height of 150 feet and a stem-diameter of 5 feet after 60 years [Pro fessor
Thos. Meehan]. Dr. Gibbons records as the stoutest stems
some of 33 feet diameter at 3 feet from the ground. The foliage of
this Sequoia is much like th a t of a F ir or Abies, while the foliage
of the following species is more resembling that of a Spruce or
Picea.
the a-round for 20 feet, sending roots beneath for nourishment. This
is a grand honey-plant. Mr. G. Damkohler mentions this palm as a
tan-plant. The leaves can be used for cabbage-tree hats mats
baskets and other purposes, for which palm-leaves “''e sought The
fibrous spongy parts of the stem serve as brushes. The fiuits have
lately been turned to medicinal use.
S e q u o i a W e l l in g to n i a , Seemann.* (Wellingtonia gigantea, Lindley;
Sequoia gigantea, Decaisne, not Endlicher.)
Mammoth-tree. California, up to 8,000 feet above the sea. This,
the biggest of all trees, attains a stem-length of 320 feet and a circumference
of 112 feet, the age of the oldest trees being estimated
at 1,100 years. The total height of a tree has been recorded as
occasionally 450 feet, hut such heights have never been confirmed
by actual clinometric measurements of trees existing now. Traditional
accounts seem to have over-rated the height of the Mammoth-
tree. In the Calaveras-grove, two of the largest trees, which may
have been the tallest of all, were destroyed; the two highest now
existing there are respectively 325 and 319 feet high, with a circumference
of 46 feet and 40 feet at 6 feet from the ground. A t
the Mariposa-grove, the highest really measured trees are 272, 270,
and 260 feet h ig h ; but one of these has the enormous circumference
of 67 feet at 6 feet from the ground, while another, the
height of which is not recorded, is 93 feet in girth a t the ground,
and 64 feet at 11 feet from it ; the branches of this individual tree
are as thick as the stems of large elms. The elevation of Calaveras
is about 4,760 feet above sea-level. A stump 33 feet in diameter is
known a t Yosemite. A t Tuolumne a stump is tunnelled for the
passing through of stage-coaches, the opening being only ahout
one-quarter of the breadth of the stem. According to Dr. Gibbons,
this giant of the forest has a far wider range than was formerly
supposed, Mr. John Muir having shown, that it stretches over nearly
200 miles at an altitude of 5,000 to 8,000 feet. From the Calaveras
to the King-River it occurs in small and isolated groves, but from
the latter point south to Deer-Creek, a distance of about 70 miles,
there are almost unbroken forests of this noble tree. Growth of the
tree about 2 feet a year under ordinary culture, much more in damp
forest-glens. Prof. Schuebeler found it to endure the climate of
Norway northward to iat. 61° 15'. The wood is soft and white
when felled ; afterwards it turns red ; it is very durable. Both
Sequoias produce shoots from the root after the stem is cut away.
Well-shaped plants are produced also from cuttings. The genus
’ Sequoia can he reduced to Athrotaxis, as shown by Bentham and
J . Hooker.
S e r e n o a s e r r u l a t a , J. Hooker. (Sabal serrulata, Roemer and Schultes.)
The Saw-Palmetto. South-Carolina, Georgia and Florida ; par-
■ ticularly well adapted for sea-ooasts. The stem grows to eight feet
- in height, but aecording to Mr. A. J . Cook may slimly creep along.
S e s a m u m Indicum, Linné.*
The Gingili. Southern Asia, extending eastward to Japan,
originating according to A. de Candolle in the Sunda-Islands but
According to Dr. Schweinfurth likely of Central African origin.
Well known already to Hippocrates [F ra a s]. This
cultivated as far as 42° north-latitude m Japan. The
expressed from the seeds, is one of the best for table-use, and fr
froM any unpleasant taste ; it congeals far less
There are varieties of this plant with white, red and black seed ,
the latter is the earliest and richest, but gives a darker oil Yield
45 to 60 per cent, of oil. Nearly a million acres are under oultivation
with this plant in the Madras-Presidency. The e x ç irt of the o I
from Bangkok in 1870 was valued, according to Simmonds, at
£183 0 0 0 : the market v a lu é is from 2 5 s. to 35s. per cwt. _
young German colony of East-Africa the export of ^
1892 came to a value of about £10,000. Ripens well ™ *he imlder
regions of the colony of Victoria. The plant still succeeds at Malta
and Gaza, and is much grown in Turkey. Parched and
£ seeds make a rich soup. In Greece the - « ‘I -™
over cakes. One of the advantages of the culture oi this plant
consists in its quick return of produce. The soot of the oil is used
for Cbina-ink.^ S. macranthum (Oliver)
3-4 000 feet high of equatorial Africa, attains a height of 8 feet in
rank growth and may also prove an advantageous oil-plant.
S e s b a n i a a c u l e a t a , Persoon.
The Danchi. Intra-tropical and suh-tropical Asia Africa and
Australia This ta ll annual plant has proved adapted even for
region without application of water [S t. Eloy D Alton]. Kasiiy
Z o w n ■ the pro d uL heavy. I t yields a tough fibre for ropes, nets
L d cordage, valued a t from £30 to £ 40 per ton. Indian experiments
showed the strength 50 per cent, more than the government
X i d t L r e requires A r o p # f Scinches thickness b r o ^ only
a t 75 cwt Stem and branches sought for the best gunpowder-coal
[De Z z i ] . The foliage serves as fodder. Several congeneric
plants can be equally well utilized.