381 



Ojc Crcasfuru at Maimy, 



[dama 



]ian -wood. In India it is greatly used for 

 making the most expensive descriptions of 

 furniture. B. sissoides, is a smaller tree, 

 but yields an equally valuable timber, 

 ■which also goes by the names of Black- 

 wood and Rosewood in Madras, where it is 

 employed, in the construction of gun- 

 carriages. 



D. Sissoo is an East Indian species, but 

 found farther north than either of the pre- 

 ceding,abounding principally in Bengal and 

 the provinces as far north as the Punjab. 

 It is a large and very rapid-growing tree, 

 yielding a strong tenacious compact tim- 

 ber of a dark brown colour, but not so fine- 

 grained as the Blackwood. This wood is 

 called Sissoo or Sissum; and being very du- 

 rable it is included among those which are 

 authorised to be employed for the sleepers 

 of Indian lines of railway. In Bengal it 

 is used in the construction of gun-carri- 

 ages, and it also supplies the ship-builders 

 of that presidency with crooked timbers 

 and knees, besides which it is extensively 

 employed for all the ordinary purposes 

 connected with house building. [A. S.] 



DALEA. A genus of sub-shrubby or 

 herbaceous plants of the pea family found 

 in America, appearing in greatest numbers 

 in New Mexico, and having their northern 

 limit in the United States, and their south- 

 ern in Chili,very few being found in the 

 north-eastern part of the continent. Its j 

 most marked features are the flowers in 

 terminal spikes, and the pods small, one- J 

 seeded, and not longer than the calyx. Its j 

 nearest affinity is with Petalostemon, in ' 

 which the stamens are five, while here 

 they are generally ten, and never fewer j 

 than nine. In the great bulk of the spe- 

 cies the leaves are unequally pinnate, and 

 j composed of numerous small wedge-shaped 

 ! or oblong leaflets, which are often covered 

 with small glandular dots like those seen 

 I in the St. John's-wort. The white, yellow, ; 

 I pink, or purple flowers are about the size of 

 I those of a vetch, and arranged in terminal 

 i spikes or heads ; the calyx nearly equally j 

 | five-toothed or cleft ; and the keeled petal j 

 ; and wings united with the stamina! tube : 

 j and jointed to it, but the standard or upper 

 j petal quite ree. The little pod is wholly j 

 , Enveloped in the calyx. 

 j One of the most remarkable species is ; 

 . D. spinoso, which inhabits the desert re- 

 I gions of California, and has simple narrow 

 1 leaves, and large deep violet flowers ar- 

 ; ranged in a spiked manner on the spiny- 

 ; pointed branches. The plant attains a 

 height of four or five feet. Like many 

 I desert plants the stems have a bleached ap- 

 ; pearance. D.arborescens, found in the Sierra 

 Nevada mountains, is remarkable as being 

 ! the only one which attains the dimensions 

 of a small tree. D. Jamesil attains only a 

 1 height of about six inches, and is alto- 

 gether covered with silky hairs ; it is also 

 I remarkable as being the only species with 

 : trifoliolate leaves. Upwards of sixty spe- 

 : cies are enumerated. The genus is named 

 1 in honour of Thomas Dale, an English 

 I botanist of the last century. [A. A. B.] i 



DALECHAMPIA. A genus of spurge- 

 worts found in the tropics of both hemi- 

 spheres. Their slender stems are generally 

 found twining among bushes, but some- 

 times scrambling to a great height amongst 

 trees. The leaves are alternate, stalked, 

 heart-shaped, entire or three to five-lobed, 

 sometimes divided to the base. The small 

 green flowers are borne on stalked heads 

 which proceed from the axils of the leaves, 

 a circumstance that at once serves to dis- 

 tinguish the genus. The heads contain a 

 number of flowers of both sexes, and are 

 enveloped by an involucre of two leafy, 

 beautifully veined green or coloured 

 bracts. The male flowers have a four or 

 five-parted calyx, and very numerous sta- 

 mens ; the females a calyx of five or six 

 divisions which are often fringed with 

 hairs, and an ovary surmounted by a cy- 

 lindrical or club-shaped style, which is en- 

 tire, with a terminal or lateral stigmatic 

 opening. The fruit is a three-celled three- 

 lobed capsule about the size of a large pea. 

 The names Cremophylhtm and Rhopalostyiis 

 are given by some authors to plants of 

 this genus. [A. A. B.] 



DALHOUSIEA. A smooth simple-leaved 

 shrub of the pea family found in Silhet, 

 where it bears its white blossoms in May, 

 and ripens its pods in the end of the sea- 

 son. Its beautifully veined glossy leaves 

 are stalked, oval, and entire ; the pedun- 

 cles which arise from their axils are once 

 or twice forked, and at, the points of fork- 

 ing furnished with small round bracts ; 

 each flower is also supported by two simi- 

 lar bracts, which completely hide the five- 

 toothed calyx. The upper petal or standard 

 is deeply notched, and the ten stamens are 

 quite free to the base. The dark brown 

 polished pods are of a woody consistence, 

 from three to four inches long, tapered at 

 each end into a sharp point, and contain- 

 ing two or three flat seeds. The simple 

 leaves, bracted peduncles, and free stamens, 

 together with the nature of the pods, are 

 its most marked features. [A. A. B.] 



DALIBARDA. A genus of herbs or 

 small shrubs with white or yellow flowers, 

 belonging to the liosacece, distinguished 

 from the allied genus Rubus bx having 

 dry fruit, and terminal, not lateral, styles. 

 The herbaceous species, which are hardy, 

 have creeping stems and solitary flowers ; 

 they may be grown in a peaty soil, and are 

 fit for ornamenting rock-work. The shrubby 

 species have the flowers in panicles, and 

 being natives of Java require to be grown 

 in a hot-house. [C. A. J.] 



DAMAR. A viscid resinous product of 

 Canarium mierocarpnim. 



DAMAS. (Fr.) Hesperis matronoMs. 



DAMASONIUM. A floating aquatic he- 

 longing to the Alismacece, better known 

 under the name of Actinocarpus Dama- 

 sonium. It is found, though somewhat 

 rarely, in our ponds and ditches, and forms 

 a tuft of radical floating long-stalked 

 leaves, from amongst which issues the 



