397 



&f)Z ErcaSurB of 33ntanj?. 



DIAL 



charina. Dr. Harvey says of the United 

 States plant, 'numerous varieties, which 

 perhaps demand future study, occur on the 

 American coast. L. Lamourouxii, which 

 has heen sent me from Boston Harbour 

 and from Newfoundland, looks almost like 

 a species with its thick broadly-elliptical 

 scarcely waved frond and its slightly- 

 branching root.' The species, in fact, 

 varies from one foot to six or ten feet in 

 length, and from one to twelve inches in 

 breadth. [M. J. BJ 



DEVIL'S BIT. Scdbiosa succisa ; also 

 Chamcelirinm luteum, sometimes called 

 Helonias dioica. 



DEVIL'S GETS. A vulgar name for the 

 species of Cuscuta or Dodder. 



DEVIL'S LEAF. Urtica urentissima. 



DEVIL'S MILK. Euphorbia Peplus. 



DEVIL TREE. Alstonia scholaris. 



DETVAZ. The Caspian name for the 

 grape Vine. 



DETVBERBY. Bubics cozsius, and B. ca- 

 nadensis. 



DEWEYA. A genus of the umbelliferous 

 order, having five sharp tooth-like pro- 

 jections on the top of the fruit ; the latter 

 is oblong and oval, each half with five ele- 

 vated ribs. The only species is perennial, 

 herbaceous, a native of North America, 

 with the leaves simply divided into pinnse, 

 the divisions large, ovate or heart-shaped, 

 with numerous sharp teeth; the flowers 

 pale-yellow. [G. D.] 



DHAEE. The flowers of Grislea tomen- 

 tosa, used in India, mixed with Jlorinda, 

 for dyeing. 



DHAK TREE. Butea frondosa, which 

 yields Butea kino. 



DHAL or DHOL. Cajanus indicus. 



DHAMNOO. The timber of Grewia elas- 

 tica. 



DHAROOS. A Bengalee name for Abel- 

 rnoschus esculentus. 



DHENROOS. A Bengalee name for the 

 fibre of Abelmoschus esculentus. 



DHOONA The balsamic resin of Shorea 

 robusta. 



DHOONA-TIL. The Cinghalese name for 

 the balsam obtained from Dipterocarpus. 



DHOOP. Vateria indica. 



DHOURIA. An Indian name for worm- 

 wood. 



DHURRA DOERAH or DERRA. An 

 Indian name for the grain-bearing Sorghum 

 vuk/are. 



DI. In Greek compounds = two. 



DIACHYMA. The green cellular matter 

 of leaves. 



DIACALPE. A beautiful eastern fern 

 allied, on the one hand, to Peranema (the 



Sphceropteris of some authors), from which 

 it is distinguished by having the globose 

 involucres, which enclose the spore-case« 

 sessile instead of being stalked ; and on 

 the other to Woodsia, from which it may 

 be known by the hard texture of the in- 

 dusia, and by their irregular mode of burst- 

 ing. D.deparioides is a herbaceous species, 

 with finely divided decompound fronds, j 

 and is found in Java and some parts of j 

 India. Two other species have been de- 

 scribed, one from Java, the other from j 

 Madagascar, but little is known respecting ; 

 them. [T. M.] 



DIADELPHOUS. Consisting of two 

 parcels or fraternities of stamens. 



DIADENTUM micranthum is a stem- 

 less orchid about a span high, found grow- 

 ing on trees in Peru. The leaves are ob- 

 long-lanceolate, seldom more than two or 

 three in number, and the small rose- 

 coloured flowers are arranged in a loose 

 panicle. The anther is two-celled with 

 two waxy pollen masses attached to the 

 end of the caudicle which is dilated above, 

 and furnished with two glands at the 

 apex, whence the generic name. Compa- 

 rettia is the most nearly related genus, 

 but that has two instead of one caudicle to 

 the pollen masses. [A. A. B.] 



DIAGNOSIS. The short character or 

 description by which one plant is distin- 

 guished from another. 



DIALIUM. A genus of leguminous trees 

 found in tropical India, Africa, and Ame- | 

 rica, and numbering about seven species. ; 

 The chief distinguishing features of the i 

 genus are found in the flowers having but ] 

 two stamens (most leguminous plants ' 

 have ten), and in the fruits being round , 

 or slightly compressed, and containing an I 

 edible pulp surrounding the seeds. All I 

 have unequally pinnate leaves, and ter- i 

 minal panicles of small white or rose- 

 coloured flowers. These have a five-parted I 

 calyx, and are usually destitute of petals ; 

 some flowers, however, are found with a 

 solitary petal. D. acuti folium, the Velvet 

 Tamarind of Sierra Leone, is a tree of about 

 twenty feet high with slender branches, 

 and pinnate leaves of five to seven smooth 

 oval entire leaflets ; the flowers are pale 

 rose-colour ; and the pod, about the size and 

 form of a filbert, is covered with a beauti- 

 ful black velvet down,while the farinaceous 

 pulp which surrounds the seeds has an 

 agreeable acid taste,and is commonly eaten. 

 The fruits of D. ovoideum, a Ceylon plant, 

 are sold in the bazaars ; they have also an 

 agreeable acid flavour. The wood of this 

 plant is said to be strong, durable, and 

 suitable for ornamental furniture. D. 

 floribundum, a Brazilian species, has round 

 smooth fruits about the size of a marble, 

 containing one or two seeds surrounded 

 with a pulp which has a taste and smell 

 like that of currants. The Tamarind Plum 

 of the Ease Indies, D. indum, has a delici- 

 ous pulp resembling that of the tamarind, 

 but not quite so acid. [A. A. B.] 



