536 



DOWNING! A. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



DROSERA. 



for cutting. The other kinds are D. Clusi, 

 carpetanum, Columnae, Pardalianches, and 



Doronicum plantagineum excelsum. 



plantagineum, all natives of Europe. D. 

 plantagineum var. excelsum (syn., Harpur 

 Crewe) is by far the best. D. 



The species are : D. altaicum, Siberia. 

 austriacum, Europe. Bourgaei, Canaries. 

 cacaliafoliuni) As. Minor, carpetamim, Spain. 

 caucasicum, As. Minor. Clusii, Pyrenees. 

 Columnae, S. Europe and As. Min. corsicum, 

 Corsica, croaticum, S. Europe, dentatum. 

 Falconeri, Spain, glaciate, do. grandiflonim, 

 Europe, hirsutum, do. hungaricum, S.E. 

 Europe. macrophyllum, Caucas., Persia. 

 maximum, Armenia, oblongifolium, Caucas. 

 Orphanidts, Greece. Pardalianches p , Europe. 

 plantagineum, Europe. Roylei, Mts. of India. 

 scorpioides, Europe. stenoglossum, China. 

 Thirkei, Bithynia. 



DOWNINGIA. Charming little Cali- 

 fornian half-hardy annuals, generally 

 known as Clintonia. There are two species, 

 D. pulchella and elegans, similar to each 

 other, resembling the dwarf annual 

 Lobelias in habit, but more brilliant in 

 colour. D. pulchella is of dwarf habit, 

 rarely exceeding 6 in. in height, and is 

 suitable for edging small beds or borders, 

 as when covered with its bright blue 

 flowers it is very pretty. In March and 

 April the seed should be sown in the open 

 ground in a free soil and an open situation, 

 but, if the plants are intended for pot 

 culture, the sowing should be two months 

 earlier. Each plant should be allowed 



quite 8 in. for development, and in hot 

 weather those from the latest sowing 

 should be well watered. The flowers of 

 the several varieties of D. pulchella differ in 

 colour, the best variety being alba (white), 

 rubra (red), and atropurpurea (dark 

 purple). 



DRAB A (Whitlow Grass). Minute 

 alpine plants, most of them having bright 

 yellow or white flowers, and leaves often 

 in neat rosettes. They are too dwarf to 

 take care of themselves among plants 

 much bigger than Mosses, and therefore 

 there are few positions suitable for them ; 

 but it would be very interesting to try 

 them on mossy walls, ruins, or bits of 

 mountain ground with sparse vegetation. 

 The best-known and showiest is D. 

 aizoides, found on old walls and rocks in 

 the west of England. It forms a dwarf, 

 spreading, cushion-like tuft, which, in 

 spring, is covered with bright yellow 

 blossoms. D. Aizoon, alpina, ciliaris, cuspi- 

 data, lapponica, rupestris, frigida, and 

 helvetica are very dwarf, compact-growing 

 plants. In each the small flowers, white or 

 yellow, are produced abundantly. Rarer 

 kinds are D. Mawi, glacialis, and bruniae- 

 folia, all worth growing in a full collection 

 of alpine flowers for a choice rock-garden. 



Dracaena. See CORDYLINE. 



DRACOCEPHALUM (Dragon's- 

 head}. Plants of the Sage family, among 

 them a few choice perennials suitable for 

 the rock-garden or the mixed border, suc- 

 ceeding in light garden soil and increased 

 by division or seed. D. altaiense has 

 bright green leaves, and axillary clusters 

 of large tubular flowers of adense Gentian- 

 like blue, spotted with red in the throat. 

 D. austriacumhas flower-stems nearly I ft. 

 in height, densely covered with rich 

 purple blossoms ; D. Ruyschianum, a 

 handsome species, has narrow Hyssop-like 

 leaves and purplish-blue flowers, but its 

 variety japonicum, a new introduction 

 from Japan, is even more showy. D. 

 peregrinum, with pretty blue flowers 

 always produced in pairs, is desirable, and 

 so is D. argunense, which is a variety of 

 D. Ruyschianum. The most beautiful of 

 all is D. grandiflorum, a rock-garden 

 plant, which is the earliest in flower. It 

 is very dwarf, and has large clusters of in- 

 tensely blue flowers, which scarcely overtop 

 the foliage. In D. speciosum, a Himalayan 

 species, the small deep purple flowers are 

 nearly smothered by the large green bracts. 

 The hardy annual kinds, such as Molda- 

 vicum and D. canescens, are ornamental, 

 and worth a place in a full collection. 



DROSERA (Sundew}.~Mc>^ interest- 

 ing little bog-plants, of which all the hardy 



