DOCYNIA 



DODECATHEON 



1063 



DOCYNIA (derivation unknown). Rosdcese, sub- men-shaped flowers on scapes, sometimes grown in wild 

 family Pbmex. Ornamental woody plants grown for or hardy gardens. 



their handsome foliage and white flowers appearing in 

 spring. 



Evergreen or half-evergreen trees: Ivs. alternate, 

 entire, or serrate, sometimes slightly lobed: fls. short- 

 stalked, in umbels before or with the Ivs. ; calyx densely 

 tomentose, with lanceolate lobes; petals 5; stamens 

 30-50; styles 5, connate at the base and woolly; stigma 

 2-lobed; ovary 5-celled with 3-5 ovules in each 

 cell: fr. a subglobose, ovoid or pyriform pome with 

 persistent calyx. Four species in 

 China, Himalayas and Annam. 

 Closely related to Malus, chiefly 

 distinguished by the 3-5-ovuled 

 cells and the 2-lobed stigma. 



The species are very little 

 known in cultivation and none 

 of them seems to be in the trade. 

 D. Delavayi has been introduced 

 only very recently; D. Doumeri 

 has been recommended as a stock 

 for apples in tropical and sub- 

 tropical countries and tried in 

 Annam (R.H. 1904, p. 246); D. 

 indica, though known for about 

 100 years, does not seem to be 

 at present in cultivation either 

 in Europe or in this country. 

 They are adapted only for 

 warmer temperate or subtropical 

 regions. The fruits are more or 

 less acid and are used for cook- 

 ing; possibly they could be im- 

 proved by selection and hybrid- 

 ization and might be developed 

 into valuable fruit trees for 

 warmer climates. Propagation is 

 by seeds and possibly by graft- 

 ing on apple stock. 



D. Delavdyi, Schneid. (Pyrus Dela- 

 vayi, Franch. ). Spiny tree, to 30 ft. : Ivs. 

 evergreen, ovate-lanceolate, rounded or 

 broadly cuneate at the base, entire, 



flossy above, white-tomentose below, 

 -4 in.: fr. ovoid, about 1 in. long. S. 

 W. China. Franchet, Plant. Delavay. 

 47. D. Doumeri, Schneid. (Pyrus Dou- 

 meri, Bois). Unarmed tree: Ivs. ovate 

 to ovate-lanceolate, entire or sparingly 

 serrulate, white-tomentose below, 1-2 H 

 in. long: fr. subglobose, about 2 in. 

 across. Annam. Jour. Soc. Bot. France, 

 51:114, 115. D. indica, Decne. (Pyrus 

 indica, Wall. D. GrifBthiana, Decne.). 

 Small tree: Ivs. ovate to oblong-lanceo- 



late, entire or serrulate, lobed in young 

 plants, woolly while young, finally 



1338. Dodecatheon Meadia, the common 



shooting-star. ( X H) 

 glabrescent, 2-4 in. long: fr. subglo- 

 bose, \-\Vi in. across. E. Himalayas. Wallich, PI. As. Rar. . , .... . . , ., 



in the middle, i.e., at the mouth of the corolla. After 



Glabrous, with a tuft of ovate or oblong entire or 

 dentate Ivs. at the base, and a slender single naked 

 scape: fls. few or many in an umbel, nodding, white, 

 rose or purple; corolla-lobes (5) and calyx reflexed; 

 stamens 5, attached in the throat of the short corolla- 

 tube, the short filaments more or less conjoined at base 

 and the long slender anthers connivent into a cone: fr. 

 an oblong or somewhat cylindrical 5- or 6-valved caps. 

 Dodecatheon is a puzzling genus to systematic 

 botanists. It is found from 

 Maine to Texas and from the 

 Atlantic to the Pacific; and 

 along the Pacific slope, from the 

 islands of Lower Calif, to those 

 of Bering Strait. In this vast 

 region, it varies immensely. It 

 is also found in Asia, especially 

 northeastward. This wonderful 

 distribution and variability is all 

 the more remarkable if, as Gray 

 once thought, it is all one species, 

 because monotypic genera are 

 considered, as a rule, to be com- 



Giratively inflexible or invaria- 

 e. Pax & Knuth, on the other 

 hand (Engler's Pflanzenreich, hft. 

 22, 1905), recognize 30 species. 

 There is singular lack of agree- 

 ment in the characterization of 

 accepted species. Dodecatheon 

 belongs to the same family with 

 Primula and Cyclamen, but in a 

 different tribe from the former, 

 while its reflexed corolla-lobes 

 distinguish it from most genera 

 of its family. Many species and 

 varieties may be expected to 

 appear in the lists of dealers hi 

 native plants. 



Shooting-star is an appropriate 

 name. The flowers have been 

 compared to a diminutive cycla- 

 men, for they are pendulous and 

 seem to be full of motion (see 

 Fig. 1338). The stamens in D. 

 Meadia and all eastern species 

 come to a sharp point and seem 

 to be shooting ahead, while the 

 petals fall behind like the tail of 

 a comet. The flowers represent 

 every shade from pure white, 

 through lilac and rose, to purple, 

 and they all have a yellow circle 



2: 173. The closely related D. Hookeri&na has larger Ivs. and elon- 

 gated fr. Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris. 10:15. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



DODARTIA (Denis Dodart, physician and botanist, 

 born in Paris in 1634). Scrophulariacese. One ereet 

 perennial herb related to Mimulus. D. orienlalis, Linn., 

 grows in S. Russia and W. Asia, and may be found in 

 choice collections of outdoor herbs: fls. purplish, in ter- 

 minal racemes: plant with rush-like few-lvd. branches: 

 Ivs. opposite below, alternate above, linear and entire 

 or broader and somewhat dentate: corolla with a cylin- 

 drical or flaring tube, 2-lipped; stamens 4, didyna- 

 mous, included, the anther-cells distinct: caps, subglo- 

 bose, dehiscent, the many seeds somewhat immersed 

 in the more or less fleshy placenta. July, Aug. B.M. 

 2199. Apparently of minor horticultural value. 



DODDER: Cuscuta. 



DODECATHEON (Greek, twelve gods, old name of 

 no application here). Primulacese. SHOOTING-STAR. 

 AMERICAN COWSLIP. Small perennial herbs with cycla- 



the flowers are -gone the pedicels become erect. Some 

 forms have all their parts in fours. There are a num- 

 ber of good horticultural forms offered abroad. 



They require an open well-drained soil, not too dry, 

 and moderately rich, and a shady or partially shady 

 position. They are propagated by division or by seeds, 

 the latter method being rather slow. 



Meadia, Linn. (D. elliplicum, Nutt. Meadia Dodecd- 

 thea, Crantz. M. Dodecatheon, Mill. M. carolinidna, 

 Kuntze). Fig. 1338. Erect and strong, to 2 ft.: 

 Ivs. ovate-oblong or oblong-linear, nearly or quite 

 obtuse, dentate -crenate or nearly entire, 1-2 hi. wide, 

 tapering into a more or less margined petiole: scape 

 smooth, usually purple-spotted; fls. 10-20; calyx 

 deeply parted, the parts lanceolate; corolla-lobes 

 linear-oblong, somewhat obtuse, rose-colored and 

 whitish at base; anthers reddish yellow, the connective 

 body purple and broadly ovate: caps, scarcely longer 

 than cajyx, with persistent style. May, June. Woods 

 and prairies, Pa., W. and S. B.M. 12. This species runs 



