1020 



DIPSACUS 



DISA 



1276. Fuller's teasel 



Dipsacus fullonum. 



(XH) 



DIPSACUS (to thirst, from the Greek, because the 

 bases of the connate Ivs. in some species hold water). 

 Dipsacaceae. TEASEL. Stout tall biennial or perennial 

 herbs of the Old World, two or three of which are weeds; 

 and one of them is cultivated for fuller's teasels. 



The plants are prickly or rough-hairy: Ivs. opposite, 

 entire, toothed or pinnatifid: fls. small and in dense 

 heads, like those of compositous 

 plants, but the anthers are not 

 united (or syngenesious) as they 

 are in the Compositse, blue or 

 lilac; involucre-bracts and scales 

 of receptacle sharp or spine- 

 pointed. There are a dozen or 

 more species in Eu., N. Afr. to 

 Abyssinia, and Asia. D. sylvestris, 

 Huds., is an intro. weed along 

 roadsides in the northeastern 

 states and Ohio Valley. It is bien- 

 nial, the st. arising the second 

 year and reaching a height of 5 or 

 6 ft. It is said to be a good bee 

 plant. Lvs. lance-oblong, toothed 

 and more or less 

 prickly on the 

 margin. The dead 

 stiff stalks of this 

 teasel are conspicuous winter ob- 

 jects in the E. U. S., where it has 

 run wild extensively. D. lacini&tus, 

 Linn., has been found wild in the 

 U. S.: Ivs. pinnatifid or bipin- 

 natifid, ciliate. The fuller's teasel, 

 D. fullonum, Linn. (Fig. 1276), is 

 probably derived from the first, 

 and differs from it chiefly in the very strong and 

 hooked floral scales. These scales give the head its value 

 for the teasing or raising the nap on woollen cloth, for 

 which no machinery is so efficient. This plant is grown 

 commercially in a limited area in Cent. N. Y.; see 

 Cyclo. Amer. Agric., Vol. II, p. 636. L. jj. 3. 



pIPTERONIA (Greek dis, twice and pteron wing: the 

 fruit consists of two winged carpels). Aceracese. Orna- 

 mental deciduous tree with handsome large pinnate 

 foliage. 



Leaves opposite, petioled, odd-pinnate, with &-15 

 serrate Ifts.: fls. polygamous, small, in large terminal 

 panicles; sepals 5, longer than the short and broad 

 petals; staminate fls. with usually 8 stamens and a 

 rudimentary ovary in the center; pistillate fls. with a 

 2-celled compressed ovary; style cylindric with 2 

 slender recurved stigmas: fr. consisting of 2 1-seeded 

 compressed nutlets connate only at the base and with 

 the wing extending all around. Two species in Cent, 

 and S. W. China. 



The species in cultivation is a small tree with hand- 

 some foliage, insignificant flowers, but conspicuous 

 winged fruits in large panicles. It is apparently not 

 hardy North. It grows well in any good soil. Propaga- 

 tion is by seeds. 



sinensis, Oliver. Tree, to 30 ft.: Ivs. %-l% ft. long; 

 Ifts. 9-15, short-petioled, the upper nearly sessile, the 

 lowest pair sometimes 3-parted, ovate-lanceolate to 

 lanceolate, long-acuminate, coarsely serrate, glabrous 

 or sparingly hairy, 2-4 in. long: panicles loose, 6-12 in. 

 long; fls. whitish, minute, slender-pedicelled : each 

 carpel (samara) of the fr. broadly obovate or nearly 

 orbicular, light brown, about 1 in. long, with the seed 

 near the middle. June; fr. in Sept. Cent. China. J.H 

 8.28:60. H.I. 19:1898. ALFRED REHDER. 



DIRCA (Dirke, mythological name; also a spring 

 near Thebes). Thymelseacex. LEATHERWOOD. Two 

 North American small early-blooming shrubs, some- 

 times planted. 



Bushes with tough fibrous bark, alternate, thin short 

 entire petiolate deciduous Ivs., apetalous perfect fls. 

 in peduncled fascicles of the previous season's growth, 

 the branches developing subsequently from the same 

 nodes: calyx corolla-like, yellowish, campanulate, 

 undulately obscurely 4-toothed, bearing twice as many 

 exserted stamens as its lobes (usually 8) ; ovary nearly 

 sessile, free, 1-loculed, with a single hanging ovule; 

 style exserted, filiform: fr. berry-like, oval-oblong. The 

 dircas often have the habit of miniature trees. The 

 bark is of interlaced strong fibers, and branches are 

 so tough and flexible that they may be bent into hoops 

 and thongs without breaking, and were so used by the 

 Indians and early settlers. The leatherwood is not one 

 of the showiest of hardy shrubs, but its small yellow- 

 ish fls. are abundant enough to make it attractive, and 

 it deserves cult, especially for the earliness of its bloom 

 in spring. It is of slow growth, and when planted 

 singly makes a very shapely specimen; planted in 

 masses or under shade it assumes a straggling habit. 

 It thrives in any moist loam. Prop, by seeds, which are 

 abundant and germinate readily; also by layers. 



palustris, Linn. LEATHERWOOD. MOOSE- 

 WOOD. WICOPY. Fig. 1277. Two to 6 ft. 

 high, with numerous branches having scars 

 which make them appear as if jointed, at the 

 beginning of each annual growth, and with yellow- 

 brown glabrous twigs: Ivs. oval or obovate, with obtuse 

 apex, 2-3 in. long, green and smooth above, whitish 

 and downy below, becoming smooth, the base of the 

 petiole covering buds of the next season: fls. yellowish, 

 abundant enough to be attractive, nearly sessile, J^in. 

 long, falling as the Ivs. expand: fr. hidden by the 

 abundant foliage, egg- or top-shaped, %in. long, red- 

 dish, or pale green. Woods and thickets, mostly in wet 

 soil Canada to Fla. and Mo. B.R. 292. Common. 



D. occidentAHs, Gray. A similar species found on northerly 

 slopes of cafions in Calif., differs mainly in the deeper calyx-lobes, 

 lower insertion of the stamens, sessile fls., and white involucre; 

 blooms Nov.-Feb. Not in the trade, but worthy of cult. 



A. PHELPS WYMAN. 



DiSA (origin of name unknown). Orchiddcex. 

 Terrestrial orchids, mostly South African, of which 

 several are known to fanciers, but only one of which is 

 in the American trade. 



Sepals free, spreading, upper one galeate, produced in 

 a horn or spur at the base ; petals inconspicuous, small, 

 adnate to the base of the column. Sixty or more 

 species. D. grandiflora is undoubtedly one of the most 

 beautiful of known orchids, but as yet difficult to man- 

 age under artificial conditions. 



grandiflora, 

 Linn. FLOWER OF 

 THE GODS. Root- 

 stock tuberous : 

 sts. 1 ft. or more 

 high, unbranched : 

 Ivs. dark green: 

 fls. several; upper 

 sepal hood-like or 

 galeate, 3 in. long, 

 rose - color, with 

 branching crim- 

 son veins; lateral sepals 

 slightly shorter, brilliant 

 carmine-red; petals and 

 labellum orange, incon- 

 spicuous. S. Afr. B.M. 

 4073. G.C. II. 18:521; 

 III. 9: 365; 33: 37. G.M. 

 54:608. Gt. 59, p. 374. 

 J.H. III. 52:339. O.R. 

 6:241; 9:273; 20:336. 



D. crassicdrnis, L i n d 1 . 

 Spike few-fld.; lateral sepals 



oblong, the dorsal smaller; 1277. Leatherwood Dirca 

 reflexed petals, and lip Ian- palustris. ( X Vz) 



