Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/777

 SEDUM 751 be made by the defendant to destroy on trial the good character of the seduced woman, and this attempt be defeated, the making the at- tempt may be regarded by the jury in estima- ting damages ; and so indeed may all circum- stances which aggravate the seduction, and increase the harm caused by it. Eecent stat- utes have made great inroads on the common law of seduction in several of the states. The action is allowed to be brought by the father or other near relative, irrespective of any ques- tion of the right to service, and in some states even by the woman herself. It is also in some of the states made a felony. The terms in which the offence is described differ in differ- ent statutes, some providing for the punish- ment of any man who shall "seduce and de- bauch any unmarried woman," while others make a promise of marriage an essential ele- ment of the seduction. In respect to the prom- ise of marriage, it has been held not necessary to aver a mutual or valid promise. It is there- fore immaterial that the seducer is a married man, provided the woman was ignorant of it. SEDUM (Lat. sedere, to sit, in allusion to the manner in which some of the plants are at- tached to rocks), the name of a genus of plants some of which are known as orpine, stone- crop, and live-for-ever, while the botanical name is in common use for the ornamental species. It belongs to the family crassulacece with several other genera of mostly succulent plants, one of which, sempervivum, is described under HOUSELEEK. The sedums include annual and perennial plants of very variable habit; some are low and creep along the ground, forming moss-like tufts, while others are erect, and a few are somewhat woody ; the leaves are fleshy, and variable in shape, being cylin- drical and linear, or flat and broad, and both oppo- site and alter- nate ; the flow- ers, mostly in cymes, are white, yellow, and rose- colored; the pe- tals, sepals, and pistils are four or five, and the stamens twice that number, the mostly distinct ovaries ripening into many-seed- ed pods. About six species are in- digenous to the Atlantic states, and two have been introduced Live-for-ever (Sedum telephium). from Europe, one of which, S. telephium, the live-for-ever, has long been a garden plant, and has become naturalized as a troublesome weed in various parts of the country. Its strong 732 VOL. xiv. 48 stems form a dense clump 2 ft. high ; the large oval leaves are toothed on the margins ; the flowers are pale purple in a dense terminal cluster, and appear in July. This, like many others of the species, is very tenacious of life ; a stem cut and pinned up against the wall will continue to grow, and even flower, at the ex- pense of the nutriment contained in the lower leaves and the base of the stem ; it is often called Aaron's rod, and in England it is known as midsummer-men ; the country girls on mid- summer's eve set up two stems of it, one for themselves and the other for their lover ; the fidelity of the lover is estimated by his plant turning to theirs. In Europe it has a repu- tation as a remedy for diarrhoea, being muci- laginous and slightly astringent. Stonecrop Stonecrop (Sedum acre). (S. acre) naturally grows upon rocks and walls ; it is a low moss-like species, forming a dense mat of light green, and producing numerous yellow flowers in July. It has long been cul- tivated, and is sometimes used for edgings, and often to cover the earth in flower vases, hang- ing baskets, and the like ; it has also become naturalized. It is exceedingly acrid to the taste, and one of its common names in England is wall pepper ; it is emetic and cathartic in large doses, and if the bruised leaves be kept long in contact with the skin a blister will be produced. Among the native species is S. ternatum, with low spreading stems, flat wedge-shaped leaves, and ternate or three- spiked cymes of white flowers, is found from Pennsylvania south and westward, and is often cultivated. The showiest native spe- cies, properly named S. pulchellum, as it is one of the handsomest of the genus, is a more southern plant; its stems, often a foot high, are crowded with linear cylindrical leaves, and at the top bear a broad cyme, the spikes of which are arranged in a very regular manner, and bear a profusion of rose-purple flowers; it is now and then cultivated, and in some localities is known as the widow's cross. Eose-root (S. rhodiola) is a dioecious species with greenish yellow and purplish flowers, and a rose-scented root; it grows sparingly in Pennsylvania, but is plenty on the extreme