle, and have 
a herbaceous colour, and bloom in July and 
August; and the fruit are round three-celled 
berries, each containing two globular seeds. The 
root is the part employed in medicine; and has 
a mucilaginous and slightly bitter taste; and 
yields its virtues to either cold or hot water by 
maceration. It possesses demulcent properties; 
and is possibly of some use in scrofula, elephan- 
tiasis, and chronic rheumatisms. But its chief 
fame was formerly in a very different depart- 
ment of pharmacy, and has now in a main degree 
passed away. The plant was introduced to Bri- 
tain in the latter part of the 17th century, and 
can be cultivated in a soil of sandy peat in the 
open ground. ‘Three other medicinal species, 
closely allied to it, the long-leaved, the Chinese, 
and the syphilitic, have been introduced from 
respectively North America, China, and Trini- 
dad. The word sarsaparilla or zarzaparilla sig- 
nifies, in the Spanish language, a bushy little 
vine, and alludes to the native habit of the plant. 
SASSAFRAS,—botanically Laurus Sassafras. 
It was introduced to 
Britain in the former part of the 17th century ; 
and is frequently reared in shrubberies as an 
ornamental plant. Its natural height is from 
20 to 50 feet; it stem is about a foot in girth, 
and has rough, furrowed, grey bark; its leaves 
‘are alternate, petiolate, lucid green above, and 
downy below, and have different shapes and 
sizes, some being oval, entire, and about 4 inches 
long, and a greater number lobed and about 6 
‘inches long; its flowers are small, and grow in 
pendent panicles, and have a herbaceous colour, 
and bloom in May and June; and its fruit are 
oval deep-blue berries, each standing on a foot- 
stalk of an inch or two in length, and contained 
in a small red cup. The wood, the root, and the 
bark are medicinal; and have a fragrant odour 
and a sweetish aromatic taste; and owe their 
virtues to an essential oil, which can be separated 
by distillation. Sassafras is diaphoretic, stimu- 
lating, and diuretic; and is used in cases of gout, | 
scurvy, chronic rheumatism, and cutaneous dis- 
eases. 
SATIN. FLOWER. See Honzsry. 
SATUREJA. See Savory. 
SATYRIUM. A genus of ornamental, tuber- 
ous-rooted, Cape-of-Good-Hope plants, of the 
orchis family. Seven or eight species have been 
introduced to British gardens ; and about a dozen 
more are known. One of the introduced species, 
S. carneum, is peculiarly handsome, attaining a 
height of about 20 inches, and carrying pink 
flowers from June till September; and two, 8. 
papillosum and S. candidum, have the recom- 
mendation of emitting from their flowers a fra- 
grance similar to that of Anthoxzanthum odoratum, 
US ; 
