444 D^DALACANTHUS 



cuspidate-acuminate, repand-crenate : spikes as above: 

 bracts ovate-rhorabic, with a slender bealc, ciliate. In- 

 serted for contrast. Probably not cult. India. 



W. H. Taplin and W. M. 



D.SHdNOROPS (p 

 appearance, 



palms, differint,' fv'iii Cahiiiius in thi' dcciihious, cymbi- 

 form or open sputlns. SiktUs al.out 40. Tropical 

 Asia. Same culture as Calamus. J>. Draco produces 

 some of the "Dragon's Blood" of commerce. 



calioirpus, Mart. (Calamus calicdrpus, Griff.). Stem 

 erect or climbing, 1 in. diam. : Irs. 6-8 ft. long, upper 

 small with long flagella ; Ifts. very many, 12-13 in. long, 

 i4-% in. wide ; petiole 1 ft., base not gibbous or puck- 

 ered. Malacca. 



Lewisiinus, Mart. {Cdlamus ZewisiAnus , Griff.). 

 Stem climbing, 1 in. diam.; petiole 1 ft., base much 

 swollen, armed below with scattered, short, deflexed 

 spines, and above with straight and hooked spines 1% 

 in. long ; Ifts. 13-15 in. long, %-l in. wide ; sheath armed 

 with solitary or seriate flat back spines. Penang. 



Palemb4nicU3, Bhnne. Stem erect : Ivs. pinnate, 

 broadly i.vatc, liriKlit cinnamon-brown when young, and 

 Ifts. niaiiv, Inii^', narrow ; petioles erect, with stout 

 spines ..ti' thr hack, wliich are deflexed and not thick- 



periacdnthus, ^li^. Height 15 ft. Resembles Z). Pa- 

 lembaiiiriis. I,ut lli.- y.Miug Ivs. are nearly straw-colored, 

 and the s|>iii.s an- placed in irregular rings. Sumatra. 

 —A most graceful species. 



melanochaetes, Blume. S<em erect : Ivs. pinnate, the 

 pinnse long and narrow, dark green and drooping, the 

 petioles sharp-spined at the sheathing base. Malaya. 

 —Very decorative. A small form is Var. microc&ipus. 



intennfidiuB, Mart. Lvs. long-petioled, 4-6 ft. long : 

 Ifts. opposite or scattered, 18-20 in. long, 1-lX in. wide, 

 linear-lanceolate, acuminate, margins and 3-5 costje 

 bristly above and below; rachis semi-cylindrical, spa- 

 ringly armed ; petiole 1 ft. long, with flattened spines; 

 stems at length 15-20 ft. long, Jijin. in diam. Malaya. 



plumbsus, Hort. Graceful plume-like lvs., with pinnse 

 4 ft. or less long, petioles with rigid black spines with 

 white bases. India. Jared G. Smith. 



DAPFODIl. See JVarcissus. 



DAHLIA 



DAHLIA (named after Professor Andreas Dahl, a 

 Swedish pupil of Linna?us, and author of Observationes 

 Botanica?, a work of minor importance). Compdsitte. 

 Dahlias are amongst the commonest and most im- 

 portant garden plants. The spelling of the word Dahlia 

 shows that the a should be given the broad sound, but in 



ATieri.a II 1- ..liru L.'ivi,''il,. -lr,rt -,miMl. The long 



S.Miinl -r ..' Iii:.|.-. ilH- ,\>.rJ I,,.!' •:, ,;.i ,.i,|,. from the 



lri:ii!ii . !!■ i'l •:. riu ~ I ):ii, ;,. I ,-. . ■ h III iiermany 



Daiiha- ar, Mill , ,..i !, . • , ., . , I ause in 



lHU;i Wiliili'iiew t;a> I ii. ■ : :!■ I iM^e plants 



under the mistaken II : I ii i ■ n ilifterent 



plants had been pr<'. i li ilia. Prac- 



tically all of the nan. . . Iiave come 



from one immensely MuiaMi |" e., iiually known 

 as Z>. variabilis. For garden purposes, however, a 

 second form of great importance, B. Juarezii. the 

 parent of the cactus forms, must be kept distinct, 

 as will be explained later. There are 5 other species 

 cultivated to a slight extent. The genus has many 

 names of species, but most of them are synonymous 

 and ill-understood names. There are perhaps 8 or 9 

 fairly distinct species altogether, Mexican aluKist ex- 

 clusively, with a very few in Ci iitml int S..iith 

 America. It is curious that rl i , , i , . i ,,|,[ 



be closely related to a conn I., 



of the genus Bidens ; but oiip I , > ; i' :.;,.i\o 



leaves whose forms pass gra'luall.v mi" ili"--i ui Unliiis. 

 Other close allies are Cosmos and Coreopsis. Cosmhjs 

 flowers are some shade of purple, rarely white in wild 

 nature, and only one species has yellow fls.; Core- 

 opsis has yellow fls. only; Bidens yellow or white ; and 

 none of these genera have |ii...lu.ccl ,j.,iii.h n./.^r.-d 



forms of the tirst importaiea, h 1- 



ors and more, being far rich, i n , u : i . , i',., :,rU- 

 ing only sky blue and its clo^ri\ ti inn i| n u- - , a ii h n arc 

 seen to perfection in the China Asiers. l-ew cuiiivaled 

 plants have such a wide range of colors as the Dahlia; 

 even the Chrysanthemum is distinctly inferior in range, 

 as it lacks the brilliant and vivid scarlet, vermilion, and 

 other shades of red. 



Although Dahlias are popular plants, especially in old 

 gardens, they are destined to still greater popularity 

 from the new " Cactus " and " Decorative " types. There 

 exists a prejudice against Dahlias in many locali- 

 ties where these new types have never been seen. This 

 prejudice is part of a reaction against formal and 

 artificial flowers in general. The oldtime_pahlias ■ 

 as round and hard and stiff as a ball. 

 Dahlias are flatter, 

 chrysanthemum-like 

 old form have been p 

 new form seem to I.. 

 the Chrysanthemum - 

 forms of all the gardi 



HiSTOKY OK THE DaHLIA. — Of th 



variable florists' flowers the Dahlii 

 to come into cultivation. The first break of considerable 

 importance in the wild type occurred about 1814. Up to 

 that time there were perhaps a dozen well-marked colors 

 in good single-flowered varieties. Dahlias had been eul- 



