CHAP. XCI. 



CHENOPODIA'CEtfl. DIO^TIS. 



1291 



Derivation. From dis, twice, and oils, otos, an car. The calyx of the female flower ends in two seg- 

 ments, which fancy may compare to ears, although they more resemble horns : and this second 

 idea is doubtless that referred to in Tournefort's generic name Ceratoides, from fceras, a horn, gen. 

 keratos, and eidos, likeness. 



j* 1. D. CeratoVdes W. The two-homed-calyxed Diotis. 



Identification. Willd. Sp. PL, 4. p. 368. 



Synotiymes. A'xyris Ceratoides Lin. Sp. PL, 1389. ; Jacq. Icon. Rar., 1. t. 189. ; Ceratospermum 



papposum Pers. ; A'xyris fruticosa, floribus focmineis lanatis, Gmcl. Sib., 3. p. 17. No. 10. t. 2. f. 1. ; 



Achyranthespappbsa Forsk. Descr. ,48.; Krascheninnikov/7* Guildcnst. Act. Petrop., 16. p. 548. 1. 17. ; 



E/rtlca fbliis lanceokltis, fceminlnis hirsutus, Hoy. Lugdb., 210. ; Ceratoides orientalis frutiebsa 



2?Ia?agni fblio Town. Cor., 52. ; Oricntalisches Doppelohr, Get: 

 Engravings. Jacq. Ic. Rar., 1. 1. 189. ; Gmel. Sib., 3. p. 17. No. 10. t. 2. f. 1. ; Act. Petrop., 16. t. 17. ; 



and our Jig. 1160. 



Description, fyc. A shrub, a native of Siberia and Tartary. Introduced 

 in 1780, and producing its obscure apetalous flowers in March and April. It 

 grows 2 ft. or more high, much more across, 

 and abounds in slender spreading branches. Its 

 leaves are lanceolate, narrow, and alternate. The 

 whole plant is hoary. The male flowers are very 

 abundant, and disposed mostly in approximate 

 axillary groups about the terminal part of the 

 branches. The female flowers are less numerous, 

 and mostly upon a lower part of the branch, 

 axillary, and generally two in an axil. Both male 

 and female flowers are sessile, or nearly so. The 

 female flowers are not obvious. The male flowers 

 are not showy; though their number, grouped 

 character, and the yellow anthers prominent from 

 them, render the flowering of the shrub obvious. 

 They have a slight scent of a honey-like sweet- 

 ness. The stocky part of this plant is persistently 

 ligneous. D. Ceratoides thrives in a light soil, 

 and is easily propagated by layers, or by cuttings ' 60 



inserted in the soil and kept covered with a hand-glass. Plants in the 

 Cambridge Botanic Garden, in August, 1836, growing, some in calcareous 

 soil, and one or more in heath mould, were about 2 ft. high, and with widely 

 spreading recumbent branches. This shrub, therefore, appears particularly 

 well adapted for rockwork ; and, if gardens were laid out with a view to the 

 geographical or topographical distribution of plants, the D. Ceratoides, with 

 the different species of Nitraria, Calligonum, &c, would form suitable species 

 for the rockwork of Siberia. 



n. D. lanata Pursh Fl.Amer. Sept., 2. p. 602., Nutt.Gen. N. Amer., 2. p. 207., resembles D. Ceratoides, 

 but is easily distinguished, at first sight, by the long, woolly, white tomentum which pervades all its 

 parts. The stem is zigzag. The groups of flowers are so crowded as to produce the resemblance of 

 spikes. 



App. I. Half-hardy Species qf Chenopodidcece. 



Anabasis tamariscifblia L., Cav. Ic, 3. 293., is a curious little salsola-like plant, a native of Spain, 

 where it grows 2 ft. high. It was introduced in 1752; but, being of little interest, except to the 

 botanist, it is rarely to be met with even in botanic gardens. A. aphylla L., Salsbla articulata Forst., 

 is another plant of the same genus, a native of Asia Minor. 



Kbch'ia. prostrata Schr., Jacq. Au., 3. 294. ; Salsbla prostrata L.; is a native of the south of Europe, 

 growing to the height of 5 ft., with the general habit of a salsola. It is almost sufficiently hardy to 

 stand in the open air without protection. A plant in the Cambridge Botanic Garden, in a partly 

 open border, is a freely growing shrub, about 5 ft. high, with its lower branches prostrate, and its 

 upper ones drooping. It is clothed with abundance of narrow, pointed, pubescent leaves, which are a 

 little canescent. 



Bbscs. Yervamora L.,Walt. Hort., 24. t. 10., Encyc. of Plants, f. 3453., is a native of the Canaries, 

 where it grows to the height of 8 ft. or 10 ft. A plant in the Horticultural Society's Garden has 

 stood out since 1834, against a wall. It is generally killed to the ground during winter, but grows up 

 again vigorously during summer, and usually reaches from 5 ft. to 6 ft. high. 



Camphordsma monspel/aca Schk. Hand., 1. 1. 26., is a low heath-like shrub, a native of the south of 

 Europe, common in various places in France ; for instance, at Avignon, on the ruins of the old castle. 

 It is of a decumbent habit, with red bark to its young shoots, and with hairy narrow-pointed leaves, 

 in groups along the branches. It is a most desirable plant for conservative rockwork ; and if trained 

 against a wall, we have no doubt it would cover several square yards of wall in a very short time. 



Other Genera belonging to Chencpudiacea? contain species which may be reckoned half-hardy ; but 

 as they maybe readily found by turning to the enumeration in our Hortus Britannicus, we do not 

 give them here. 



