DESCHAMPSIA 



flexudsa, Trin. (Ami. flexudsa, Linn.). Wood Hair- 

 Grass. A slender, perennial grass, 1-2 ft. hiyh, with 

 numerous very fine root-lvs., and a delicate capillary 

 panicle. It grows in tufts like the above, and can he 

 distinguished by the much longer and twisted awn. N. 

 Amer., Eu. — Valuable for woodland pastures, as it will 

 grow well in the shade. Also used for ornament. 



P. B. Kennedy. 



DESIGN. The "design-work" of florists refers to 

 formal arrangement of njaterial as opposed to informal 

 arrangement of cut-flowers. Funeral designs are per- 

 haps the commonest. Dried grasses and everlasting 

 flowers are used in funeral designs. The term design 

 is borrowed from the language of art, and can also be 

 applied to formal styles of bedding as opposed to the 

 informal border. Design work is less popular in America 

 than in parts of the Old World, the distinguishing 

 feature of our floriculture being the general taste for 

 cut-flowers and for their free arrangement. Many pic- 

 tures of designs may be seen in the florists' trade 

 papers. 



DESMAZfiKIA. See VemazerUi. 



DESMODIHM (Greek, a band or chain; referring to 

 the .ioiuted pods I. By some called Meibomia. Legumi- 

 ndsfe. Tick Trefoil. Mostly herbs, of 150 or more 

 species, in temperate and warm regions of America, 

 Asia, Africa and Australia. Lvs. pinnate, with 3-5 

 (rarely 1) leaflets: fls. small and papilionaceous, in ter- 

 minal or axillary racemes in summer, mostly purple: 

 pod flat, deeply lobed or jointed, the joints often break- 

 ing apart and adhering to clothing and to animals by 

 means of small hooked hairs. Fig. 694. A number of 

 species are native to N. America, and are sometimes 

 grown in the hardy border, where they thrive under or- 

 dinary conditions. One hothouse species, B. (jurans, 

 is sometimes cult, for its odd moving leaflets. D. peii- 

 duliflonim and D.Japonicum will be found under Les- 

 pedeza. Several of the native species are worthy of 

 cult., but are practically unknown m the trade. The 

 following have been offered by collectors : Canadense, 

 DC; cuspHhitum. Hook.: Villfmi, Darl ; Marilandi- 

 cum, Boott; nudifhiriim, Df. ; pnmciilati(m,DC.\ pnia i- 

 ftorum, DC; sessiUflorion, Torr. io Gray. The Florida 



DEUTZIA 



473 



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pods of Desmodium Canade 



Beggar-weed is Desmodhim lorliioxion. DC, of the W. 

 Indies. It is coming into prominence in the south as a 

 forage plant (see Farmers' Bull. 102, U. S. Dept. of 

 Agric). 



g^rans, DC. Telegraph Plant. From 2-3 ft. high, 

 with ;i oblong or elliptic leaflets, the small lateral ones 

 (which are almost linear) moving in various directions 

 when the temperature is congenial, and especially in 

 the sunshine : Hs. purple or violet, in a many-fld. 

 panicle. S. Asia. Grown occasionally as a curiosity, 

 particularly in botanical collections. See Darwin's 

 Power of Movement in Plants, and various botanical 

 treatises, for fuller accounts. 



Desmodium gi/nins is of tolerably easy culture. It 

 requires stove temperature, and, although a perennial, 

 it is best treated as an annual. The best method of 

 propagation is by seeds. These should be sown in Feb- 

 ruary in a light, sandy soil, in 4-in. pots, and placed in a 

 warm, close atmosphere, where they will soon germi- 

 nate. The seedlings should be potted singly into small 

 pots as soon as large enough to handle, and be grown on 

 as rapidly as possible, using a mixture of good, fibrous 

 loam and leaf soil in aboiit equal proportions. By mid- 

 summer they will be bushy plants, and, though not 

 showy, they will be very interesting. 



L. H. B. and Edward J. Canning. 



DEtTTZIA (named by Thunberg in honor of his friend 

 and patron, Johann van der Deutz). Suxifyagdcere. 

 Very ornamental shrubs with showy white or blush fls. 

 appearing in spring or early summer. Lvs. deciduous, 

 opposite, petioled, serrate, usually with rough stellate 

 pubescence : fls. in racemes or corymbs, white, some- 

 times purplish, epigynous; calyx-teeth 5; petals 5; sta- 

 mens 10, rarely more, shorter than the petals; filaments 

 usually winged and toothed at the apex : capsule 3-5- 

 ceiled, with numerous minute seeds. About 15 species in 

 E.Asia and Himalayas and 1 in Mexico. I). parrifloratiDd 

 D. Lemoiiui are the hardiest, but Z>. senbrn, t^iehnldiana 

 and gracilis are also hardy north in somewhat sheltered 

 positions or with slight protection, while most of the 

 others are more tender and can not be grown safely 

 north of New York. The Deutzias thrive in almost any 

 well drained soil, and are well adapted for borders of 

 shrubberies. Potted plants forced with a temperature 

 not exceeding 50" develop into beautiful specimens for 

 the decoration of greenhouses and conservatories, es- 

 pecially V. Lemninei, Z>. gracilis and discnlor. The 

 same plants cannot be forced again. Prop, readily by 

 greenwood and hardwood cuttings, also by seeds sown 

 in pans or boxes in spring. 



a. Fls. in racemes or panicles: petals valvate in 



the bud. 



B. Longer filaments narrowed toward the apex, 



without teeth. 



Sieboldiina, Maxim. (D. sc&bra, Sieb. & Zucc.). Low 

 shrub, to 2 ft. : lvs. short-petioled, the pair below the 

 panicle sessile, ovate or ovate-elliptic, rounded or cor- 

 date at the base, rough and rugose above, stellate-pubes- 

 cent beneath, light green, 1-2 in. long: panicles erect, 

 loose, 2-3 in. long: fls. white, rather small, with spread- 

 ing petals: calyx lobes persistent. June. Japan. S.Z. 7. 

 — Graceful low shrub, but less showy than the two fol- 

 lowing species. 



BB. AH filaments with 2 large teeth below the 

 anthers. 



scibra, Thunb. Shrub, to 6 ft. : lvs. all petioled, ovate 

 to ovate-lanceolate, rounded at the base, crenate-dentate, 

 with rough pubescence on both sides, dull green, 1-3 in. 

 long: panicles erect, 2—4 in. long: fls. white or blushed, 

 with erect petals; calyx lobes deciduous. June, July. 

 Japan, China. S.Z. 6. B.M. 3838. B.R. 20:1718. S.B.F.G. 

 11.4:393. A. G. 18:350. Var. angustiJolia, Voss. Branches 

 reddish brown: lvs. ovate-lanceolate, rougher. Var. 

 crenita, Voss (Z>. crenAta, Sieb. & Zucc). Branches 

 brown: lvs. ovate or oblong-ovate, less rough. This var. 

 is less common in cultivation than the former. Var. 

 marmor&ta, Hort. Lvs. spotted with yellowish white. 

 Var. plena, Maxim. With double fls. R.H. 1807:70. F.S. 

 17:1799: 18:1850. I. H. 11:389. -Cult, in different forms 

 as Candidissima. with pure white double fls. (A.F. 

 6:203. J.H. in. 34:153. G.C II. 18:173) ; Prideof Roches- 

 ter, with very large white double fls.; Purpurea Plena, 

 double outside purplish ; Watered, with large double 

 fls., tinged rose. 



