318 THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
DESMODIUM. To the species described on pp. 459-60, 
Vol. I., the following should be added : 
D. japonicum (Japanese). A synonym of D. podocarpum. 
D. umbellatum (umbelled). jl. red, gin. to sin. long; umbels 
six- to twelve-flowered ; pedicels short. July. J/., leaflets obtuse, 
sometimes grey-canescent beneath; terminal one larger than the 
lateral ones, 2in. to 3in. long, roundish or broadly oblong; 
etioles lin. or less in length. Young branches densely downy. 
. ft. to 6ft. India, &c., 1801. Stove shrub. Syns. Hedysarum 
arboreum, H. umbellatum. 
DESMONCUS. Abont twenty-five species, all natives 
of tropical America, and closely allied to Bactris, are 
included hereunder. To those described on p. 460, Vol. I., 
the following should be added : 
D. mitis (flexible). ., spadices slender, incluled ; spathe un- 
armed; peduncle l6in. long. November and December. ,/r. red. 
l. about 2ft. long, loosely distichous, long-sheathing ; sezments 
seven to eleven pairs, lanceolate, acuminate, opposite or alternate, 
about 5in. long, ldin. broad. Caudex 3ft. to 5ft. high, flexuous, 
unarmed. Brazil. 
D. orthacanthos (straight-spined). l., spadix nearly lft. long, 
long-pedunculate ; lower spathe long, smooth; upper one armed 
with straight, black prickles. 7. long-sheathing ; segments elliptic- 
lanceolate, 6in. long, 14in. broad, unarmed or at length having 
scattered prickles. Caudex climbing, and, as well as the leaf- 
sheaths, very prickly. Brazil. 
D. polyacanthos (many-spined). /l., spadix 12in. to 16in. Jong 5 
spathe double, the inner one densely prickly. J. remote, 3ft. to 
4ft. long, very long-sheathing, tubercled or prickly near_the 
petioles ; segments seven to fifteen pairs, broadly lanceolate, 
acuminate, mostly 6in. long. Caudex climbing. Brazil. 
DESMOTRICHUM. A synonym of Dendrobium 
(which see). 
DESVAUXIACEZ. Included under Centrolepidee 
(which see). 
f 
¥ 
Fic. 341. FLOWERING BRANCH OF DEUTZIA CRENATA FLORE- 
PLENO, 
DEUTZIA. Seven species are included in this genus; 
they extend from the Himalayas to North China and Japan, 
while one is found in Mexico. For forcing, the best kinds 
are D. crenata flore-pleno (Fig. 341), D. gracilis, and 
D. Lemoinei. Deutzias may be propagated by cuttings of 
young shoots inserted in sandy soil under a bell-glass 
in summer. 
In order to produce good annual displays of: blossom, a 
rational system of pruning must be adopted. The best time 
Deutzia—continued. 
to prune Deutzias is just after the flowering period is over. 
The old, worn-out, weak and sickly growths should be 
remoyed to make way for younger and better flowering 
shoots. 
Propagation is effected by seeds and cuttings. Seed 
should be sown in spring in shallow pans of light soil, and 
placed in a warm greenhouse. When the seedlings have 
grown about in. or so they should be pricked off into a 
compost of rough loam and good leaf-soil, and kept moist at 
the roots and overhead, as insect-pests are somewhat 
troublesome if the plants are allowed to get too dry. In the 
following spring the plants will be large enough for putting 
out in nursery-rows. Cuttings Sin. in length strike root if 
planted on a shady border in the autumn; or half-ripened 
shoots may be dibbled in sandy soil in summer, and plunged 
in a brisk heat in a close propagating-case. 
To those described on p. 460, Vol. I., the following 
should be added : 
D. candidissima (whitest). 1. snowy-white, about 4in. across, 
with a funnel-shaped calyx; panicles erect, many-flowered, 
hairy. J. broadly lanceolate, somewhat fleshy, finely serrated, 
studded with minute, stellate scales. Habitat not recorded, 1882. 
(G. C. 1882, xviii., p. 173, f. 30.) 
D. c. flore-pleno (double-flowered). 4. pure white, double, pro- 
duced in short racemes. 
D. canescens (hoary). /l. whitish, disposed in terminal panicles. 
June and July. J. ovate-lanceolate, cuspidate, slightly glandular- 
toothed, rough above, whitish-pubescent beneath. Branches 
slender. Japan, 1837. 
D. co: biflora (corymbose-flowered). fl. white, small, in erect 
panicles. 7. ovate-lanceolate, acute, deep green, tomentose, 
somewhat rough. Branches slender, with yellowish-grey bark. 
Western China, 1897. (R. H. 1897, pp. 466-7, f. 139-40.) 
D. discolor purpurascens (versicoloured, purplish). i. tinted 
with nov ores small but numerous, in axillary racemes 2in. 
long. May. J. ovate, finely toothed, #in. to ljin. long. A. 3ft. 
Yunnan, 1894. (R. H. 1895, p. 65.) 5 
D. gracilis foliis-aureis (golden-leaved). 
distinguished from the type in having golden leaves. 
D. Lemoinei (Lemoine's). #. white, very large, much more 
numerous and decorative than in D. gracilis, disposed in small, 
axillary racemes. A hybrid between D. gracilis and D. parvi- 
flora. (G. C. 1895, ii., p. 360, f. 67.) 
D. parviflora (small-flowered). . white. China. Hardy. 
DEVIL’S HERB. See Plumbago scandens. 
DEVONSHIRING. An operation now known as 
paring and burning. Fortunately it is seldom adopted in 
the garden, as the practice of burning the surface soil is 
done at the expense of many valuable ingredients, the 
soil being poorer after such a process than before. 
DEYEUXIA (named in honour of Nicholas Deyeux, 
1753-1837, a French chemist). Syn. Lachnagrostis. Orb. 
Graminee. A genus embracing nearly 120 species of 
greenhouse or hardy, mostly perennial Grasses, broadly 
dispersed over the temperate and mountainous regions of 
the globe. Spikelets one-flowered, variously paniculate ; 
glumes three, the two inferior ones empty ; stamens three ; 
panicles terminal. Leaves usually flat. D. elegans varie- 
gata is the only plant of the genus yet introduced which is 
deserving of mention here; it thrives under ordinary 
greenhouse treatment. The genus is represented in the 
British Flora by D. neglecta, a rare species. 
D. elegans variegata (elegant, variegated). J. numerous, 
linear, lft. to 14ft. long, of a deep, bright green, bordered with 
creamy-yellow. Rootstock thick. New South Wales, 1884. An 
elegant foliage plant. 
DIACALPE FG@NICULACEUM. A synonym of 
Aspidium feeniculaceum (which see). 
DIACRIUM (from dia, through, and akris, a point; in 
allusion to the sheaths on the stalk). Orb. Orchidex. Of 
this genus four species have been described: they are stove, 
epiphytal Orchids, natives of Mexico, Central America, and 
Guiana. Flowers showy, loosely racemose, shortly pedicel- 
late ; sepals sub-equal, free, spreading, rather thick, petaloid ; 
petals somewhat similar; lip spreading from the base of 
the column, nearly equalling the sepals, the lateral lobes 
spreading or reflexed, the disk elevated between the lateral 
lobes, two-horned above ; column short and broad, slightly 
incurved ; pollen masses four; peduncle terminal, simple, 
with paleaceous sheaths. Leaves few, articulated with the 
short sheaths. Stem fleshy, scarcely thickened into an 
A__ variety 
—— a 
