D 



DABCECIA (after its Irish name St. Dabeoe's Heath). 

 More commonly spelled Daboecia. Hjii., Uoretta. Erich- 

 cete. Low evergreen shrub with alternate entire Ivs. and 

 drooping pedicelled fls. in long terminal racemes : corolla 

 ovoid, contracted at the mouth and shortly 4-!obed, with 

 recurved lobes ; stamens 8, included : capsule 4-celIed, 

 dehiscent. One species in western Europe. Very 

 pretty heath-like shrub, with purple or white fls. in ele- 

 gant loose racemes, well adapted for rockeries or bor- 

 ders of evergreen shrubberies. Requires protection 

 north during the winter, and thrives best in a pe.ity, 

 sandy soil. Prop, by seeds treated like those of Erica, 

 and by cuttings of half-ripened wood under glass. 

 " polifdlia, Don (/>. C(iii^«7<W('a, Koch. Memiesia pvH- 

 fdlia,Jnss.). Irish Heath. To 2 ft. : branchlets glandu- 

 lar pubescent : Ivs. elliptic, the uppermost narrower, 

 revolute at the margin, whitish tomentose beneath, 

 shining and dark green above, H-% in. long: racemes 

 many-fld. : corolla i^-zi in. long, purple in the type. 

 June-Oct. Ireland, W. France, N. Spain. Gn. 52: 1142. 

 Gt. 47:1450. L. B. C. 20: 1907. S. B. F. G. 2: 276. There 

 are many varieties, as Alba, with white fls.; bicolor.with 

 white and purple striped fls. ; rdsea, with pink fls. ; gran- 

 diSldra, with larger purple fls. Alfred Rehder. 



DACTYLIS ( Greek, finger, from the size of the spikes ) . 

 Griimiiinv. Cock's-Foot. A perennial tufted grass with 

 flat-keeled or folded leaf-blades, and narrow panicles 

 which expand when in flower: spikelets several-flowered, 

 much flattened, sessile, and densely crowded in thick 

 one-sided clusters. A single species in Eu., Asia and 

 N. Africa, also naturalized in Australia and N. America. 



glomer&ta, Linn. Orohakd Grass. Fig. 657. A some- 

 what coarse grass forming dense tufts. Culms 2-3 ft. 

 high, very leafy: Ivs. flat, spreading: spikelets com- 

 pressed, 3-5 fld. : fl. -glumes lanceolate, very acute or 

 short awn-pointed, ciliate on the keel above. — One of the 

 best known and most useful pasture grasses, and useful 

 for lawns under trees. 



Var. variegita, Hort., is a dwarf form of neat, com- 

 pact haliit, with beautifully variegated silver and green 

 foliage. — Well adapted for forming edgings. It grows 

 \%-2 ft. high, and is prop, by divisions. 



P. B. Kenijedy. 



DACTYLOCTfiNIUm (Greek, daktylos, finger, and 

 kteniot'. comb). Finger -Comb Grass. This genus 

 closely resembles Eleusine, from which it differs chiefly 

 in having the terminal spikes shorter and each tipped 

 with a sharp prolongation of the axis. Annual, with 

 culms tufted or creeping, and rooting at the joints, IM- 

 2 ft. high. Spikes usually 3-5 in number, digitate, about 

 2 in. long; spikelets several-fld., crowded in two rows 

 along one side of a continuous axis. Species 2, one in 

 Australia, and the other appearing as a weed in all the 

 warmer countries of the world. 



.ffigyptiacum, Willd. {Eleiis)He ^gtjptiea. Cynosiinis 

 ^(Ij/ptius, hinu.). Crow-Foot. Spikelets very closely 

 packed, spreading at right angles to the rachis, 2 fld., 

 with rudiments of two other fls.— An ornamental grass 

 introduced into N. Amer. from Asia or Africa. Mo,iave 

 Indians of S. California use the grain for food. In Africa 

 a decoction is prepared from the seeds for inflam- 

 mation of the kidneys. p_ g^ Kennedy. 



DffiDALACANTHDS (Greek words, meaning an ^cnn- 

 thad of curious structure). Acantltdcece. This genus 

 contains some tender shrubs of difficult culture under 

 glass, but great favorites in the tropics, particularly in 

 India. D. nervosus is a popular winter and spring- 

 blooming shrub in S. Fla. It has blue flowers, an inch 

 across, 5-lobed, and shaded purple at the mouth of the 

 tube. The names are much confused with those of 

 Eranthemum. The kinds mentioned below are, how- 

 ever, very distinct, from the garden standpoint, from 

 any given in this work under Erautbemiun by the color 



of their fls. and the great size and relative showiness 

 of their br.icts. For culture, see Justicia. 



A. Fls. dark blue. 

 nervosus, T. Anders. {Eranthemum pulchillum, 

 Andrews and some dealers, while that of others is E. 

 bicolor, and of Roxburgh is D. purpurascens. E. ner- 

 I'dsitjn, B. Br. ). Fig. 658. Lvs. ovate or elliptical, acumi- 

 nate at both ends, somewhat crenate or entire : spikes 

 axillary, opposite, overlapping: bracts elliptical, acute; 

 limb of the corolla as wide as the tube is long. India. 

 B.M. 1358 as JdsHciO Heri'osn. Gn. 51:1118. G.C. II. 



657. Dactyli 



hard Grass (XK) • 



21:415.— A very pretty shrub for the warmhouse, its fls. 

 being of a color that is not very common in winter- 

 blooming plants. It is an easy subject to manage, re- 

 quiring a light, rich soil, full sunlight and plenty of 

 water. Cuttings of young growth root readily in a warm- 

 house. 



AA. Fls. purple. 



purpurascens, T. Anders. (E. purpurascens, Wight. 



E. pulchillum, Roxb., not Hort.). Lvs. broadly ovate. 



(443) 



