DABGECIA. 



are generally grown on part of the 

 branch of a tree, or in the husk of a 

 cocoa-nut, hung up from the rafters 

 of a hothouse, or damp stove. When 

 planted, the roots should be WTapped 

 up in wet moss, and tied on the 

 branch, or placed in the husk ; and 

 the plants should be kept in a damp 

 atmosjjhere, and frequently watered. 

 Sometimes these Epiphytes are grown 

 in pots, in which case the soil should 

 be peat mixed with lime-rubbish. 



Ct'tisus. — Legumhwsae. — There 

 are above fifty kinds of Cytisus ; but 

 the kinds best known are the Labur- 

 nums, the common Broom (C. &co- 

 pdrius), and the Portugal Broom, 

 (C. dlhus). The common Laburnum 

 (O. Laburnum) is a well-known 

 tree, which, if it were less common, 

 would be thought extremely beau- 

 tiful. There are only three or four 

 tlistinct varieties, but the plant 

 varies very much in the size of its 

 flowers, in their colour, and the 

 length of the racemes in which they 

 are disposed, and in their fragrance. 

 The Scotch Laburnum {C. alplnus) 

 is much more beautiful than the 

 common kind ; both the flowers and 

 leaves are larger, and the flowers 

 are more frequently fragrant. They 

 are also produced much later in the 

 season, not coming into flower till 

 the others are quite over. This is 

 the plant which the Italians call 

 May, as we do the Hawthorn. The 

 French call both species False 

 Ebony, from the blackness of the 

 wood ; which, however, is much 

 darker in C. Laodrnum than in C. 

 alpi'iuis. Both kinds will grovv^ in 

 any soil and situation, but they do 

 best in a deep sandy loam, and a 

 sheltered situation. 



I 



I T) ABGE^CIA. — Erlcac€(s. — The 



! -*-^late Professor Don's name for 



' Andromeda Dah(j6^c%ah., Irishworts, 



or St. Dabeoc's-heath. It is quite 

 hardy, but requires a moist, peaty 

 soO. The species has purple flowers ; 

 but there is a beautiful variety, the 

 flowers of which are white. 



Daffodil. — See is'arci'ssus. 



Da'hlia. — CompositcB. — The im- 

 portcince that has within the last few 

 years attached to this genus would 

 render it easy to fill a volume vrith 

 descrivtions of its various species and 

 varieties, and the details of their 

 culture. Its history is also some- 

 what curious ; as, strange to say, 

 though it has become so great a 

 fiivourite, and is so universally cul- 

 tivated, the history of its introduction 

 is very obscure. It is generally 

 said to have been introduced by 

 Lady Holland in 1804 ; but the 

 fact is, it had been introduced 

 many years before that period, and 

 was only brought from Madrid, in 

 1S04, by Lady Holland, who appar- 

 ently did not know that it was 

 ah-eady in the countiy. The first 

 kind of Dahlia known to Europeans 

 {D. superfiua Cav., D. variabilis 

 Dec, Georghia pinndfa W.) was 

 discovered in ]\Iexico by Baron Hum- 

 boldt in 1789, and sent by him to 

 Professor Cavanilles, of the Bota- 

 nical Garden, Madrid, who gave the 

 \ genus the name of Dahlia, in honour 

 ' of the Swedish Professor Dahl. 

 , Cavanilles sent a plant of it the 

 j same year to the Marchioness of 

 Bute, who was very fond of flowers, 

 I and who kept it in the greenhouse. 

 : From this species nearly all the 

 varieties known in the gardens have 

 been raised ; as it seeds freely, and 

 varies very much when raised from 

 ! seed. In 1802, D.frustrdnea Ait. 

 I {D. coccinea) was introduced from 

 I France, in which country it had 

 I been raised from Alexican seeds. 

 ■ A few varieties have been raised from 

 this kind, but they are much smaller 

 than the others. It is rather re- 



