DEN 



[ 290 ] 



DES 



D. seciSndum pa'llidum (pale). Pale purple. July. 

 Sumatra. 1840. 



specio'sum (showy). 1. Yellow, white. Ja- 



nuary. N. Holland. 1824. 



sulca'tum (furrowed). 1. Orange. April. 



Khooseea. 1837. 



tauri'num (bull-headed). 5. Yellow, purple. 



October. Philippines. 1837. 



teretifo'lium (round-leaved). 1. Purple. July. 



N. Holland. 1823. 



tetrago'num (four- angled). 2. Yellow, green. 



May. Moreton Bay. 1838. 



transpa'rens (transparent). Rose. Nepaul. 



triade'nium (three-gland-/(>^ed). 2. White, 



lilac. E. Ind. 1844. 



widula'tum (waved). Yellow, brown. March. 



Manilla. 1838. 



vagina'tum (sheathed). Straw, purple. Sin- 



gapore. 



veratrifo'tium (veratrum-leaved). Lilac. Oc- 



tober. Guinea. 



Veitchia'num (Mr. Veitch's). Yellow, white, 



cream. Java. 1 846. 



DENTA'RIA. Toothwort. (From dens, 

 a tooth; referring to the fanged roots. 

 Nat. ord., Crudfers [Brassicacese]. Linn., 

 15-Tetradynamia. Allied to Cardamine.) 



Hardy herbaceous perennials. Divisions of 

 tuberous-like roots ; seeds sown in April ; rich, 

 light soil, in moist, shady situations. 

 D.bulbi'fera (bulb-bearing). 1$. Purple. April. 

 England. 



dasy'loba (hairy-lobed). Russia. 1838. 



digita'ta (finger-/eaw<?d). 1J. Pale purple. 



Switzerland. 1656. 



diphy'lla (two-leaved). J. White, purple. 



May. N. Amer. 



-- enneaphy'lla (nine-leaved). 1. Pale yellow. 

 May. Austria. 1656. 



glandulo'sa (glanded). I. Light purple. May. 



Hungary. 1815. 



lacinia'ta Gagged). 1. White. May. N. 



Amer. 1822. 



ma'xima (largest). 2. Pale purple. May. 



N.Amer. 1823. 



pinna'ta (leafleted). 1. Pale purple. May. 

 Switzerland. 1683. 



polyphg'lla (many-leaved). 1. Purple. May. 



Hungary. 1818. 



quinquefo'lia (five-leaved). 1. Purple. May. 



Tauria. 1820. 



tenuifo'lia (fine-leaved). 1. Light purple. 



May. Siberia. 1825. 



trifo'lia (three-leaved). 1. White. May. 



Hungary. 1824. 



* DESFONTAI'NIA. (In honour of M. 

 Desfontain, the French botanist. Nat. 

 ord., Niyhtshades [Solanaceae], Linn., 

 6-Penlandria \-Monogynia.} 



A lovely greenhouse evergreen shrub. Its cul- 

 ture is the same as for the more tender kinds of 

 Fuchsia. The soil should be on third peat ; it 

 should be shaded from mid- day sun, and have 

 plenty of moisture. 



D. spino'sa (spiny-holly-leaved). 3. Scarlet, 

 yellow. August. Peru. 1853. 



DESIGN. " Consult the genius of the 

 place " before you determine upon your 

 design, is sound advice; for in gardening, 

 as in all the fine arts, nothing is pleasing 



that is inappropriate. Mr. Whateley, our 

 best authority on such subjects, truly 

 says : A plain simple field, unadorned 

 but with the common rural appendages, 

 is an agreeable opening ; but if it is ex- 

 tremely small, neither a haystack, nor a 

 cottage, nor a stile, nor a path, nor much 

 less all of them together, will give it an 

 j air of reality. A harbour on an artificial 

 lake is but a conceit ; it raises no idea of 

 refuge or security, for the lake does not 

 suggest an idea of danger: it is detached 

 from the large body of water, and yet is 

 in itself but a poor, inconsiderable basin, 

 vainly affecting to mimic the majesty of 

 the sea. 



When imitative characters in garden- 

 ing are egregiously defective in any ma- 

 terial circumstance, the truth of the 

 others exposes and aggravates the failure. 

 But the art of gardening aspires to more 

 than imitation; it can create original 

 characters, and give expressions to the 

 several scenes superior to any they can 

 receive from illusions. Certain proper- 

 ties, and certain dispositions of the ob- 

 jects of nature, are adapted to excite par- 

 ticular ideas and sensations; they require 

 no discernment, examination, or discus- 

 sion, but are obvious at a glance, and in- 

 stantaneously distinguished by our feel- 

 ings. Beauty alone is not so engaging 

 as this species of character; the impres- 

 sions it makes are more transient and 

 less interesting ; for it aims only at de- 

 lighting the eye, but the other affects 

 our sensibility. An assemblage of the 

 most elegant forms in the happiest situa- 

 tions is to a degree indiscriminate, if 

 they have not been selected and arranged 

 with a design to produce certain expres- 

 sions ; an air of magnificence or of sim- 

 plicity, of cheerfulness, tranquillity, or 

 some other general character, ought to 

 pervade the whole; and objects pleasing 

 in themselves, if they contradict that 

 character, should therefore be excluded. 

 Those which are only indifferent must 

 sometimes make room for such as are 

 more significant may occasionally be 

 recommended by it. Barrenness itself 

 may be an acceptable circumstance in a 

 spot dedicated to solitude and melan- 

 choly. 



DESMA'NTHUS. A genus of pea-flow* 

 ered plants, allied to Mimosa, said to 

 be good-looking in their native wilds ; 

 but we never saw a fine Desmauthus in 

 cultivation. 



