I'KACJiNA. 



DRACONINA. 



Above species of Ifrata have been described. They are all 

 mekniftcant phut* inhabiting the temperate and colder part* of the 

 world. They are not often cultivated, but are adapted for rock-work. 

 They are apt to drop off in winter when exposed, aud the best way 

 to preserve them U to keep them in pote as other alpine plants. 

 They grow best in a mixture of sand, loam, aud prat, and the pots 

 should be well drained with potsherd. They may be propagated by 

 dividing the roote or by seeds. 



(Babtngton, Ma***l ; Don, DieUamydniu Plantt.) 



DRACAENA, a genus of Endogenous Planta of the natural family 

 AifmagtH of Juesieu, now arranged as a section of Liiiacta: by Dr. 

 Ltodley. The genus was established by Linmeus, and named from 

 one of He specie* yielding the resinous exudation, familiarly known 

 by the name of Dragon's Blood, a translation of the Arabic name 

 Dura al Akhwain, met with in Avicenna aud other Arabian authors. 

 VracaiM is characterised by having an inferior 6-part ite perianth, of 

 which the segments are nearly erect, and have inserted on them the 

 6 etanmne, with filaments thickened towards the middle aud linear 

 antbrra. The style is single, with a trifid stigma. The berry 2- or 

 Swelled, with its cells 1- or 2-seeded. 



The species of Drartna are now about 30 in number, and found 

 in the warm parts of the Old World, and in many of both Asiatic 

 and African islands, whence they extend southward to the Cape of 

 Oood Hope and Australia, and northward into China, and to the 

 eastern part* of India, as the districts of Silhet and Chittagong. 

 Species are also found in Socotra, and the Canary and Cape Verd 

 Islands, as well as at Sierra Leone. From this distribution it is 

 evident that the species require artificial heat for their cultivation in 

 England, They are found to thrive in a light loam, and may be 

 grown from cuttings sunk in a bark bed. 



The species of Dracana are evergreens, either of a shrubby or 

 arboreous nature ; and having long slender often columnar stems, they 

 emulate palms in habit Their trunks are marked with the cicatrices 

 of fallen leaves ; the centre is soft and cellular, having externally a 

 circle of stringy fibres. The leaves are simple, usually crowded 

 together towards the end of the branches, or terminal like the in- 

 florescence ; whence we might suppose that the name terminalii had 

 been applied to some of the species, if Rumphius had not stated that 

 it was in consequence of their being planted along the boundaries of 

 fields. The structure of the stem and leaves is particularly interest- 

 ing, as the fossil genera Clalkraria and Slembrrgia have been assimi- 

 lated to Itracma, the former by 1C. Adolpbe Brongniart, and the 

 latter by Dr. Lindley ; and as Rumphius compares the leaves of a 

 Dratma with those of Oalaaga, it U as probable that the fossil leaves 

 called Catmoptyllilet may be those of a plant allied to Dracmta, as 

 that they belong to one of the Ca**e,r. 



Of the several species of Dracmia which have been described by 

 botanists, there are few which are of much importance either for their 

 useful or ornamental properties. Among them however may be 

 mentioned D. lerminaJit, a species rather extensively diffused. The 

 root is said by Rumphius to be employed as a demulcent in cases of 

 diarrhoea, and the plant as a signal of truth and of peace in the 

 KnUmi Archipelago. In the islands of the Pacific Ocean a sweetish 

 juice is expressed from ite roots, and afterwards reduced by evapora- 

 tion to a sugar, of which specimens were brought to Paris by Captain 

 D'Urville from the island of Tahiti (Otaheite). The root is there 

 called Ti or Tii, and thence no doubt corrupted into Tea-Root by the 

 Kngliah and Americans. If . Oaudichaud mentions that in the Sand- 

 wich Islands generally an intoxicating drink is prepared from this 

 root, to which the name Ava is often applied, as well as to that made 

 with the roote of Piper sMfAysficiMt. 



/' Itrato is the best known species, not only from ite producing 

 Dragon's Blood, but also from one specimen having so frequently been 

 described or noticed in the works of visitors to the Canary Islands. 

 The erect trunk of the Dragon-Tree is usually from 8 to 12 feet high, 

 and divided above into numerous abort branches, which terminate in 

 tuft* of spreading sword-ahaped leaves, pointed at the extremity. 

 The most celebrated specimen of this tree grows near the town of 

 Orotava, in the inland of Teneriffe, and was found by HmnU.ldt in 

 1799 to be about 45 feet in circumference. Sir O. Staunton hail 

 previously stated it to be 12 feet in diameter at the height of 10 feet ; 

 and Ledra gave even larger dimensions. It annually bears flowers 

 and fruit . and though continuing thus to grow, does not appear much 

 Unireassd in six*, in consequence of some of ite branches being con- 

 stantly blown down, as in the storm of July 1819, when it Tost a 

 great part of iU top. The great aUe of this enormous vegetable is 

 mentioned in many of the older authors ; indeed as early as the time 

 of Ihrtbencourt, or in 1402, it U described M large and as hollow as 

 H in now ; whence, from the slowness of growth of Dnoenas, has 

 been inferred the great antiquity of a tree which four centuries have 

 so little chanced. HumboUlt indeed remarks that there can be no 

 doubt of the Draeaua of Orotava being, with the Baolwb (Adantonia 

 tffitate), one of the oUcet inhabitant* of our planet; and as tradition 

 relates that it wae revered by the Uuanches, he considers it as singular 

 the* H should have been cultivated from the most distant ages in the 

 Canaries, in Madeira, and Porto Santo, although it comes originally 

 from India. Tbto fact he adduces as oMrtndKiag the assertion of 

 who ispissiut the Ouancbes M a no* of men completely 



isolated from the other rao ol" culm- A*i.i or Africa. To this it may 

 be replied, that we know too little of the botany of the int. i 

 Africa to be able to draw from it any inferences; while the Dragon- 

 Tree on the other band is not known to exist farther to the eastward 

 than the island of Socotra. 

 DRACO. 



. 



DRACOCELLA. [DRAOOSISA.] 

 DRACONINA, a sub-family of 



Saurians belonging to the family 



Agamidte, the tribe Slrobilotaura, and the sub-order Packyytotut of 

 Dr. J. E. Gray's arrangement . The family of Agamas, or Ay 

 is thus defined by Dr. Oray : "Teeth implanted on the end f the 

 jaws. Tongue short, depressed, apex entire or slightly nicked. I ... > 

 lids conniveut, valvular. Feet, for walking. Toes all free, unequal ; 

 the thumb of the hind feet on the same plane as the other toes ; tho 

 little toes lower down on the ankle than the thumb. The thumb is 

 anterior and internal, and the great toe of the hind feet occupies the 

 same position, the thigh and foot being bent forwards. This is proved 

 by analog}' ; this toe being the one that is clawless in the Gecko, whifh 

 have the clawless thumb, and in A no! it, where the thumb and great 

 toes are simple, and not dilated beneath, like the other toes." 



The synopsis of the genera of this family, according to the ' British 

 Museum Catalogue,' is as follows : 



I. Body compressed. Living on trees. 



A. Femoral and [ire-anal pores none. Scales imbricate. Asiatic. 



a. Ribs elongated, exserted, supporting wing-like lateral expansions. 

 Throat with 3 pouches. 



1. Draco. Ears naked. Nostril below the face-ridge. 



2. DracoctUa. Nostril above the face-ridge. 



3. Dracunculiu. Ears covered with scales. 



6. Ribs simple. Back crested. 

 * Toes 4 or 5. Ears exposed. 



4. Sitana. Males with an elongated pouch. Females without any 

 pouch. 



* Toes 55. Tail with elongated keeled scales beneath. Scales 

 of back small, often with scattered larger ones. 

 t Ears hidden under the skin. 



5. Lyriocephalut. Head lyrate. Muzzle with a round tubercle in 

 front. Scales unequal 



6. Cerctlophora. Head square. Muzzle with a prolonged horn-like 

 process. Scales unequal. 



7. Olocryptit. Head squarish. Muzzle nearly flat, simple. Eye- 

 brows bluntly angular behind. 



tt Ears exposed. 



8. Gunyoctphaltu. Scales of the belly smooth, of the back unequal. 

 KYI lids angular, produced. 



9. Dilopkynu. Scales of the belly smooth ; of the back equal. 

 Kyebrow rounded, simple. 



10. Tiara. Scales of the belly keeled, of the back unequal. Eye- 

 brow and parotids unarmed. 



11. Acunthottura. Scales of the belly keeled, of the back unequal. 

 Eyebrows and parotids armed. 



*" Toes 6 6. Tail with broad rhombic keeled scales beneath. 

 Scales of back uniform. 



12. Bronchocrla. Nuchal crest simple. Scales in descending series. 



13. Salra. Nuchal crest double. Scales largo, in longitudinal - 



14. Calotet. Back crested. Scales in ascending series. Head swol- 

 len behind, with one or two ridges of spines. 



Toes 55. Tail with truncated keeled scales beneath. Scales 

 small, keeled, in cross rings. 



15. C'krltuor.ia. Parotids swollen, armless. Throat lax. The nape 

 and back with a low crest. Tail rather compressed. Face-ridge 

 rounded, with small scales. 



18. Chnriuin. Parotids swollen, with some spines above. Tho 

 nape and back with a low crest Tail tapering. Face-ridge distinct, 

 with enlarged imbricated scales. 



17. O'wtlalia. Parotids rather swollen, with 2 or 8 spines above. 

 Nape and back not crested. Tail tnncring, round. Face-ridge indistinct. 



& Femoral pores distinct 



a. Scales rhombic, placed in rings. Toes fringed on each side. Back 

 crested. Throat lax, folded across. 



18. La/Aura. Back and tail with a fin-like crest, supported by bony 

 rays. Head squarish. 



ID. PhryiiijnaJhvi. Back and tail with a crest of compressed scales. 

 Head swollen behind. 



6 Scales irregular, imbricate. Australian. 

 * Neck with a frill-like expansion on each side. 



20. CVamydotawtit. Head rhombic. 



" Neck simple. 



21. Hntltrin. Back and tail crested. Head elongate. Pro-anal porea 

 numerous. Scales smnll. 



22. Lojtkognathiu. Back crested. Head elongate. Pro-anal pores 

 2-2. Femoral pores 8 1 



