DIASCIA 



DICENTRA 



1001 



DIASCIA (to adorn, Greek, having regard to the 

 attractive flowers). Scrophularidcex. Low and slen- 

 der herbs, mostly annual, one of which is recently 

 grown in flower-gardens. 



Leaves usually opposite: fls. 

 mostly violet or rose-color in gen- 

 eral effect, in racemes or fascicles 

 at the end of the st. or branches; 

 calyx 5-parted or -lobed; corolla- 

 tube very short or none; limb 2- 

 lipped, the upper lip 2-lobed and 

 lower 3-lobed, all the lobes being 

 broad and flat, 2 of the fauces be- 

 ing projected into spurs; stamens 

 4, didynamous; style filiform: fr. 

 a globose or elongated dehiscent 

 many-seeded caps. Probably 25 

 or more species in S. Afr. 



Barberae, Hook. f. Fig. 1255. 

 Annual : st. erect, 1-1 K ft., square, 

 green and glabrous: Ivs. ovate, 

 blunt, obtusely serrate, petioled 

 or the upper ones sessile: fls. sev- 

 eral to many in an erect terminal 

 raceme, on slender glandular pedi- 

 cels; calyx deeply 5-lobed; corolla 

 %in. across, rose-pink with yellow 

 green-dotted spot in throat, the 2 

 upper lobes 

 small and nearly 

 orbicular, the 

 lateral twice 

 larger, and the 

 lower one much 

 larger and ob- 

 scurely 4-angled, 

 the spurs cylin- 

 dric and about 

 as long as lower 

 lobe; filaments 

 glandular. B.M 



p. 639. A very attractive little 

 plant, of simple cultural require- 

 ments, blooming freely in summer. 

 It also makes a good pot-plant for 

 indoor use. Half-hardy annual. 

 Pink and orange shades are 

 advertised. L. H. B. 



DIASTEMA (two stamens). Gesneriacese. Dwarf 

 warmhouse plants of Trop. Amer. (about 20 species), 

 allied to Dicyrta, Achimenes and Isoloma, and requir- 

 ing similar treatment; differs from former two in hav- 

 ing 5 distinct glandular parts to the disk rather than 

 annular, and from Isoloma in the narrower parts of the 

 disk, plants weak, fls. pale, white or pur- 

 plish, and in the short or nearly globular 

 anther-cells, and other features: summer- 

 flowering. D. ochroleucum, Hook., has yel- 

 lowish white fls. ; corolla somewhat swollen 

 at base: Ivs. ovate, acute, hairy, coarsely 

 serrate, on hairy purplish erect sts. 1-2 ft. 

 high. Colombia. B.M. 4254. D. pictum is 

 offered abroad, but its identity is in doubt; 

 see Isoloma. L. H. B. 



DICENTRA (Greek, dis, kentron, two-spurred, but 

 originally misprinted Dielytra, and then supposed to be 

 Dielytra) . Fumariaceas; by some this family is combined 

 with Papaveraceae. Charming hardy perennial plants 

 with much-cut foliage, and clustered attractive flowers 

 of interesting structure. 



Herbs of various habit, erect, diffuse or climbing, 

 often stemless, with rhizome horizontal and branching 

 or more or less bulbous: Ivs. ternately compound or 

 dissected: fls. rose-red, yellow or white in attractive 



5933. Gt. 50, 



1255. Diascia Barbers. 

 (Plant 



racemes, very irregular, with 4 petals cohering into a 

 heart-shaped or 2-spurred apparently gamopetalous 

 corolla (the 2 outer petals oblong with spreading tips 

 and spurred or saccate at base, the inner 2 narrow and 

 clawed and crested or winged and more or less united 

 over the stigma); sepals 2, very small, scale-like; 

 stamens 6, in sets of 3; pistil 1 -celled, with a 2-4- 

 crested and sometimes 2-4-horned stigma, ripening 

 into an oblong or linear 2-valved caps, bearing crested 

 seeds; pedicels 2-bracted. About 15 species, in N. 

 Amer., W. Asia and the Himalayas. The names 

 Bikukulla (or Bicuculla) and Capnorchis are older than 

 Dicentra, but are rejected by the "nomina conser- 

 vanda" list of the Vienna code. 



The squirrel-corn and dutchman's breeches are two 

 of the daintiest native springtime flowers; and the 

 bleeding-heart is one of the choicest memories of old- 

 fashioned gardens: it is also the most widely cultivated 

 of all the plants of this delightful order. Though long 

 known to herbaria, plants of bleeding-heart were not 

 introduced to western cultivation from Japan until 

 the late forties of last century. Robert Fortune saw it 

 on the Island of Chusan, where he also got Diervilla 

 rosea and the "Chusan daisy," the parent of pompon 

 chrysanthemums. The first hve plants seen in England 

 flowered in May, 1847. It rapidly spread into every 

 garden in the land, and is now rich in home associa- 

 tions. It is an altogether lovely plant. The species 

 of Dicentra may be classed as caulescent and acaules- 

 cent. The stemless kinds send up their short scapes 

 directly from the ground, as D. Cucullaria, D. canaden- 

 sis, D. formosa, D. eximia. The species with leaf-bear- 

 ing stems are such as D. chrysantha and D. spectabilis. 

 In the species here described the flowers are nodding 

 except in D. chrysantha. 



Dicentras are easily cultivated in borders and wild 

 gardens. Two or three kinds can be readily secured 

 from the woods in the East. Effort should be made 

 to reproduce the natural conditions, especially the de- 

 gree of shade. They like a rich light soil. Propagation 

 is by dividing crowns or roots. The forcing of bleed- 

 ing-hearts, though pactically unknown in America, 

 is said to be commoner in England than outdoor cul- 

 ture. The forcing must be very gentle and the plants 

 kept as near the glass as possible. It is best to have 

 fresh plants each year, and return the forced ones to 

 the border. None of the species is much cultivated 

 with the exception of the bleeding-heart (D. spectabilis). 



A. Fls. rose-purple. 



B. Racemes simple. 

 spectabilis, Lorn. 



(Dielytra spectabilis, 

 Don). BLEEDING- 

 HEART. Fig. 1256. 

 Height 1-2 ft.: Ivs. 

 and Ifts. broadest of 

 the group, the ulti- 

 mate segms. obovate 

 or cuneate: fls. large, 

 deep rosy red; corolla 

 heart - shaped ; inner 

 petals white, protrud- 

 ing. Japan. F.S. 3: 

 258. Gn. 40:198; 60, 

 p. 375; 70, p. 192. 

 Gn.W.23:suppl. July 

 14. G. 2:375; 26: 142; 

 27:112. G.M.49:718; 

 51:160. G.W. 5, p. 

 388. H.F.2:96. B.M. 4458. R.H. 1847: 

 461. Var. alba, Hort., the white-fld. form, 

 has a weaker growth. The bleeding-heart 

 is one of the best of flowering perennials. 

 The bloom in spring and also the foliage 

 are attractive. If given room and moisture, 



1256. 



Dicentra spectabilis. 

 Bleeding-heart. (X}-) 



