DIPLACUS. 
190 
DIVISION. 
like a liliaceous bulb, and it sends 
out few fibres; it is therefore very | 
difficult to keep, but it does best in 
a greenhouse, grown in moss, with 
a little mould at the bottom of the 
pot, and the pot kept standing in 
water, and covered with a bell-glass | 
during the heat of the day. The 
glass is generally taken off towards 
the evening, and the plant allowed 
plenty of fresh air, but some gar- 
deners do not think this necessary. 
It is supposed that the flies this 
plant catches, are useful in nourish- 
ing it, though not essential to its 
support; and the experiment has 
been tried of feeding it with very 
small pieces of raw meat, which in 
a few days appeared surrounded by 
a kind of mucus and half digested. 
In the like manner, the remains of 
the bodies of flies are often found 
in the leaves of this plant, and those 
of the common Sun-dew, though 
both plants will thrive, if kept suth- 
ciently moist, without such nour- 
ishment. 
Dio'sma.— Rutdcee.—Cape shrubs 
with hair-like roots, which require 
to be grown in pots ina greenhouse, 
or room, in sandy peat, well drain- 
ed, and frequently watered. Like 
all the Cape shrubs, they are easily 
killed by too much or too little wa- 
ter; and should never be suffered 
to stand with water in a saucer, or 
to get too dry. ‘They have a very 
peculiar smell, which some persons 
like, and which is said to be very 
wholesome ; but which is generally 
thought to be very disagreeable, and 
which remains in gloves, or any 
other article of dress that may have 
touched the plant, for a long time. 
The Hottentot belles are said to use 
it asa perfume. The plants have 
heath-like leaves and small but 
pretty flowers ; they are propagated 
by cuttings, which root freely in 
sand under a glass. 
Di piacus. — Scrophularinee. — 
The Monkey-plant. The shrubby 
‘kinds of Mimulus, with yellow or 
scarlet flowers; which should be 
grown in a mixture of sandy loam 
and peat. They are natives of Cali- 
fornia, and like all the plants from 
that country, they are easily killed 
by the sun striking on the collar of . 
the root; they likewise suffer se- 
verely from drought, or too much 
moisture. ‘They are propagated by 
cuttings struck in sand, without 
bottom-heat. 
Di'rca.— Thymelacee.—Leather- 
wood. ‘This is the smallest of trees, 
as, though some of the kinds of 
willow are of still lower growth, they 
are too herbaceous in the texture of 
their stems, to be legitimately enti- 
tled to the rank of trees. The Dircea, 
on the contrary, is as completely a 
tree as an oak, though it seldom 
grows above three feet high. It is 
a native of America, and requires a 
marshy soil, or to be grown in peat 
kept constantly moist. 
Dirrany or Crete.—Origanum 
Dictamnus.—A kind of Marjoram, 
with pink flowers, a native of Can- 
dia, which is quite hardy, but should 
be grown in rich mould. On the 
Continent, a branch of it hung up 
in a room, is said to keep away fleas 
and other vermin. 
Division.—Plants are said to be 
propagated by division when they 
are taken up and separated into 
portions ; each portion having part 
of the root and one or more buds 
attached, if in herbaceous plants ; 
or a root and part of a stem if in 
shrubs, or other ligneous plants 
Hence, almost all herbaceous plants 
may be propagated by division, as 
they generally send up many stems 
from their roots; and also all those 
shrubs or low trees that send up 
suckers. In one sense almost all 
ligneous plants may be said to be 
propagated by division ; as cuttings 
are divisions of the stem or branches. 
Indeed, as every bud has the power, 
like a seed, of sending a shoot up- 
