SIBBALDIA. 
SIBBALDIA. A genus of curious, herbaceous, 
small, alpine plants, of the rosaceous order. The 
procumbent species, S. procumbens, grows wild 
and plenteously on the micaceous soils of the 
lofty mountains of the Scottish Highlands. Its 
root is perennial ; its stems are spreading, cylin- 
drical, from one inch to three inches long, and 
clothed with coarse upright hairs; its leaflets 
are wedge-shaped, from half an inch to one inch 
long, and of a bright green colour; and its flowers 
grow in corymbose leafy tufts, and have small 
petals and large hairy calyxes, and are of a yellow 
colour, and bloom from June till August. The 
whole plant is astringent.—Two exotic varieties 
have been introduced from respectively Switzer- 
land and North America; and three hardy, per- 
ennial-rooted, erect-growing species, of from 4 to 
12 inches in height, have been introduced from 
other countries. 
SIBERIAN PEA-TREEH. See Caragana. 
SIBTHORPIA. A small genus of curious, 
small, herbaceous plants, of the figwort order. 
The European or creeping sibthorpia, or Cornish 
moneywort, S. europea, grows wild in watery 
shady places, about springs and brooks, in the 
south of England. Its roots are perennial, woody, 
and fibrous; its stems are prostrate, creeping, 
entangled, branched, wide-spreading, slender, 
delicate, and minutely hairy; its leaves are 
stalked, alternate, rounded, light green, and 
rather succulent; and its flowers are axillary, 
solitary, minute, and white, and bloom in July 
and August. This plant may be artificially pro- 
pagated by division, and grown in moist peaty 
soil. 
SICKLE. A hook-shaped hand-implement for 
reaping corn. It is commonly called in Scotland 
a reaping-hook, or simply a hook or heuk. It 
varies, in different districts, and from different 
manufactories, in size, form, weight, edge, tem- 
per, and the quality of the material; but, in a 
general view, belongs to one of two classes,—the 
smooth and the serrated. A good smooth sickle 
weighs 1 lb., and has a cutting edge of 20 inches 
in length, and is mounted with a beech or plane- 
tree handle of about 6 inches in length and 45 
inches in circumference; and a good serrated 
sickle weighs about 9 oz., and has a cutting-edge 
of 16 inches in length, serrated to the depth of 
ds of an inch, with about 300 serratures, all 
pointed backward or toward the handle. See 
the articles Scyvrue, Hainaut ScytxHe, and Reap- 
ING. 
SICKNESS (THE). See Braxy. | 
SICYOS. A genus of annual, climbing, yellow 
flowered, culinary plants, of the gourd family. 
Five hardy species, all similar in habit and ap- 
pearance to cucumbers, and naturally blooming 
from July till September, have been introduced 
to Britain from Continental America and the 
West Indies. They are popularly called single- 
seeded cucumbers. They either propagate them- 
selves, or may be artificially propagated, from 
SIDA. 215 
seeds; but they are too rambling and spread- 
ing for small gardens, and ought to be as- 
signed a place near a hedge on which they may 
climb. 
SIDA. A large genus of exotic plants, of the 
mallow family. About 120 species have been 
introduced to Britain; and at least 80 more are 
known. But they possess little floral or econo- 
mical importance compared to their numbers ; 
and, in the great majority of instances, attract the 
attention only of botanists. Some are annuals, 
a few biennials, some herbaceous perennials, and 
some evergreen shrubs. Among the prettiest of 
the annuals, are S. juvenalis and S. Cserezi, both 
white-flowered; of the herbaceous perennials, S. 
altaica and S. stylosa, yellowish-flowered, and 5. 
regia and S. virginica, scarlet-flowered; and of 
the evergreen shrubs, S. rosea, rosy-petaled, S. 
inequalis, white-flowered, and S. aurea, golden- 
flowered or orange and red flowered. The pop- 
lar-leaved species, S. populifolia, a yellow-flowered 
annual of about a foot in height, introduced to 
Britain about 52 years ago, grows wild in India, 
and is much used there, by both natives and 
Europeans, as a medicinal plant,—a decoction of 
its leaves in the way of emollient fomentation, 
the expressed juice of them as a cooling remedy 
in gonorrhoea, and an infusion of the root asa 
drink in fevers. The root of the lance-leaved 
species, S. lanceolata, has an appearance not un- 
like that of common liquorice, but is intensely 
bitter; and it is used in India as a stomachic, as, 
a good remedy in chronic bowel affections, and, 
in infusion along with ginger, in cases of inter- 
mittent fever. The chewed leaves of the horn- 
beam-leaved species, S. carpinifolia, a yellow- 
flowered, evergreen shrub of 3 feet in height, in- 
troduced to Britain upwards of 70 years from 
the Canaries, allay the inflammation occasioned 
by the sting of wasps. The straight shoots of 
the small-flowered species, S. mzcrantha, are used 
at Rio Janeiro as rocket-sticks. The abutilon 
or broad-leaved species, S. abution, is cultivated 
in India and China for the fibre of its stems, and 
has even been somewhat extensively introduced 
into the field culture of Italy and the south of 
France, and may possibly become so acclimated 
and productive as, at no distant day, to deserve 
well the attention of farmers in the south of 
England. It is a native of both the West Indies, 
of the East Indies, and of China, and was intro- 
duced to the hothouse collections of Britain to- 
ward the close of the 16th century. Its roots 
are annual; its stems are generally simple and 
from 3 to 5 feet high; its leaves are stalked, 
broadly cordate, pointed, dentated, and slightly 
downy; and its flowers are small, and have a 
simple angular calyx and a pale yellow corolla, and 
naturally bloom from June till August. This 
species, also, is the type of a somewhat recently 
constituted genus, which takes the name of abu- 
tilon, and comprises all the species of the old 
genus sida which have many-seeded carpels,— 
