D I O 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



DIP 



461 



5. Diospyros Ebenaster ; Ebony. Leaves oval-oblong, 

 leathery ; buds smooth. This is a very large tree, very smooth 

 in all its parts, and the timber very hard. The small branches 

 have an ash-coloured bark, those which bear the leaves are 

 blackish ; the leaves are alternate, on very short petioles, 

 quite entire, obtuse, shining, often spotted, beneath wrinkled 

 with small veins, and as it were a little hoary ; berry sessile, 

 ovate, on the four-cleft reflex calix ; seeds six to eight, ovate, 

 black, somewhat compressed. It is very like the first species, 

 but the leaves are more ovate, and more hoary underneath. 

 The wood is heavy, compact, and hard, whitish next the 

 bark, but towards the middle very black ; this blackness 

 gradually tinges the whole body, in the same manner as the 

 resinous part of the l-'ir pervades the body by the decaying 

 branches. This is the true Ebony, according to Koenig and 

 Thunbcrg : but Loureiro describes the real Ebony as a dis- 

 tinct genus, by the name of Ebenojcylum. Native of the 



vast woods of Ceylon, Amboyna, Cochin-china, and the East 

 Indies. 



6. Dinspyros Ebenum ; Green-leaved Ebony. Leaves 

 ovate-ianceolate, acuminate ; buds rough with hairs ; leaves 

 about three inches in length, thin, flexible, dark green. 

 Native of Ceylon ; and observed in the woods near Calcutta. 



7. Diospyros Lobata. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, smooth 

 on both sides; peduncles one-flowered, axillary; berries 

 eight-lobed. This is a small tree, eight feet high, with 

 spreading branches ; flowers white, hermaphrodite ; berry 

 pale yellow, an inch in diameter, compressed, eight-celled, 

 one-seeded, with a sweetish austere pulp, without any smell. 

 Native of Cochin-china. 



8. Diospyros Dodecaud.ni. Flowers twelve-stamined, axil- 

 lary : berries lenticular. This is a large tree ; leaves broad- 

 lanceolate, quite entire, alternate ; flowers white; berry paJe, 

 compressed, shaped like a lens, one-celled, with eight com- 

 pressed-ovate, bony, large seeds ; the pulp is sweetish, astrin- 

 gent, eatable, but not pleasant. The wood is like that of the 

 iit'th species, but has not the black veins. This tree is much 

 used for supporting the black-pepper shrubs. Native of 

 Cochin-china. 



9. Diospyros Tetraspcrma. Leaves membranous, shining, 

 wedge-form; berries four-seeded. Native of Jamaica. 



10. Diospyros Mcnaloxylon. Trunk erect, in large trees 

 from 20 to 25 feet U> the branches, and about eight or ten in 

 circumference ; bark scabrous or deeply cracked, somewhat 

 spongy ; berry round, size of a small apple, yellow, pulpy, 

 astringent, and not very palatable. This tree is the tumida 

 of the Telingas. Native of the mountainous parts of the 

 Circars, on the coast of Coromandel. 



11. Diospyros Sylvatica. Leaves three to six inches long, 

 two to three broad ; berry the size of a nutmeg, round, 

 smoothish. This is the tellagadn of the Telingas. It grows 

 on the uncultivated hills of the Circars. 



12. Diospyros Montana. Trunk crooked, covered with 

 dark rust-coloured pretty smooth bark ; leaves three to four 

 inches long, two broad ; flowers bowing, small, greenish- 

 white. This is the yerragada of the Telingas. It is com- 

 mon among the mountains in the Circars: its timber is varie- 

 gated with dark and white coloured veins, is hard, and very 

 durable. 



13. Diospyros Chloroxylon. Leaves an inch and a half or 

 <wo long, one broad ; flowers small, white ; berry the size of a 

 cherry .which when ripe is very palatable. The nella-woolymera 

 of the Telingas. A middle-sized tree among the Orixa moun- 

 tains; but in the low lands towards the coast only a large bush. 



14. Diospyros Cordifolia. Leaves two inches long, three- 

 quarters broad ; berry round, size of a small crab-apple. 



VOL. I. 39. 



The kal-woolymera of the Telingas. A pretty large tree 

 among the mountains of the Circars ; but towards the sea 

 much smaller. 



Diphysa ; a genus of the class Diadelphia, order Decan- 

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

 bell-shaped, slightly compressed, half five-cleft ; the two 

 upper segments roundish, obtuse, plane, spreading very much : 

 the two later;:! ones ovate, acute, erect, flatfish ; the lowest 

 lanceolate, acuminate, concave, erect, alittle longer than the 

 rest. Corolla -. papilionaceous ; standard obovate-oblong-, 

 emargiiiate, plane, broad, reflex, on a claw the length of the 

 calix ; wings shorter than the standard, oblong, obtuse, 

 ascending, converging behind, diverging infront; keel sickle- 

 shaped, acuminate, compressed, ascending, shorter than the 

 wings. Stamina : filamenta ten, diadelphous, simple, and 

 nine-cleft, ascending ; anthera: ovate, small. Pistil: germen 

 subcylindrical, pedicelled ; style capillary, rising ; stigma 

 simple, acute. Pericarp : legume linear, compressed, flat, 

 obtuse, augmented longitudinally on each side by a membra- 

 naceous, very large, inflated bladder, closed all round, one- 

 celled. Seeds : several, oblong, obtuse, compressed, fur- 

 nished with a little hook. ESSE.VTIAI, CHARACTER. Calix: 

 half five-cleft. Legume : with a bladder on each side. 

 Seals : hooked. The only species is, 



1. Diphysa Carthaginensis. A small, unarmed, inelegant, 

 erect, branching tree, ten feet in height, and approaching to 

 the arborescent Mimosas. Leaves pinnate, smooth, two in- 

 ches long, on the younger branches ; there are usually five 

 leaflets on each side, with an odd one, though not unfre- 

 quently more or less : they are oblong, emarginate, small, 

 some alternate, others opposite ; common peduncles two- 

 flowered or three-flowered, axillary, filiform, the length of 

 the leaves; flowers yellow, with scarcely any smell; legumes 

 have thin, dry, whitish bladders to them, and hence the name. 

 They continue long upon the tree without opening, till at 

 length they fall in transverse pieces at the joints ; seeds five 

 or six, yellowish. It flowers in August and September, and 

 is a native of Carthagena in New Spain. 



Dipsacus ; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth common many- 

 flowered, many-leaved ; leaflets longer than the floscule, 

 loose, permanent ; perianth proper scarce manifest, supe- 

 rior. Corolla: proper universal equal, one-petalled; tubular ; 

 borderfour-cleft, upright ; outerdivision larger, moreacute. 

 Stamina : filamenta four, hair-form, longer than the corolla; 

 anther incumbent. Pistil : germen inferior ; style filiform, 

 length of the corolla; stigma simple. Pericarp : none. Seeds: 

 solitary, columnar, crowned by the entire calicine margin- 

 Receptacle : common, conical, separated by longer chaffs. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix common many-leaved ; 

 proper superior. Receptacle : chaffy. These are biennial, 

 tall, herbaceous plapts, prickly or rough, terminated by rough 

 heads of flowers ; the leaves sometimes connate at the base, 

 and forming a basin containing rain. The species are, 



1. Dipsacus Fullonum; Cultivated Teasel. Leaves sessile, 

 serrate; involucres short, horizontal ; chaffs bent back. This 

 plant is cultivated in great quantities in the west of England, 

 for raising the nap upon woollen cloths, by means of the 

 crooked awns or chaffs upon the heads, which in the wild 

 sort are straight, or at least not hooked ; for this purpose 

 they are fixed round the circumference of a large broad 

 wheel, which is turned round while the cloth is held against 

 them. These heads are collected in August. Parkinson calls 

 it Fuller's Thistle; and Gernrde, Tame, or Garden Teasel. 

 The root of this plant is bitter, and given in a strong infu- 

 sion, strengthens the stomach and creates an appetite, and 



