974 



DECABELONE 



DELARBREA 



DECABELONE: Tavareaia. 



DECAISNEA (after Joseph Decaisne, French botanist, 

 who wrote much on the botany of cultivated plants; 

 1809-1882). Lardizabalacese. Woody subjects grown for 

 the large pinnate foliage and the conspicuous fruits. 



Upright sparingly branched shrubs: Ivs. odd-pin- 

 nate, large, with opposite entire Ifts.: fls. polygamous, in 

 axillary racemes, slender-pedicelled ; sepals 6, petaloid, 

 long-acuminate; petals wanting; stamens 6, the fila- 

 ments in the staminate fl. connate into a column; 

 pistils 3, growing into rather large oblong follicles 

 with numerous seeds in two ranks imbedded in a 

 white pulp. Two species in E. Himalayas and in 

 W. China. 



These are distinct -looking shrubs, in habit resem- 

 bling a large-leaved sumac, with long racemes of pendu- 

 lous greenish flowers similar in shape to those of a 

 yucca, but are smaller, and with conspicuous blue or 

 yellow fruits which are edible, but insipid. The Chinese 

 species has proved hardy at the Arnold Arboretum in 

 sheltered position, while the Himalayan is tender. 

 They prefer a sheltered situation of warm southern 

 exposure and do not seem particular as to the soil. 

 Propagation is by seeds. 



Fargesii, Franch. Shrub, to 15 ft. : Ivs. to 3 ft. long, 

 glabrous; Ifts. 13-25, elliptic, acuminate, short-petioled, 

 bright green above, glaucescent below, 2-5 in. long: 

 racemes upright, many-fld.; fls. nodding, campanulate, 

 greenish, 1-1 % in. long; sepals lanceolate, long-acumi- 

 nate, much longer than the stamens: fr. pendulous, 

 oblong-cylindric, deep blue, 3-4 in. long, about 1 in. 

 thick, with numerous black seeds about J^in. long: 

 April, May; fr. in Sept. W. China. B.M. 7848. R.H. 

 1900, pp. 270, 271, 273. M.D. 1912:197. 



D. inslgnis, Hook. f. & Thorns. In habit, Ivs. and fls., very little 

 different from the preceding species, but fr. yellow, thicker, curved. 

 E.Himalayas. B.M. 6731. F.S. 13:1335. I.H. 3:91. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



DECODON (Greek, ten-toothed). Lythracese. A 

 hardy perennial herb sometimes offered by dealers in 

 native plants. Decodon is sometimes considered a 

 subgenus of Nessea, but is latterly kept distinct as a 

 monotypic genus. It is distinguished from Lythrum 

 by having 5 (rarely 4) petals instead of 6, and 10 

 stamens while Lythrum has mostly 6 or 12. It has 

 opposite or whorled Ivs., the upper with axillary, short- 

 stalked clusters of fls. 



verticillatus, Ell. (Nessea verticilldta, HBK.). SWAMP 

 LOOSE-STRIFE. WATER-WILLOW. Smooth or downy: 

 sts. recurved, 2-8 ft. long, 4-6-sided: Ivs. lanceolate, 

 nearly sessile: petals 5, cuneate-lanceolate, rose-pur- 

 ple, J^in. long; stamens 10, half of them shorter. 

 Swampy grounds, N. E. to Fla., west to Minn, and La. 

 Desirable for colonizing about ponds and in very 

 wet places. It runs into 2 or 3 varieties. 



DECUMARIA (Latin, decumus, tenth, referring to 

 the number of the parts of the flower). Saxifragacese. 

 Climbing shrubs, cultivated for their handsome glossy 

 foliage and clusters of attractive white flowers. 



Climbing by aerial rootlets: Ivs. deciduous, opposite, 

 petioled: fls. in terminal peduncled corymbs, small, 

 white, perfect; sepals and petals 7-10; stamens 20-30: 

 fr. a 5-10-celled ribbed caps, opening between the ribs, 

 with numerous minute seeds. One species in E. N. 

 Amer. and one in China. 



These are ornamental climbing shrubs with handsome 

 glossy foliage and fragrant white flowers, forming a 

 corymb of feathery appearance, well adapted for cover- 

 ing walls, rocks, trellis work and trunks of trees; tender, 

 but the American species survives in sheltered posi- 

 tions as far north as Massachusetts, while the Chinese 

 is more tender. They thrive in almost any humid 

 soil. Propagation is by greenwood cuttings in summer 

 under glass, rarely by seeds. 



barbara, Linn. (D. sarmentbsa, Bosc). Climbing to 

 30 ft., but usually less high: lys. ovate, obtuse or acute, 

 remotely denticulate or entire, glabrous and shining 

 above, 2-4 in. long and 1-2 in. broad: corymbs 2-3 in. 

 broad, semiglobose. May, June. Va. to Fla., west to 

 La. B.B. (ed. 2) 2:233. Mn. 1:41. G.C. III. 46:242, 

 suppl. 



D. sinensis, Oliv. Very similar to the preceding; less high: lys. 

 generally oblong, obtuse or obtusish, 1 5^-3 in. long and J-^-l in. 

 broad: pedicels appressed-pubescent. Cent. China. H.I. 18:1741. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



DEERBERRY: Vaccinium stamineum. 

 DEERGRASS: Rhexia. 



DEERINGIA (Karl Deering, died 1749; born in 

 Saxony, practicing physician in London and author 

 of catalogue of plants of England). Amarantdcese. 

 About a half-dozen species of climbing herbs or sub- 

 shrubs, from Madagascar to Austral., one of which is 

 offered in Calif. Lvs. alternate: fls. dioecious or per- 

 fect, numerous and small, in terminal spiciferous 

 panicles; parts of fl. 5, spreading under the succulent 

 indehiscent fr. ; stamens 5, united into a ring. D. baccata, 

 Moq. (D, celosioides, R. Br.), in Austral., E. Indies and 

 elsewhere, is a smooth woody climber, 10-12 ft.: Ivs. 

 ovate or ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, entire: fls. in 

 slender interrupted spikes 1 ft. or less long, greenish 

 white: berry red, nearly globular, J^in. or less diam. 

 B.M. 2717. The plant offered as>. variegata, described 

 as a slender-growing shrub that will climb if shoots are 

 trained up, long spikes of white fls., and Ivs. margined 

 with white, is probably a form of this species, or it may 

 be Bosea Amherstiana (D. Amherstiana, Wall.), which 

 has a form with variegated Ivs. ,. H. B. 



DEINANTHE (Greek extraordinary, referring to 

 the flowers being large for the group). Saxifragacese. 

 Herbs or sub-shrubs of 2 species, 1 in Japan and 1 

 in China, at least the Chinese species having been 

 offered in England. Of the Hydrangea tribe, allied 

 to Cardiandra, but Ivs. opposite rather than alternate 

 and style 1-5-forked rather than 3 and separate. 

 D. cserulea, Stapf, from China, is a perennial herb, 

 1-1^2 ft- high, with horizontal stout rootstock, the 

 solitary st. from the tip of the rootstock: Ivs. about 4 

 at the top of the st., ovate or broad-elliptic, sharply 

 toothed: fls. sterile and fertile, the former few, the 

 fertile much larger and nodding, the petals bright blue, 

 stamens blue, all constituting a terminal panicle. B.M. 

 8373. D. bifida, Maxim., has creamy white or pure 

 white fls. with yellow stamens, a different infl., and Ivs. 

 deeply bifid at apex. L. jj, B. 



DELABECHEA RUPESTRIS: Sterculia rupestris. 



DELARBREA (after a French naturalist). Araliacese. 

 Tall tender shrubs from New Caledonia, grown in hot- 

 houses. 



Leaves alternate, decompound, gracefully arching, the 

 Ifts. leathery and entire or slightly cut: fls. falling very 

 early, in large umbellate-paniculate clusters, not very 

 showy. Distinguished from Aralia by its round, not 

 angled frs. Two species. Cult, same as Aralia. 



spectabilis, Lind.& Andre (Aralia condnna, Nichols.). 

 St. ashy gray, with brown, warty spots: Ivs. odd-pin- 

 nate; Ifts. in 8-10 pairs, each 1ft. entire or 3-toothed or 

 twice cut, sometimes so deeply cut as to make 3 entirely 

 free segms. I.H. 25:314. Under the name of Aralia 

 spectabilis, two different plants have been sold. One 

 is Aralia filicifolia. The two plants can be dis- 

 tinguished at a glance. The primary division of the 

 If. in A. filicifolia is long and narrow, thrice as long 

 as in D. spectabilis, and tapering to a long point, 

 while in D. spectabilis the primary division of the 

 If. is short and has 3 well-marked segms. In A. 

 filicifolia the secondary divisions are deeply and irregu- 



