164 Select Plants for Industrial Culture and 



Daucus Carota, Linn.* 



The Carrot. Europe, North-Africa, extra-tropical Asia, east to 

 Japan, north to the Shetland-Islands, but succeeds also as a culture 

 plant in equatorial countries [Cantley], matures seeds well even in 

 the desert-regions of Central Australia [Rev. H. Kempe], where it 

 yields a crop at any part of the season. Biennial. Admits of 

 naturalisation along shores. In Norway it is grown to lat. 70 22', 

 near the North-Cape [Schuebeler]. Beyond ordinary culinary 

 utilisation it serves for the distillation of alcohol and a peculiar oil. 

 Large-rooted varieties as well as the herb give a good admixture to 

 stable-fodder. The fresh root acts as an anthelmintic. Within the 

 tropics Carrots are a crop of the cool season. At Singapore the 

 Shorthorn- variety thrives best [H. N. Ridley]. Carrot-treacle can 

 also be prepared from the root. Requires lime in the soil for its 

 prolific culture. The chemical substances carotin and hydrocarotin 

 are derived from it. Mess. Dippe in Quedlinberg keep about 130 

 acres under culture merely for carrot-seeds. These will retain their 

 vitality for a few years ordinarily preserved. 



Debregeasia edulis, Weddell. 



.The Janatsi or Teon-itsigo of Japan. Berries of this bush edible ; 

 fibre valuable for textile fabrics. A few Indian species, with fibre 

 resembling that of Boehmeria, ascend the Himalaya for several 

 thousand feet, and may therefore be very hardy namely : D. velu- 

 tina, D. Wallichiana, D. hypoleuca. The latter extends to Abyssinia, 

 where it has been noticed at elevations of 8,000 feet. D. dichotoma 

 occurs on mountains in Java. 



Decaisnea insignis, J. Hooker and Thomson. (SlacTcea insignis, Griffith. ) 



Himalaya from 6,000 to 10,000 feet elevation. This showy shrub 

 or miniature-tree produces fruit full of juicy pulp of pleasant sweet- 

 ness. 



Delphinium Zalil, Aitchison and Hemsley. 



Afghanistan. The yellow flowers are extensively utilised as a 

 dye-material. [See Dyer's Kew Bulletin, May, 1889.] 



Dendrocalamus Brandisii, Munro.* 



Tenasserim, Martaban and Pegu, up to elevations of 4,000 feet. 

 Height of stem reaching to 120 feet. Likes lime-stone soil. Locally 

 much used for buildings, affording posts, rafters, flooring material 

 and shingles; fit also for many utensils, among them buckets [SirD. 

 Brandis]. Internodes sometimes over a foot long. 



Dendrocalamus giganteus, Munro.* 



Malacca and the adjacent islands. Habit of Gigantochloa maxima; 

 therefore one of the mightiest of all Bamboos. It continues con- 

 stantly to add stems from its root, several hundred sometimes 



