480 



DICHOBISANDRA 



3-4 in. wide, with a short, sharp, rather abrupt point: 

 stem uubranched, robust, spotted: racemeshort, densely 

 thyrsoid: sepals white or greenish. Gt. 18(J8:593. P.S. 

 16:1711. — Its chief beauty is the mosaic appearance of 

 the foliage, due to numberless short, ti-ansverse, whitish 

 lines, which do not pass by the longitudinal veins of the 

 leaf. The under side of the Ivs. is a rich purplish color. 

 Var. gigantda, Hort., is cult, abroad. 



Var. und4ta (D. ,ni,h;i,i. C. Koch & Linden). Foliage 



without any nio^al. ,,|,iM.,,i;i , tlie varicK':ition beiug 



entirely longitu'li: ' 11 : '^'1' I \t.-iii lies in tin- mid- 

 dle of a long, win: li.lMi^' the full l.-iii;th of 

 the leaf. F.S. 17 , i ;.-,; ( ,.,.,,. n^U-v^ J>. nn.l.ih, xo D. 

 mosaica, but hortu uluuiillj ibty aru very distinct. 



SWbertii, Hort. A little known plant with white mid- 

 rib and margins. 



D.acaitlis, Cogn. Stemless: Ivs. in a rosette, almost sessile, 

 narrowly oblong, wa^-y, acxitish. short-cune,ite at the base, 

 sparsely pilose on both sides: panicles terminal, sessile, much 

 shorter than the Ivs. Braz. I.H. 41:19. Handsomely varie- 

 gated with countless short, longitudinal lines.— Z>. aniiustifblia, 

 Lind. & Rod. Stem purple, spotted green: Ivs. oblong-lanceo- 

 late, sessile, glabrous, roundish at the base, aciite. about 6 in. 

 long, 2 in. wide at the middle, purple below, marked above with 

 short, transverse, white lines. Equador. I.H. :J9:1.18.— />. /cm- 

 cophthdtmos, Hook., differs from all here described in having 

 radical inflores.-en.'O, its fls. hum fl:it ..n flic gr..nli,l Lvs. el- 

 liptic, acumin-it.- -r,. „ l.ntli .-vl...- tls 1,1,,,. will. ,, „,hite 



M. tilil 



W. M. 



DICHKOA (Greek, (Us, two, and chros, color). In- 

 cludes Adamia. i><ixifiagdctii'. This genus contains a 

 rare greenhouse shrub in habit resembling a Hy- 

 drangea, with violet-blue fls. in a pyramidal panicle a 

 foot across, and handsome blue berries, instead of the 

 capsular fruit of Hydrangea. Lvs. persistent, alternate, 

 stalked, widest at middle, tapering both ways, serrate: 

 panicles terminal, many-fld.: fls. blue, lilac, or violet; 

 petals 5 or G, valvate ; styles 3-5, club-shaped. The 

 genus has only 2 species, the commoner and more vari- 

 able one, D. fehrifuga, which is glabrous, being found 

 in the Himalayas, Malaya, and China, while i>.pu6csrdi.s- 

 is native to Malaya only. 



febriKiga, Lour. (Ad&mia versicolor, Viort.). Later 

 writers aUso include AdAmia cyAnea, Wall., which 

 Lindley distinguished by its smaller lvs. and fls., 5 

 petals, and 10 stamens, while A. versicolor hud 7, or 

 sometimes G petals, and 20 stamens. Plants are still 

 cultivated abroad under the name of A. cyanea, but it 

 cannot be stated here how distinct they are for horti- 

 altural purposes. A. versicolor, P.M. 16:322. A. cy- 



inea, B.M. 3046. 



W. M. 



DICKSdNIA (named for James Dickson, an English 

 botanist, 1738-1822). Cyalhe&cece. Tree ferns with a 

 distinctly 2-valved inferior indusium, the outer valve 

 formed by the apex of the leaf segment. A small genus, 

 mostly of the southern hemisphere. For D. pilosius- 

 ctila, punctilobiila and Smithii, see Pennstwdtia. 



Dicksonias are amongst the most important tree ferns, 

 both for their beauty and because of their relative hardi- 

 ness. In their native countries some of them are occa- 

 sionally weighted with snow, and Z>. antarctica has to 

 endure frosts. They can be grown in coolhouses, and 

 should be tried southward outdoors in sheltered places. 

 Their trunks are more tiliVMiis tlmn tle.se of most tree 

 ferns, and hence more retentive ••( ineistnre, so that 

 they need less care. Agned inink in. Mimes 30^0 fronds 

 a year, and retains them until tli.> next set is matured, 

 unless the trees suffer for moisture in winter. Although 

 they rest in winter, the fronds soon shrivel up if the 

 trunks are allowed to get too dry. Dicksonias should 

 have their trunks thoroughly watered twice a day dur- 

 ing the growing season. These waterings should be 



DICTAMNUS 



gradually decreased until winter, when the trunks 

 should be kept merely moist all the time. Only in the 

 hottest summer days is slight shade needed. It is a 

 pity to grow tree ferns in pots, but if this must be done 

 several principles should be ob.served. The lapse of a 

 single day's watering will often cause serious damage. 

 As a rule, the pots should be of the smallest size con- 

 sistent with the size of the trunk. Three or four inches 

 of soil all round the trunks is enough. The above points 

 are taken from Schneider's Book of Choice Ferns, as 

 tree ferns are little grown in America. 



antdrctica, Labill. Scales of the short leaf-stems 

 dense, dark purplish brown : lvs. 5-6 ft. long, the central 

 pinnfe 12-18 in. long ; segments oblong, the sterile in- 

 cised. Australia and Tasmania. G.C. III. 9:81. -Trunk 

 sometimes 30-35 ft. high. A very useful decorative 

 plant. 



squarrdsa, Swz. Scales of the short leaf-stem fibril- 

 lose, light colored: lvs. 3-4 ft. long, the pinnfe 9-15 in. 

 long; segments lanceolate, the sterile toothed, the ribs 

 scabrous. New Zealand and Chatham Island. 



L. M. Underwood and W. M. 



for 



DICTAMNDS (old (ireek name, supposed to indicate 

 foliage like the ash : hence Fraxinella, diminutive of the 

 Latin Fraxinns. an ash), liutrte,,,. Gas Plant. Burn- 

 ing Bush. FuAXiNELi.A. Dittany. This genus includes 

 an old garden favorite which has a strong smell of 

 lemon, and will sometimes give a fla.sh of light on sultry 

 summer evenings when a lighted match is held near 

 the flowers. It is also one of the most permanent and 

 beautiful features of the hardy herbaceous border. In- 

 stances are known in which it has outlived father, son 

 and grandson in the same spot. The genus has only 

 2 species, and is distinguished from allied genera (none 

 of which have garden value) by the 5 unequal petals, 



707. The Gas Plant— Dictamn 



10 (leolineil stamens, and short stipe, on which the ovary 



'I'll.' 'ills Plant makes a sturdy, bold, upright growth, 

 an. I a .liimii :; f.et liiijb and as much in thickness makes 

 a I. raw- si^-lit when in Hower. A strong, rather heavy 

 soil, ni.ideralely rich, is best for these plants. They are 

 not fastidious as to situation, succeeding as well in par- 

 tial shade as when fully exposed to the sun, and drought 

 will not effect them when once fairly established. Old, 

 strong clumps are good sub,iects as isolated specimens 

 on a lawn, and a large patch, planted in the border, is not 

 only effective while in full flower, but the dark, persis- 

 tent foliase is ornamental throughout the season. It is 

 not advisable to disturb the plants very often, as they 

 improve with age, producing taller flower-stems and 

 more of them as they grow older. They are excellent for 

 cutting, especially the white variety. Prop, with diffi- 

 culty by division, but easily by seeds, which are sown in 

 the open ground in fall as soon as ripe, and covered an 

 inch or so. They will germinate the next spring, and, 

 when two years old, the seedlings may be removed to 

 their permanent positions, where they will flower the fol- 

 lowing year. 



