: way between the ground ana its crown of 



I leaves, to more than double its previous 



diameter, again contracting to its original 



] size and cylindrical form at a short dis- 



; tance from the summit. This peculiarity 



I is more particularly evident in the species 



I called by the Indians on the Amazon 



; Paxiuba barriguda | i.e. pot-bellied Paxiuba : 



| Paxiuba being a general term applied to 



i the Iriarteas), the Deckeria or Iriartea 



ventricosa of botanists, a common palm in 



the forests bordering the Amazon and Rio 



Negro, where the natives take advantage 



of its swollen trunks in the construction 



of their canoes, its natural shape saving 



them much labour. They also use the 



hard black wood of the outer portion of 



! the trunk to make harpoons for spearing 



: the cow-fish. [A. S.] 



j DECLINATE. Bent downwards. 



j DECODON. A genus of Lythracece, 



nearly related to Lythrum, and differing 



: chiefly in the calyx-tube being shortly 



bell-shaped, instead of cylindrical. D. 



verticillata, the Swamp Loosestrife, grows 



. on the borders of swamps in the United 



States, and is the only known species. It 



. is a pretty bush six to eight feet high, 



having slender recurved stems furnished 



with privet-like leaves, placed in whorls 



' of three round the stem, and bearing in 



i their axils clusters of stalked rose-coloured 



flowers much like those of Lythrum Sali- 



caria. The plant is also called Nescea ver- 



I ticillata. According to Torrey it is used 



| as an emmenagogue. [A. A. B.] 



DECOMPOUND, DECOMPOSITE. Hav- 

 ! ing various compound divisions or ramifl- 

 . cations. 



I DECUMARIA. A climbing shrub of the 

 Southern States of North America, form- 

 ing a genus of Philadelphacece. The flowers 

 are white, arranged in corymbs, sweet- 

 scented, and in gardens are observed to be 

 sometimes unisexual, though this has not 

 I been found to be the case in wild specimens. 

 The calyx-tube is adherent to the ovary, 

 and is marked by from seven to ten pro- 

 ! minent nerves ; the style is consolidated, 

 I expanded above into a stigma, with seven 

 I to ten rays. The capsule is divided into 

 1 seven to ten compartments, and is crowned 

 i by the persistent style and limb of the calyx. 

 ; It contains not only numerous seeds, each 

 : surrounded by an aril, but also, at least 

 | in dried specimens, a quantity of small 

 ■ crystals (raphides) interspersed among 

 j them. [M. T. M.] 



| DECUMBENT. Reclining upon the earth, 

 j and rising again from it. 



DECURRENT. Prolonged below the 

 point of insertion, as if running down- 

 ! wards. 



! DECURSITELY PINNATE. When a pe- 

 tiole is winged by the elongation of the 

 ' base of the leaflets ; hardly different from ' 

 j pinnatifld. 



I DECUSSATE. Arranged in pairs that 

 : alternately cross each other. 



DEDUPLICATION. The supposed un- 

 lining process which some botanists be- 

 lieve in when one organ in a flower is pro- 

 duced opposite another. 



DEER BALLS. A synonym of Hart's 

 Truffles, Lycoperdon Nuts, and Elapho- 

 myces. [M. J. B.] 



DEERBERRY. Gcmltheria procumbens 

 also an American name for Vaccinium sta- 

 mineum. 



DEERINGIA. A genus of Amaranthacece, 

 distinguished, by its fruit being a many- 

 seeded berry." They are smooth weak- 

 stemmed shrubs from India and Australia, 

 with alternate leaves, and spikes of small 

 flowers, having a five-leaved calyx, five sta- 

 mens united below into a cup, a short style, 

 three stigmas, and an inflated berry. D. 

 celosioides, from New Holland, bears long 

 spikes of red berries, about the size of cur- 

 rants. [J. T. S.] 



DEFERENT. Conveying anything down- 

 wards. 



DEFOLIATION. The casting off of 

 leaves. 



DEFORMATION. An alteration in the 

 usual form of an organ by accident or 

 otherwise. 



DEGRADATION. A change consisting 

 of an abstraction, loss, abortion, or non- 

 developement of usual organs. 



DEHAASIA. A genus of Lauracece, con- 

 sisting of trees with hermaphrodite or 

 monoecious flowers, the perianth of which 

 is six-cleft, the three outer divisions being 

 much smaller than the inner ones. Sta- 

 mens nine or twelve in three or four rows, 

 the inner row sterile ; of the fertile sta- 

 mens, the two outer rows have their 

 anthers opening inwardly, while those of 

 the inner row open outwardly, the fila- 

 ments of this latter series having glands on 

 each side at the base. The fruit is a one- 

 seeded berry placed upon a thickened fleshy 

 flower stalk. [M. T. M.] 



DEHISCENCE. The act of splitting into 

 regular parts, or in some manner depen- 

 dent upon organic structure. 



DELABECHE A. The Bottle-tree of North- 

 eastern Australia, B. rupestris, is the only 

 plant of this genus, which belongs to the 

 Sterculiacew, and is very nearly related to 

 Bracliy chiton. The Bottle tree is of 

 middling stature, and is chiefly remark- 

 able for the curious form of the trunk, 

 which is bulged out in the middle in the 

 form of a barrel. The stem abounds in a 

 mucilaginous or resinous substance re- 

 sembling gum tragacanth, which is whole- 

 some and nutritious, and is said to be used 

 as an article of food by the aborigines in 

 cases of extreme need. Dr. Lindley, in 

 describing the tree, says, 'the wood has a 

 remarkably loose texture; it is soft and 

 brittle, owing to the presence of an enor- 

 mous quantity of very large tubes of pitted 

 tissue, some of which measure a line and 

 a half across ; they form the whole inner 



