436 



DAT 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



DAT 



22. Daphne Colina; Neapolitan Mfzereon. Flowers in 

 bundles, terminating, sessile ; leaves obovate, obtuse, very 

 smooth on the upper surface, villose on the lower. Stems 

 three feet high, much branched ; the branches often forked ; 

 bark tough, wrinkled, void of down or hair, except on the 

 younger branches ; leaves evergreen, alternate, on short foot- 

 stalks, a little revolute on the edge, having a silky down un- 

 derneath. Native of the low hills in the south of Italy. It 

 covers the hills and fields on the banks of the Vulturnus, as 

 Furze does on commons in England ; and, since it thrives here 

 like the Myrtle, becomes a valuable addition to our shrubs. 



"A. Daphne Lagetto ; Lace-bark Daphne. Spikes panicled, 

 terminating; leaves ovate, acute. This is a tree the wood of 

 which is white; leaves about four inches long, and two and 

 a half broad, broadest near the base, having one middle and 

 several transverse ribs, of a yellowish green colour, shining, 

 thick and smooth. The outer bark is smooth, light brown, 

 or gray and striated ; the inner is solid and white, of a very 

 tine texture, tough, and divisible into several coats or layers, 

 which may be drawn out into thin webs resembling lace, and 

 have been worn instead of it. King Charles II. had a cravat 

 of it, which was presented to him by Sir Thomas Lynch, then 

 governor of Jamaica; where it is principally used for rope- 

 making, but would undoubtedly make fine paper, if properly 

 prepared. Native of Jamaica, where it is called Lagetto, or 

 Luce-baric Tree; and of Hispaniola, where it is known by the 

 name of bois dmtelle. It is a stove plant, and must be treated 

 in the same manner as the Coffee shrub. 



24. Daphne Tinifolia. Racemes compound, erect; flowers 

 terminating, crowded ; leaves oblong. It rises with a woody 

 stalk to the height of twenty feet, dividing into many 

 branches, covered with a gray rough bark. The leaves of 

 this tree are about two inches long, and one inch broad, 

 rounded at the top, and entire, on very short footstalks. 

 Native of Jamaica. It is a stove plant, and must be 

 treated like Coffee. See Coffiea. 



25. Daphne Occidentals. Peduncles axillary; flowers 

 terminating, in umbellets, dioecous; leaves alternate, lanceo- 

 late, smooth. Native of Jamaica. It is a stove plant, and 

 requires the same propagation and culture as Coffee. 



26. Daphne Venniculata. Flowers sessile, lateral, soli- 

 tary, smooth; leaves linear-lanceolate, villose. This is an 

 humble, stiff, and very branching shrub ; branches purple, 

 warted, villose at top ; leaves sessile, crowded, thick, ob- 

 tuse; flowers axillary, opposite, shorter than the leaf. 

 Native of the kingdom of Arragon in Spain. 



27- Daphne Sericea. Flowers aggregate, terminating, ses- 

 sile ; leaves lanceolate, villose underneath ; segments of the 

 corolla obtuse. It is a very branching shrub; branches 

 round, brown, villose at top; leaves towards the ends of the 

 branchlets crowded, sessile, lanceolate, elliptic, veinless, 

 quite entire, acute, smooth above, villose underneath ; 

 flowers purple, five. Native of Candia and Naples. 



28. Daphne Bu.xifolia. Flowers aggregate, sessile, ter- 

 minating; leaves oblong, very blunt, villose underneath. 

 This shrub has round, villose, naked branches ; leaves to- 

 wards the ends of the branchlets approximating, sessile, a 

 little narrower at the base, rounded at the end, the younger 

 ones villose on both sides, the rest only underneath, vein- 

 less; flowers six; tube of the corolla villose, silky on the 

 outside, gibbose at the base ; segments oblong, obtuse. It 

 differs from the foregoing in the form of the leaves, and the 

 whiteness of the corolla. Native of the Levant. 



Darnel Grass. See Lolium. 



Date Plum. See Diospyrus. 



Date Tree. See Phoenix. 



Datisca; a'genus of the class Dioecia, order Dodecandria- 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male. Calix: perianth five- 

 leaved ; leaflets linear, acute, equal. Corolla : none. Sta- 

 mina: filamcnta scarcely any; antheree about fifteen, oblong, 

 many times longer than the calix, obtuse. Female. > 

 perianth two-toothed, the third tooth wanting, erect, very 

 small, superior, permanent. Corolla -, none. Pistil : ger- 

 men oblong, inferior, longer than the calix : styles three, 

 two-parted, short; stigmas simple, oblong, shaggy, length 

 of the germen. Pericarp: capsule oblong, triangular, three- 

 valved, three-horned, one-celled. Seeds: numerous, small, 

 adhering longitudinally in three to five directions to the 

 capsule. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Calix: five-leaved. 

 Corolla: none. Antherae: sessile, long, fifteen. Female. < u- 

 ter.-'two-toothed. Corolla: none. Styles: three. Captule: 

 triangular, three-horned, one-celled, pervious, many-seeded, 

 inferior. These plants should be propagated by parting the 

 roots, which may be performed in autumn, when the stalks 

 decay; but they. must not be parted too small. They may- 

 be planted in any open beds, where they are not under the 

 drip of trees, and will require no other culture but to keep 

 them clean from weeds. They may also be propagated by 

 seeds; but these should be taken from such plants as grow in 

 the neighbourhood of male plants, or they will not succeed; 

 and if the seeds be not sown in autumn, they seldom grow 

 the first year. When the seeding plants appear, they will 

 require no other care than to be kept clean from weeds till 

 autumn, when they may be transplanted whither they are 

 to grow. The species are, 



1. Datisca Cannabina; Smooth-stalked Bastard Hemp. 

 Stem even. This plant has a perennial root, from which 

 rise several herbaceous stalks, about four feet high, with 

 pinnate leaves placed alternately, each composed of three 

 pairs of leaflets, terminated by an odd one; these are two 

 inches long, and half an inch broad, ending in acute points, 

 deeply serrate, and of a light green. The flowers come 

 out in long loose spikes from the upper part of the stalks, 

 at the axils, but having no petals make a poor appearance : 

 the anthera; of the male flowers being pretty long, and of 

 a bright yellow colour, are most visible at a distance. It 

 flowers in June or July, and the seeds ripen in September. 

 Native of Candia or Crete. 



2. Datisca Hirta; Rough-stalked Bastard Hemp. Stern 

 hirsute, larger. The stem rough on every side with hairs 

 that stand out; leaflets larger, more alternate, more decur- 

 rent, and confluent at the base. Found in Pennsylvania. 

 This is as hardy as the first species, but requires a shady 

 situation, and a moister soil. 



Datura; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth one-leafed, 

 oblong, tubular, bellied, five-cornered, five-toothed, horizon- 

 tally deciduous near the base, the remaining circular part 

 permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, funnel-form; tube cylin- 

 dric, almost longer than the calix; border erect, expanding, 

 five-cornered, five-plaited, almost entire, with five acumi- 

 nate teeth. Stamina : filamenta five, subulate, length of the 

 calix; antherae oblong, compressed, obtuse. Pistil-, ger- 

 men ovate ; style filiform, straight ; stigma thickish, obtuse, 

 two-plaited. Pericarp: capsule somewhat ovate, two-celled, 

 four-valved, seated on the base of the calix; receptacles con- 

 vex, large, dotted, affixed to the dissepiment. Seals . nu- 

 merous, kidney-form. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. CoroUt: 

 funnel-form, plaited. Calix: tubular, angular, deciduous. 

 Capsule : four-valved. Most of the plants of this genus have 

 a strong aromatic smell, are natives of hot countries, and 

 therefore require a stove or glass-case. The species are, 



