440 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



DANCING GIRLS. See Mantisia Saltatoria. 



DANDELION (Taraxacum officinale). The culture of 

 this herb as a salad-plant is the same as described for 

 Chicory (which see). The flowers must be picked off 

 frequently in summer, to prevent the ripening, and dis- 

 tribution by the wind, of seed. Dandelion roots are some- 



VIG. 612. DANDELION (TARAXACUM OKFICINALE). 

 times dried, roasted, and ground, and employed to adulte- 

 rate coffee, or as a substitute for it. The leaves, when 

 blanched, are used in this country, and more so on the 

 Continent, as a salad. See Fig. 612. 



DANES' BLOOD. See Sambucus Ebulns. 



DANEWEED. See Sambucus Ebulus. 



BANEWORT. See Sambucus Ebulus. 



DAPHNE (from Daphne, the Greek name of the Bay- 

 tree, Laurus nobilis, used by Theophrastus). OBD. TJiyme- 

 lacece. Very ornamental evergreen or deciduous shrubs 

 (rarely tall). Flowers odorous, honeyed ; perianth tubular, 

 with four spreading lobes and a naked throat ; stamens 

 eight, sub-sessile in two series. Fruit coriaceous or fleshy. 

 Leaves usually alternate. There are about forty species, 

 the geographical distribution of the genus being- Europe, 

 North Africa, and Temperate Asia. A popular genus of 

 plants, extensively cultivated both in greenhouses and in 

 the open ; their fragrant flowers and dwarf-growing habit 

 rendering them excellent subjects for pot culture. The 

 less hardy sorts are good conservatory plants, succeeding 

 admirably when trained on walls, inside, in a partially 

 shaded position. The red and white forms of D. indica 

 are grown most largely indoors. 



Cultivation. The species cultivated for conservatory 

 decoration are often grafted on stocks of one of the 

 hardier kinds, as, being naturally of slow growth, good 

 plants may be obtained much quicker this way than by 

 cuttings. For propagating by the latter method, matured 

 shoots, or side growths, should be selected in autumn, 

 inserted thinly in well-drained pots of peaty soil, and 

 covered with a bell glass. If kept in a cool house in 

 winter, they will callus, and may, early in spring, be 

 introduced to gentle heat, to encourage growth and the 

 emission of roots. The young plants may then be potted 

 singly, and grown on in a close, but not high, tempera- 

 ture, and afterwards hardened and kept quite cool during 

 the following autumn and winter, in order to thoroughly 

 ripen the wood, a material point towards success in 

 flowering D. indica. A temperature of 55deg. will be 

 sufficient to excite growth, and this must not be exceeded 

 until the plants are required to blossom. Grafted speci- 

 mens may be treated in a somewhat similar way, re- 

 potting annually after flowering is over, using loam and 

 peat in equal proportions as a compost. D. indica 

 seldom grows fast, consequently pots of 5in. or Gin. 

 diameter will be sufficiently large for good-sized plants. 

 Drainage must always be insured, and water applied very 

 carefully, especially in winter. 



Daphne continued. 



The hardier species may be used outside, in sheltered 

 positions, on rockwork, or in shrubbery borders, with 

 good effect. D. Laureola and D. pontica are fine ever- 

 green species, thriving well when planted beneath the 

 shade of trees. The cultivation does not materially differ 

 in the younger stages from the greenhouse kinds; but as 

 these make large specimens in a much shorter time, a 

 richer, though well-drained, soil should be given when 

 planting out. 

 D. alpina (alpine), fl. white, very fragrant, sessile, aggregate. 



May to July. 1. lanceolate, a little obtuse, tomentose beneath, 



deciduous, h. 2ft. European Alps, 1759. A low, hardy, brancby 



evergreen shrub. (L. B. C. 66.) 

 D. altaica (Altaic). /. white, scentless, sessile, in terminal umbels 



of about five flowers. April. I. obovate-lanceolate, glabrous, of 



a somewhat glaucous and yellowish -green, especially when young. 



h. 1ft. to 3ft. Siberia, 1796. Hardy? (B. M. 1875.) 

 D. Blagayana (Blagay's).* fl. white, tubular, fragrant, disposed 



in dense terminal heads. April. I. alternate, lanceolate, glabrous. 



A. 1ft. Mountains of Eastern Europe, 1872. Hardy evergreen. 



(G. C. n. s., xvii. 505.) 



FIG. 613. DAPHNE CNEORUM, showing Habit and Detached 

 Cluster of Flowers. 



D. Cneorum.* Garland Flower, tl. bright pink, sweet-scented, 

 terminal, aggregate, sessile. April, and again in September. I. 

 lanceolate, glabrous, mucronate. h. 1ft. Europe, 1752. A hardy 

 evergreen trailing shrub. See Fig. 613. There are two or three 

 forms of this species. 



D. collina (hill). /. pinkish, in terminal groups ; calyx externally 

 silkily villous. January to June. I. obovate, glabrous and glossy 

 above, and hirsutely villous beneath, h. 2ft. to 3ft. South of 

 Italy, 1752. Erect hardy evergreen. (B. M. 428.) 



D. c. neapolitana (Neapolitan). A very pretty plant, with 

 fragrant flowers, which are produced during the winter. It 

 differs from the type chiefly in the want of pubescence on the 

 under surface of the leaves. (L. B. C. 719.) 



D. Fortune! (Fortune's). /. lilac, lateral, appearing before the 

 leaves. February. I. oblong, or ovate-oblong, silky, h. 3ft 

 China, 1844. A hardy deciduous species. (F. d. S. 208.) 



D. Genkwa (Genkwa). fl. lilac, fragrant, rather large, fascicled, 

 appearing before the leaves. April. I. opposite, lanceolate. 

 k. 2ft. to 3ft. Japan, 1866. Hardy evergreen. (B. G. 499.) 



D. Gnidium (Gnidium). fl. pink, fragrant, in terminal panicled 

 racemes. June to August. I. linear-lanceolate, with a cuspidate 

 tip. h. 2ft. South-west Europe, 1797. Hardy evergreen. (S. F. G. 



tip. 

 356. 



) 



D. indica (Indian).* /. red or white, terminal, sessile. June. 

 I. acute, entire, h. 4ft. China, 1800. Greenhouse evergreen. 



D. japonica (Japanese), fl. pinkish-purple, terminal, corymbose. 

 February. /. oblong-lanceolate, wavy, margined with yellow. 

 h. 2ft. Japan, 1840. Greenhouse evergreen. (P. M. B. 8, 175.) 



D. Laureola (Laurel).* Spurge or Wood Laurel. /. yellowish- 

 green, in axillary, simple, drooping clusters shorter than the 

 leaves. January to March. I. obovate-lanceolate, thick, glossy, 

 shining, h. 3ft. to 4ft. Europe (Britain). A low, bushy, ever- 



