DALIBARDA 



DALIBARDA (after Thomas Frangois Dalibard, 

 French botanist). Rosacex. A low-growing native 

 hardy herbaceous perennial, with foliage resembling 

 violet and flowers like those of a strawberry, some- 

 times grown in borders and rock-gardens. 



This monotypic genus has lately been referred to 

 Rubus, but it differs in habit, in the carpels being 

 usually well defined instead of indefinite and the 

 achenes dry instead of drupaceous: fls. 1 or 2 on a 

 scape-like peduncle, white, and also others that are. 



DANDELION 



961 



1217. Dalibarda repens. 



(XH) 



cleistogamous and apetalous on short curved peduncles; 

 calyx 5-6-parted, 3 of the parts larger; petals 5; sta- 

 mens many; ovaries 5-10. 



repens, Linn. (Rubus Dalibarda, Linn.). Fig. 1217. 

 Tufted, creeping: Ivs. heart-shaped, wavy-toothed: fls. 

 white, 1 or 2 on each s.cape; calyx 5-6-parted, 3 of the 

 divisions larger and toothed; petals 5; stamens numer- 

 ous; pistils 5-10. Common in woods in New Bruns- 

 wick, Ont. and south and west to N. J., Pa., Ohio 

 and Minn. It blooms June- Aug. It is a slow-growing 

 plant, thriving in a deep fibrous soil and sheltered 

 position; little grown. In Fig. 1217, a shows the per- 

 fect flower; b, c, achenes of the cleistogamous fls. 



L. H. B. 



DAMASK ROSE: Rosa Damascena. 

 DAMASK VIOLET: Hesperis matronalis. 



DAME'S ROCKET and DAME'S VIOLET: Hesperis matro- 

 nalis. 



DAMMARA: Agathis. 



DAMNACANTHUS (Greek, referring to the power- 

 ful spines). Rubiacex. A tender evergreen shrub, 

 chiefly valued for its coral-red berries, which remain 

 on the bush until the flowers of the next season are 

 produced. 



Divaricately branched, strongly spiny woody plants: 

 Ivs. small, opposite, leathery, nearly sessile, broadly 

 ovate, acuminate: fls. small, axillary, in 1's or 2's, 

 white, fragrant; calyx-tube obovoid, limb 4-5-cut; 

 corolla funnel-shaped. Prop, by cuttings; sometimes 

 grown in greenhouses and perhaps adaptable for plant- 

 ing in the southern parts. 



mdicus, Gaertn. Described above, being the only 

 species as understood by some authors; but others 

 keep D. major, Sieb. & Zucc. (which is sometimes 

 nearly spineless) , distinct, distinguishing it by the 2-3- 

 times larger Ivs. and the larger fls. ; others combine the 

 two as species and variety, as D. mdicus var. major, 

 Makino. Gt. 17:570. The species occurs from E. India 

 to Japan, the var. major being Japanese. The species 

 is a low thick bush, densely dichotomously branched: 

 Ivs. ovate-acute, shining green above, light green 

 beneath, in var. major 1^ in. long. The shining Ivs. 

 and showv berries commend the plant to cult. L. jj B. 



DAMPING-OFF. A gardeners' phrase for a disas- 

 trous rotting of plants, especially of seedlings and cut- 

 tings, and commonly at the surface of the ground. It 

 is usually associated with excessive moisture in the soil 

 and air, with high and close temperatures, and some- 

 times poor light. Such conditions weaken the plants 

 and allow them to fall a prey to the minute parasitic 

 fungi which live upon the decaying vegetable matter in 

 the soil, and can remain alive for months, even if the 

 soil is thoroughly dry or frozen. A whole bench of 

 cuttings may be ruined in a night. The skilful propaga- 

 tor takes every possible precaution. His benches have 

 perfect drainage, he uses fresh sharp sand, and some- 

 times sterilizes it with steam heat for several hours. 

 Damping-off is one of the most trying experiences of 

 the beginner, and nothing can prevent it but a thorough 

 grasp of the principles of greenhouse management in 

 general, and watering in particular. (Consult articles 

 on these subjects.) As soon as the disease is noticed, 

 the healthy plants should be removed to fresh soil, as 

 the disease spreads rapidly. If the disease appears in 

 the entire bed, the organisms causing the trouble 

 almost certainly are distributed generally in the sand, 

 and sterilization either with formaldehyde solution 

 (40 per cent strength diluted one part to fifty parts 

 water) or with steam should be employed in all future 

 work. If only a spot here and there shows the trouble, 

 saturate the affected area at once with formaldehyde 

 solution, as above, or with copper-sulfate solution (one 

 part by weight to one hundred parts of water). One 

 of the commonest occasions of damping-off is the sud- 

 den flooding of a bed or bench after leaving it too dry 

 for a long time. 



The terms damping-off and burning are also used for 

 ruined flowers. Burning is often caused by sunlight or 

 by imperfections in glass, but a flower spoiled by drip- 

 ping cold water, or by some unknown cause, is said to 

 have a burned look. j 



DAMSON: Plum. 



DANAE (name of a daughter of King Acrisius of 

 Argos). Lilidceae. ALEXANDRIAN LAUREL. An ever- 

 green erect much-branched shrub with thick unarmed 

 alternate cladophylla and terminal racemes of small 

 whitish fls., often referred to Ruscus. It is one of the 

 Asparagus tribe of the lily family: fls. nearly globular, 

 the lobes short and erect, with a crown at the throat; 

 stamens affixed in the tube beneath the crown, the 

 filaments united, the anthers 6: fr. a pulpy indehiscent 

 red berry. D. racemosa, Moench (Ruscus racemdsus, 

 Linn. D. Laurus, Medikus), occurs from Greece to 

 Persia, making a bush 4 ft. high, with ovate-lanceolate, 

 nearly sessile, about 5^7-nerved leaf-like cladodes. 

 Recently intro. in S. Calif., but is little known in this 

 country. Ornamental for porches, vases, and similar 

 uses - L. H. B. 



DAN52A (a personal name). Marattiacex. A small 

 genus of tropical American fern-like plants, with syn- 

 angia sessile, arranged in rows, and covering the entire 

 under surface of the leaf. They are apparently not in 

 cultivation in America. 



DANDELION (i. e., dent de lion, French for lion's 

 tooth; referring to the teeth on the Ivs.). The vernacu- 

 lar of Taraxacum officinale, Weber, a stemless peren- 

 nial or biennial plant of the Composite, a common weed, 

 much collected in spring for "greens" and in improved 

 forms sometimes grown for that purpose. 



Dandelion is native to Europe and Asia, but is 

 naturalized in all temperate countries. On the Rocky 

 Mountains and in the high North are forms that are 

 apparently indigenous. A floret from the head of a 

 dandelion is shown in Fig. 1218. The ovary is at e; 

 pappus (answering to calyx) at a; ray of corolla at c; 

 ring of anthers at b; styles at d. The constricted part 



