DARLINGTONIA 



DASYLIRION 



965 



ft. Specimens were first hurriedly collected by W. D. 

 Brackenridge of the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, on 

 the southern slopes of Mt. Shasta, when the explorers 

 were retreating before attacking Indians. The speci- 

 mens were described and named by Torrey. 



Darlingtonias have been grown outdoors in the East 

 the year round in a few special localities. Edward 

 Gillett at Southwick, Massachusetts, grows them in a 

 favored spot without artificial protection. F. H. Hors- 

 ford can preserve them at Charlotte, Vermont, with 

 the aid of a winter mulch. 



As greenhouse plants, darlingtomas require the same 

 treatment as their allies, sarracenias, dioneas and dro- 

 seras. A well-grown collection of these plants is not 

 only very interesting and curious, but also very beau- 

 tiful. To succeed, they must occupy a shaded position, 

 and never be allowed to become dry. 

 Give a cool, moist, even tempera- 

 ture. If possible, a glass case should 

 be provided for them, with provi- 

 sion made for ventilation; a con- 

 stant moist atmosphere can be more 

 easily maintained, and at the same 

 time the greenhouse in which they 

 are grown may be freely ven- 



1222. Young plant of Darlingtonia. 



tilated without injury to these plants. The material 

 in which they grow best is two-thirds fern-root fiber 

 with the dust shaken out, and one-third chopped sphag- 

 num moss and silver sand, with a few nodules of char- 

 coal added. About the first week in July is perhaps the 

 best time for potting, though one must be guided by the 

 condition of the plants, choosing a time when they are 

 the least active. When well established they will 

 require potting only once in two years. The pots should 

 be placed in pot-saucers as a safeguard against their 

 ever becoming dry, and all the space between the pots 

 should be filled with sphagnum moss up to the rims of 

 the pots. A temperature of 40 to 45 during winter, 

 with a gradual rise as the days lengthen in spring, will 

 suit them admirably. During the summer they should 

 be kept well shaded, or they may be removed to a well- 

 shaded frame outside in some secluded position free 

 from hot drying winds. Propagation of these plants is 

 effected by division of the roots, or by seeds sown on 

 live sphagnum moss in pans, the moss being made very 

 even and the pans placed either under a bell-jar or glass 

 case in a cool moist atmosphere. (Edward J. Canning.) 



calif 6rnica, Torr. Fig. 1222. Rootstock horizontal: 

 Ivs. 5-8 in annual rosettes, long-tubular, somewhat 

 twisted, with median anterior flap, green below, green 

 mottled with white over the arched hood, orifice down- 

 directed with bilobed red and green appendage in front : 

 fl.-stalk 10-30 in., bearing scattered bracts; fl. solitary, 

 inverted; sepals 5, pale green; petals 5, yellowish to 

 brown-red with red veins; stamens 15-12, inserted 

 below ovary; ovary obconic with depressed apex, style 

 5-lobed with radial stigmas: caps, obovate, surrounded 

 by the persistent sepals. Flowers from May to July, 

 according to elevation. B.H. 5:113. F.S. 14:1440. 

 F.M. 1869:457. B.M. 5920. I.H. 18:75. G.C. III. 

 7:84; 17:304; 24 : 339. Intro, into cult, in 1861. Var. 

 rftbra, Hort. Differs from type in being a reddish hue. 



>. Courtu=Sarracenia CourtiL 



J. M. MACFARLANE. 



DARNEL: Lolium perenne. 



DARWINIA (Dr. Erasmus Darwin, an English 

 nature-student). Myrtdcese. About 40 Australian 

 evergreen shrubs, a very few of which are sometimes 

 grown for the colored flower -like campanulate invo- 

 lucres that hold their condition 3-5 months; not in 

 the American trade. Lvs. few and usually heath-like: 

 fls. small, inclosed in petal-like bracts at the summit of 

 the branches; calyx-lobes 5; petals 5; stamens 10, 

 alternating with staminodia; ovary 1-celled, the fr. 

 1-seeded. The darwinias prop, from well-ripened tips 

 of side shoots taken in early autumn or in spring. They 

 require greenhouse or intermediate temperatures. 

 D. Hookeriana, Benth. (Genetyllis fuchsicndes, Hort.). 

 Lvs. linear-oblong, Kin. long, scattered: sts. red: inner 

 bracts of hanging involucre 1 in. long, bright red, the 

 outer ones shorter and greenish and passing into the 

 st.-lvs.: fls. small, greenish white, usually about 6 in 

 each involucre. B.M. 4860 (as Genetyllis macrostegid) . 

 G.C. III. 43:243. F.S. 10; 1009. D. macrostegia, 

 Benth. Lvs. elliptic-oblong, %in. or less long, scat- 

 tered: inner bracts 1^ in. long, creamy white with red 

 splashes and stripes, the outer ones shorter and more 

 colored, the lowest ones passing into the foliage. B.M. 

 4858 (as Genetyllis tulipifera). I.H. 2:73. F.S. 10:1064. 



L. H. B. 



DASHEEN. Edible crown-tubers of Colocasia, lately cult, in 

 the U. S. to some extent. See p. 830; also Taro. 



DASYLIRION (Greek, tufted lily). LUiacex. Stiff 

 short-trunked desert plants, with crowded leaves and 

 elevated panicles of small mostly white or whitish 

 flowers. 



Caudex or trunk erect and woody: Ivs. numerous, 

 near the top of the trunk, long and rigid, usually 

 prickly-margined: fls. dioecious, in dense racemes 

 which are crowded into a narrow compound panicle; 

 perianth campanulate, the segms. toothed, distinct 

 and nearly equal,- obtuse; stamens 6, exserted, style 

 short; stigmas 3: fr. dry and indehiscent, 3- winged, 

 1-celled and 1-seeded. About 15 species. Mex., to Texas 

 and Ariz. Monograph in Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. 50, 

 p. 404 (1911). 



Dasylirions are highly ornamental plants, well 

 adapted for rockeries, for isolated specimens on lawns, 

 decoration of conservatories, staircases and similar 

 uses, and eminently suitable for terraces and vases, in 

 the formal style of gardening. The leaves are in large 

 number, inserted in a symmetrical way, so as to form 

 a dome or globe-shaped, regular head, more or less 

 serrulated, and in some species ending in a brush- 

 like tuft of dried fibers. The tall panicles of number- 

 less whitish green minute flowers are also a striking 

 feature, standing far above the crest or crown of 

 leaves. They are of the easiest possible culture, and 

 will stand some degrees of frost, particularly if kept 

 dry. Easily propagated from seeds and from cuttings 

 of the branches when produced, as they do not sucker 

 as a rule. These plants are inferior to Yucca filamentosa 



