960 



DAHLIA 



DALECHAMPIA 



some other cool place secure from frost. If the cellar is 

 very dry or is not frostproof, put the roots in a barrel 

 or box and cover completely with dry sand or some 

 other suitable and convenient material, such as saw- 

 dust or tanbark, to prevent freezing or loss of vitality 

 by drying or shriveling. LAWRENCE K. PEACOCK. 



DAHOON HOLLY: Ilex Dahoon. 



DAIS (Greek, pine torch; application not obvious). 

 Thymelsedcese. Contains a woody plant that yields a 

 strong fiber, and is also rarely cultivated for ornament, 

 especially in Florida and southern California, and pos- 

 sibly in a few northern conservatories. 



Tender deciduous shrubs : Ivs. opposite, often crowded 

 at the ends of branches : fls. in terminal heads; perianth- 

 tube cylindrical, often curved; stamens 10, in a double 

 series, the alternate ones shorter, upper or all exserted ; 

 style exserted. The plants are prop, with difficulty 

 by cuttings of half -ripened wood. The single cult, 

 species has Ivs. resembling the smoke tree, or Cotinus, 

 and bears long-stalked umbel-like heads of starry 

 pink fls., with floral parts in 5's. The genus has 2 

 species, 1 from S. Afr. and 1 from Madagascar. 



cotinifolia, Linn. Lvs. opposite and alternate, oblong 

 or obovate, acute at both ends : involucre a half shorter 

 than the fls.: head about 15-fld.; fls. \$a\. across, fra- 

 grant. S. Afr. B.M. 147. G.W. 8, p. 313. Said to 

 bloom profusely at Santa Barbara but not to produce 

 seed - L. H. B. 



DAISY (i. e., day's eye, in allusion to the sun-like 

 form of the flower). A name applied to the flowers 

 of many Compositae, but it properly belongs to the 

 Bellis perennis of Europe, a low early-flowering plant, 

 which, in its double forms (Fig. 535, Vol. I), is widely 

 known as a garden subject (see Bellis). The American 

 congener is B. integrifolia, Michx., an annual or bien- 

 nial, very like the Old World species, ranging south- 

 westward from Kentucky; it is not domesticated. In 

 North America, the word daisy is applied to many 

 field composites, particularly to those of compara- 

 tively low growth and large flower-heads. Unquali- 

 fied, the word is commonly understood to mean Chry- 

 santhemum Leucanthemum (Fig. 937), an Old World 

 plant that has become an abundant field weed in the 

 eastern part of the country. 

 This plant is also frequently 

 known as the ox-eye daisy, 

 although in parts of New Eng- 

 land it is called whiteweed, and 

 the term ox-eye is applied to 

 Rubdeckia hirta, which has a 

 yellow-rayed head. Kin to the 

 Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum 

 are the Paris daisies, or mar- 

 guerites, of the conservatories 

 (see Chrysanthemum). The wild 

 asters (Fig. 1216) are called 

 daisies, especially Micha3lmas 

 daisies, in many parts of the 

 country, particularly west of New 

 York. Spring-flowering erigerons 



Michaelmas daisy. ( x 1 A) also are called daisies. The 

 Swan River daisy is Brachycome 



iberidifolia (Figs. 621, 622, Vol. I). The African daisy 

 of gardens is Dimorphotheca. L. H B 



DALBERGIA (N. Dalberg, a Swedish botanist, 1730 

 to 1820). Legumindsse. Nearly 100 species of trees, 

 shrubs, or climbers, belonging to tropical regions all 

 over the world, a few of which have been introduced 

 to North America, one for timber. 



Leaves alternate, odd-pinnate (rarely 1-foliolate) 

 without stipules: fls. small, numerous, purple, violet 

 or white, in forking cymes or irregular cyme-like 



1216. Wild aster, or 



panicles, which are axillary or terminal, papilionaceous, 

 with ovate or orbicular standard: fr. an indehiscent 

 narrow pod, 1-seeded at middle and with few seeds 

 toward the ends, the seeds compressed and reniform. 



Sissoo, Roxbg. A good-sized tree, 80 ft. high in 

 India: Ivs. pinnate; Ifts. 5, alternate, stalked, obovate, 

 abruptly acuminate, pubescent beneath: fls. white, in 

 short, axillary panicles. In India considered one of 

 the best timbers, whenever elasticity and durability 

 are required. Intro, at Santa Barbara, where it is 

 hardy but growth said to be very slow. The Sissoo tree 

 is worth trial in nearly frostless districts, especially 

 along sandy river banks. It improves sterile lands. 

 Experiments in Egypt have shown its most remarkable 

 property of standing severe droughts, as well as sub- 

 mersion for a long period. The wood is very elastic, 

 seasons well, does not warp or split, is easily worked, 

 and takes a fine polish. It is also a durable wood for 

 boats. The tree is raised easily from seeds or cuttings, 

 and is of quick growth. Other species of Dalbergia are 

 of economic value and have been sparingly planted. 



DALEA (Samuel Dale, 1659-1739, English botanist 

 and author on pharmacology). Syn. Parosela. Legu- 

 mindsse. More than 100 herbs and small shrubs bear- 

 ing purple, blue, white or even yellow fls. in terminal 

 or lateral spikes or heads, odd-pinnate Ivs., and usually 

 glandular-dotted, a very few of which have been cult.; 

 probably none is now in the American trade. Fls. 

 papilionaceous, the standard mostly cordate or eared 

 and clawed and attached in the bottom of the calyx, 

 the wings and keel attached or adnate to the stamen- 

 tube and usually exceeding the standard; stamens 

 10 or 9, monadelphous : fr. a small usually 1-seeded 

 mostly indehiscent pod inclosed in the calyx. The 

 species occur from the N. U. S. to Chile and the Gala- 

 pagos Isls. They grow in the U. S., mostly on prairies 

 and in dry soil; some of these species might make 

 acceptable border plants. Those that have received 

 most attention are tropical species, as D. mutdbilis, 

 Willd., of Mex., with fls. white changing to violet, 

 (B. M. 2486) and D. Mutisii, Kunth (properly Psoralea 

 Mutlsii, HBK.), of the northern Andes, with deep blue 

 fls. in cylindrical heads; these are to be regarded as 

 greenhouse perennials. L. H. B. 



DALECHAMPIA (from J. Dalechamps, French 

 savant of sixteenth century) . Euphorbidcese . Climbing 

 or rarely erect tropical shrubs; one rarely cultivated in 

 warmhouses for its ornamental bracts. 



Leaves alternate, simple; stipules large: fls. small, 

 monoecious, apetalous, in dense clusters, with 2 con- 

 spicuous, colored involucral bracts; calyx valvate; 

 styles united; ovules 1 in each of the 3-4 cells. About 

 60 species scattered through the tropics. Plukenetia, a 

 related genus, is without the large involucre. 



Dalechampia Roezliana was described by Hooker in 

 1867 as one of the noblest plants introduced for many 

 years, comparable with the bougainvilleas and surpass- 

 ing them in size of bracts and brilliancy of color. It is 

 not so fine a florists' plant as the poinsettia, but is 

 worth trial in the finer conservatories. It requires well- 

 drained sandy, peat soil, and is propagated by cuttings. 



Roezliana, Muell. Arg. (var. rosea, Authors). Erect 

 shrub, 3-4 ft. high, much branched, leafy: Ivs. 6 in. 

 long, sessile, obovate-oblanceolate, acuminate, entire, 

 or with coarse, obtuse teeth above the middle, narrowed 

 to a small cordate base: bracts 2-2^ in. long, broadly 

 cordate, nearly sessile, toothed, membranaceous, dis- 

 tinctly nerved, rose-red, other smaller bracts among the 

 small yellow fls.; stamens united. Mex. B.M. 5640. 

 H.F. II. 11:234, pi. 8. Gt. 16:532. F.W. 1867, p. 

 318. F.M. 7:373, 374. F.S. 16:1701-2. G.C. 1867:236, ' 

 desc. Var. alba, Hort., has white bracts. 



J. B. S. NORTON. 



