SARRACENIA
Sar`ra*ce"ni*a, n. Etym: [NL. So named after a Dr. Sarrazin of
Quebec.] (Bot.)
Defn: A genus of American perrenial herbs growing in bogs; the
American pitcher plant.
Note: They have hollow pitcher-shaped or tubular leaves, and solitary flowers with an umbrella-shaped style. Sarracenia purpurea, the sidesaddle flower, is common at the North; S. flava, rubra, Drummondii, variolaris, and psittacina are Southern species. All are insectivorous, catching and drowning insects in their curious leaves. See Illust. of Sidesaddle flower, under Sidesaddle.
SARRASIN; SARRASINE
Sar"ra*sin, Sar"ra*sine, n. Etym: [F. sarrasine, LL. saracina. See
Saracen.] (Fort.)
Defn: A portcullis, or herse. [Written also sarasin.]
SARSA
Sar"sa, n.
Defn: Sarsaparilla. [Written also sarza.]
SARSAPARILLA Sar`sa*pa*ril"la, n. Etym: [Sp. zarzaparrilla; zarza a bramble (perhaps fr. Bisc. zartzia) + parra a vine, or Parillo, a physician said to have discovered it.] (Bot.) (a) Any plant of several tropical American species of Smilax. (b) The bitter mucilaginous roots of such plants, used in medicine and in sirups for soda, etc.
Note: The name is also applied to many other plants and their roots, especially to the Aralia nudicaulis, the wild sarsaparilla of the United States.
SARSAPARILLIN
Sar`sa*pa*ril"lin, n.