AN ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HORTICULTURE, 



449 



DAT LILT. See Hemerocallis. 



DEADLT NIGHTSHADE. A common name for 



Atropa Belladonna. 



DEAD NETTLE. See Laminm 

 DEADWORT. See Sambucus Ebulns. 

 DEALBATE. Covered with an opaque white powder. 

 DEAL- WOOD. Chiefly the timber of Pintw gylvestri*. 

 DEATH'S HEAD HAWK MOTH. Sea Sphinx 

 atropus. 



DEATH'S HERB. A common name for Atropa 

 Belladonna. 



DECABELONE (from delta, ten, and belone, a needle ; 



in reference to the ten filiform processes of the outer 



corona). ORD. Asclepiadece. Very showy dwarf green- 



house succulent perennials. For culture, see Stapelia. 



D. Barklyi (Barkly's).* This interesting plant is closely allied to 



D. elegans, the flowers being very similar, but the branches have 



nearly twice the number of angles ; and the two lateral setae of 



the spines are more slender, and deflexed instead of erect It 



was discovered by Sir H. Barkly, about 1872, growing near the 



Orange Eiver, Little Namaqualand. (B. M. 6203.) 



D. elegans (elegant). /. large, solitary or twin, springing from 



the base of the young shoots ; corolla yellowish-white, spotted 



with blood-red, funnel-shaped, 2in. long and liin. in diameter at 



the mouth. Stems tufted, seven to nine-angled ; on these are 



placed elevations bearing three-branched spines. A. 6in. Angola, 



1873. (B. M. 6115.) 



DECAISNEA (named in honour of Joseph Decaisne, 



a distinguished French botanist, for a long time Director 



of the Paris Jardin des Plantes; born 1807, died 1882). 



ORD. BerberidecB. A monotypio genus. This, perhaps, 



has not been tried in the open air in this country, but 



it thrives in any good loamy soil if planted out in a 



cool conservatory. Propag-ated by imported seeds; or by 



cuttings, struck in a cool, damp frame. 



D. Insignia (remarkable).* /I. greenish, in terminal racemes ; 



sepals six, petaloid, narrow, sub-imbricate ; petals none. May. 



fr. globose, edible. 1. pinnate, h. 8ft. Sikkiin Himalayas at a 



great height. An erect shrub. (B. M. 6731.) 



DECANDROUS. Having ten sta- 

 mens. 



DECIDUOUS. Falling off. Leaves 

 which are shed annually are said to be 

 Deciduous, as are also trees that annually 

 lose their leaves. 



DECIDUOUS CTFRESS. See 

 Taxodium distichnm. 



DECKERIA. See Iriartea. 



DECLINATE. Bending downwards. 



DECOMPOUND. A leaf is said to 

 be Decompound when it is twice or 

 thrice pinnate. See Fig. 629. 



DECUMARIA (from decuma, a 

 tenth; in reference to the tenfold struc- 

 ture of some of the flowers). ORD. 

 Saxifragece. A very ornamental hardy 

 deciduous twiner, admirably adapted for FIG. 629. DECOM- 

 growing against walls, or on trellis-work. KMOIIIL"* 

 It thrives well in a dry, warm border of 

 light rich soil ; and is readily increased by cuttings, which 

 should be made in summer, and placed under a hand- 

 light, in a shady situation. 

 D. barbara (wild)." fl. white, very sweet-scented, disposed in ter- 



minal corymbs. June. L opposite, glabrous, ovate-oblong, acute 



at both ends. South United States, 1785. SYN. D. tarmentosa. 

 D. sarmentosa (twiggy). A synonym of D. barbara. 



DECUMBENT. Lying on the ground. 



DECURRENT. Running down. A leaf is said to 

 be Decurrent when it extends down the leafstalk or 

 stem. 



DECUSSATE. Leaves and branches are said to be 

 Decussate when they cross each other at right angles, 

 forming a kind of square, or four angles. 



DEFLEXED. Bent downwards. 



DEFOLIATION. The shedding of the leaves. 

 DEHERAINIA (named after Pierre Paul Deherain, 

 Assistant Naturalist of the Museum of the Jardin des 

 Plantes). ORD. Myrrinaeece. An interesting and remark- 

 able stove shrub, thriving in rich sandy loam and fibrous 

 peat. Heeled cuttings of ripened shoots will root in sand, 

 if placed under a glass, in bottom heat. 

 D. smaragdlna (emerald-green). Jt. green, about 2in. in dia- 

 meter, Primrose-like, disposed in clusters concealed below the 

 leaves. I. oblong-lanceolate, serrulate, hirsute along the nerves. 

 A. 3ft Mexico, 1876. SYN. Theopkraata emaragdina. (B. M. 6373.) 

 DEHISCENT. Gaping; opening. An expression 

 often applied to the mode in which the anthers or the 

 fruits burst open and discharge their contents. 



DELABECHEA (named in honour of the late Sir H. 

 T. De la Beche, an eminent geologist). Bottle-tree of 

 North-eastern Australia. ORD. StercuUar.ece. This genus 

 is now included by Bentham and Hooker under Ster- 

 onlia (which tee). 



DELARBREA (named after M. Delarbre, a French 

 naturalist). OHD. Araliacece. A genus containing two 

 species of stove evergreen tall shrubs, natives of New 

 Caledonia. For culture, see Aralia. 

 D. 'spectabills (notable). This is the correct name of plant 



described in this work aa Aralia, concinna. 



DELIMA (from delimo, to shave off ; in reference to 

 the leaves being used for polishing). SYN. Trachytella. 

 ORD. Dilleniacece. A handsome stove evergreen climbing 

 shrub, with the habit of Tetracera. It thrives in a compost 

 of peat and turfy loam, to which may be added a little 

 silver sand and small pieces of charcoal. Cuttings of young 

 shoots will root, if inserted in sand and placed in bottom 

 heat, in April. Perfect drainage is essential. 

 D. sarmentosa (twiggy), fi. white, in terminal panicles. I. 

 obovate, ovate, or broadly lanceolate, rigid, very scabrid, parallel- 

 veined. Tropical Asia, 1820. 



DELOSTOMA (from delos, manifest, and stoma, a 

 mouth ; in allusion to the wide month of the flower). 

 ORD. BignoniacecB. A small genus, containing three ot 

 four species, all natives of Columbia and Peru. The one 

 described below is a handsome, robust-growing stove 

 tree. For culture, see Bignonia. 



T>. dentatum (tooth-leaved). JL bluish- white, larpre; corolla 

 sub-campanulate, having a limb nearly 2in. across, of .spreading 

 orbicular lobes; racemes erect, three or four-flowered. October. 

 I elliptic-oblong, toothed, downy beneath. Peru. 

 DELPHINIUM (Greek name used by Dioscorides). 

 Larkspur. ORD. Ranunculacsce. Very ornamental hardy 

 annuals, biennials, or perennials, with erect branching 

 habit. Flowers blue, purple, pink, or white, rarely yellow, 

 racemed or panicled, bracteate; sepals five, petal-like, 

 irregular, the upper one drawn out below into a spur; 

 petals two to four, two upper ones drawn 

 out at the base into appendages within 

 the sepaline spur. Fruit a many-seeded 

 follicle (see Fig. C30). Leaves stalked; 

 cauline ones palmately-multiiid. Although 

 tho plants belonging to this genus are of 

 very easy cultivation, thriving in almost 

 any position with fair treatment, yet, 

 like most other cultivated subjects, their 

 real beauty and merit can only bo esti- 

 Fl - 630 ^?, E ^! S B mated by bestowing special attention 

 OF DELPHimoic upon them. Tho soil should be dug to a 

 good depth (if trenched, so much the 

 better), and a liberal supply of well-rotted manure in- 

 corporated. The distance between the plants should 

 be 3ft. each way, if arranged by themselves in beds; 

 or, if placed at the back of a mixed border a posi- 

 tion generally assigned to the tall perennial species or 

 varieties, and one for which they are well adapted 8ft., 

 or even more, may be allowed. The dwarf annuals, when 

 cultivated in pots, are very ornamental for greenhouse 

 decoration. 



Propagation. All tho herbaceous sorts may be increased 



3M 



