326 
STANHOPEA. 
little or no water till they begin to grow. The 
air in the moist house should be kept up to near 
the point of saturation, and will be rather injur- 
ed than benefited by the free or frequent admis- 
sion of fresh air from without. 
The large-flowered stanhopea, S. grandiflora, 
was the earliest introduced into Britain ; and is 
a native of the trees of Brazil. It grows and 
flowers at the same time, and requires less rest 
than any of the other species ; so that it may be 
always kept in the moist house. Its flowers are 
white, and have a peculiar odour, not unlike that 
of rhubarb. —The ivory-lipped stanhopea, S. 
eburnea, is only a variety of the large-flowered, 
and not a very marked one.—The graceful stan- 
hopea, S. venusta, is a beautiful and very distinct 
species, and a native of Mexico. Its flowers are 
similar in form to those of the large-flowered, 
and also emit a strong odour like that of rhu- 
barb, but have a yellow colour. This species 
requires a good rest after it has done growing.— 
The four-horned stanhopea, S. guadricornis, is a 
well marked species, having four horns on the lip. 
It is not so rich in colour as some of the others, 
but has a more delicate scent than many. It 
flowers earlier than either of the former, and of 
course grows sooner.—The bagged stanhopea, S. 
saccata, is a most interesting species, a native of 
Mexico, having a large bag at the base of the lip. 
It has an orange lip with straw coloured vessels, 
and petals beautifully covered with dark spots. 
It flowers in May and June, and sometimes later. 
—Ward’s stanhopea, S. Wardii, is a very hand- 
some species. It has flowers of a pale yellow, 
beautifully spotted, and is well worthy of the cul- 
tivator’s attention. It flowers in June and July, 
and very seldom begins to grow before August. 
The number of flowers on a spike is from five to 
twelve.—The tiger-marked stanhopea, S. tegrini, 
is the most splendid and singularly formed spe- 
cies of all the genus. ‘The lip is dark and ofa 
very fleshy texture ; and the vessels and petals 
are of a pale colour, with large dark stripes. It 
flowers in June and July, and begins to grow in 
August ; and it has from two to three flowers on 
a spike.—The Martian stanhopea, S. Martiana, is 
very nearly related to the tiger-marked.—The 
eyed stanhopea, S. oculata, is a pleasing and 
very interesting species. The lower portion of 
the lip has a yellow cast, and has a dark spot re- 
sembling an eye; and the upper portion is like 
white ivory, and beautifully spotted with purple. 
The vessels and petals are of a pale straw colour, 
finely spotted with dark purple—The Devon- 
shire stanhopea, S. Devoniensis, is a very splendid 
species, somewhat like the tiger-marked, but 
not so large, and has a very differently formed 
lip, and the vessels and petals of a much darker 
colour. It comes into flower in June and July.— 
The remarkable stanhopea, S. insignis, is another 
beautiful species. The vessels and petals are pale 
yellow, with purple spots ; and the lip is very cu- 
riously formed, and of a thick and fleshy nature. 
STARCH. 
STANLEYA. A small genus of ornamental 
exotic plants, of the cruciferous order. The 
pinnatifid species, S. pinnatifida, is a frame, 
perennial rooted herb, of about a foot in 
height, carrying yellow flowers in June and 
July ; and was introduced to Britain about 30 
years ago from Louisiana; and is propagated from 
seeds. 
STAPELIA. A genus of curious, Cape-of- 
Good-Hope, evergreen undershrubs, of the swal- 
low-wort family. A number of species which for- 
merly belonged to it are now distributed among 
twelve other genera; but nearly forty, still be- 
longing to it, occur in British collections. Their 
stems are short and fleshy, and supply the place 
of leaves, and vary in height from 3 to 25 inches; 
and their flowers have a remarkable complex 
organization, and are distinguished by strange 
colouring and spotting, and emit an offensive 
fetor, and, in a number of instances, bloom in 
autumn or in winter. All love a soil of sandy 
loam, and are propagated from cuttings. 
STAPHISAGRIA. See Larkspur. 
STAPHYLEA. See Buapprur-Nvrt. 
STAR-APPLE, — botanically Chrysophyllum. 
A genus of tropical, evergreen, ornamental fruit- 
trees, of the sapota tribe. Six species, varying 
in natural height from 15 to 100 feet, and all, 
with one exception, carrying white-coloured 
flowers, have been introduced to Britain, prin- 
cipally from the West Indies and tropical Amer- 
ica; and nine more are known. The leaves are 
deep green above, and shine like satin below, and 
cause the plants to have a fine appearance in the 
stove throughout the year ; the fruit is at first 
rough and astringent, but becomes mellow with 
age and keeping, and is much relished in the 
native countries of the plants; and the timber of 
the larger species is used in carpentry and for 
shingles to cover houses. All the introduced 
species love a soil of rich mould, and are propa- 
gated from cuttings. The best known of them, 
comprising several varieties, 1s noticed in the 
article CarInrITo. 
STARCH. A well known and very abundant 
proximate principle of plants. It constitutes a 
large portion of esculent seeds, and is very com- 
mon in fleshy roots, and abounds in the pith of 
some ligneous stems, and occurs in the cellular 
tissue of even such plants as burdock, buttercup, 
dropwort, deadly night-shade, white bryony, 
bistort, and henbane. It passes into sugar dur- 
ing the germination of seeds, and plays an im- 
portant part in the chemistry of all the subse- 
quent growth of plants, and forms a bulky and 
important ingredient in the ripened state of their 
esculent products for the nutrition of man and 
of the lower animals. In a separate and manu- 
factured state, also, it is nearly identical with ar- 
row-root, cassava, and salep, and constitutes the 
chief bulk of sago, tapioca, farina, sowens, and 
potato tubers. See the articles Nurrition, Gur- 
MINATION, Senp, ALIMENTARY Princrpues, Amy- 
