D 



DABCECIA (after its Irish name St. Dabeoc's Heath). 

 More commonly spelled Daboecia. iiYn.,Boretta, EricA- 

 cere. Low evergreen shrub nvith alternate entire Ivs. and 

 drooping pedicelled tls. in long terminal racemes : corolla 

 ovoid, contracted at the mouth and shortly 4-lobed, with 

 recurved lobes ; stamens 8, included ; capsule 4-ceIIed, 

 dehiscent. One species in western Europe. Very 

 pretty heath-like shrub, with purple or white fls. in ele- 

 gant "loose rafr-mr-s, wfll .vlnpfrd fnr rockeries or bor- 

 ders of t.'V>'VL'V''r]] slirntilHi-irs, lv('i|niri's protection 

 north duriim- t],r wiiit.r, ainl tlirix.- In^t in a peaty, 

 sandy soil. rrop. liv -.cd^ iii atc.l hki- those of Erica, 

 and by cuttinys ui liall-riiH-inal wmal uudt-i- glass. 



polifdUa.Don (P. C'uil.U, ,■:,;, . Koch. Memiesia poU- 

 fdUa,Juss.}. Irish Heath. To J ft. : branchlets glandu- 

 lar pubescent: Ivs. elliinic. the uppermost narrower, 

 revolute at the m:iryiu, whitish tomentose beneath, 

 shining and dark green above, ii-li in. long: racemes 

 many-fid. : corolla J^-K in. long, purple in the type. 

 June-Oct. Ireland, W. France, N. Spain. Gn. 52:1142. 

 Gt. 47:1450. L. B. C. 20: 1907. S. B. F. G. 2: 276. There 

 are many varieties, as dlba, with white fls.; bicolor.w.ith 

 white and purple striped fls. ; rdsea, with pink ds. ; gran- 

 difldra, with larger purple fls. Alfred Eehder. 



DACTYLIS ( Greek, finger, from the size of the spikes ) . 

 Gramlnea. Cock's-Foot. A perennial tufted grass with 

 flat-keeled or folded leaf -blades, and narrow panicles 

 which expand when in flower: spikelets several-flowered, 

 much flattened, sessile, and densely crowded in thick 

 one-sided clusters. A single species in Eu., Asia and 

 N. Africa, also naturalized in Australia and N. America. 



glomerita, Linn. Orchard Grass. Fig. 657. A some- 

 what coarse grass forming dense tufts. Culms 2-3 ft. 

 high, very leafy: Ivs. flat, spreading : spikelets com- 

 pressed, 3-5 fld.: fl. -glumes lanceolate, very acute or 

 short awn-pointed, ciliate on the keel above. — One of the 

 best known and most useful pasture grasses, and useful 

 for lawns under trees. 



Var. variegita, Hort., is a dwarf form of neat, com- 

 pact habit, with beautifully variegated silver and green 

 foliage.— Well adapted for forming edgings. It grows 

 lK-2 ft. high, and is prop, by divisions. 



P. B. Kennedy. 



DACTYLOCTilNIUM (Greek, daktytos, finger, and 

 ktenioH, comb). Finger -Comb Grass. This genus 

 closely resembles Eleusine, from which it differs chiefly 

 in having the terminal spikes shorter and each tipped 

 with a sharp prolongation of the axis. Annual, with 

 culms tufted or creeping, and rooting at the joints. 1%- 

 2 ft. high. Spikes usually 3-5 in number, digitate, about 

 2 in. long; spikelets several-fld., crowded in two rows 

 along one side of a continuous axis. Species 2, one in 

 Australia, and the other appearing as a weed in all the 

 warmer coimtries of the world. 



a;gyptlacum, Willd. (Eleusine ^gijptica. Cynosurus 

 uEgyptius, Unn.}. Crow-Foot. Spikelets very closely 

 packed, spreading at right angles to the rachis, 2 fld., 

 with rudiments of two other fls.— An ornamental grass 

 introduced into N. Amer. from Asia or Africa. Mohave 

 Indians of S. California use the grain for food. In Africa 

 a decoction is prepared from the seeds for inflam- 

 mation of the kidneys. p_ g, Kennedy. 



D.SDALACANTHUS (Greek words, meaning an ^con- 

 thad of curious structure). Acanthdcete. This genus 

 contains some tender shrubs of difiicult culture under 

 glass, but great favorites in the tropics, particularly in 

 India. D. nervosus is a popular winter and spring- 

 blooming shrub in S. Fla. It has blue flowers, an inch 

 across, 5-lobed, and shaded purple at the mouth of the 

 tube. The names are much confused with those of 

 Eranthemum. The kinds mentioned below are, how- 

 ever, very distinct, from the garden standpoint, from 

 any given in this work under Eranthemum by the color 



A. Fls. dark blue. 

 . Anders, {Erdrithemtim pulcJUllum, 

 Andrews and some dealers, while that of others is E. 

 bicolor, and of Roxburgh is D purpurascens,' E. ner- 

 L'dsu>n,R. Bt } Fig 658 Lvs ovate or elliptical, acumi- 

 nate at both ends, somewhat crenate or entire : spikes 

 axillary, opposite, overlapping bracts elliptical, acute: 

 limb of the corolla as wide as the tube is long. India, 

 B.U.135S asJiistiCKi tienosa Gn. 51:1118. G.C.II. 



657. Dactylis elomerata— Orchard Grass (X M). 



21 :415.— A very pretty shrub for the warmhouse, its fls. 

 being of a color that is not very common in winter- 

 blooming plants. It is an easy subject to manage, re- 

 quiring a light, rich soil, full sunlight and plenty of 

 water. Cuttings of young growth root readily in a warm- 



AA. Fls. purple. 



purpurdscens, T. Anders. (E. purpurdscens , Wight. 



E. pulchillum, Roxb., not Hort.). Lvs. broadly ovate. 



