dict] 



Elje Ersatfurg of 2S0tan», 



404 



some appearance of their flowers. They 

 are perennial plants with unequally-pin- 

 nate leaves, the main stalk between the 

 four or five pairs of leaflets being winged 

 and leaf-like. The inflorescence, as well as 

 the outer parts of the flowers themselves, is 

 covered with glands secreting a resinous 

 or oily matter, so volatile, that the air sur- 

 rounding it becomes inflammable in hot 

 weather. The calyx has five sepals, the 

 two lowermost of which are longer than 

 the rest ; the five petals, which are stalked 

 and inserted into the stalk bearing the 

 ovary, are of unequal size, the four upper 

 ones erect, and the lowest one bent down- 

 wards ; the stamens are ten, bent down- 

 wards; the five ovaries are placed on a 

 short stalk, each one-celled. The fruit 

 consists of a capsule, the constituent car- 

 pels of which are confluent below but sepa- 

 rate above, and when mature burst each 

 into two pieces : they contain two or three 

 seeds. [M. T. MJ 



DICTYANTHUS. A genus of Asclepia- 

 dacece, containing twenty species, natives 

 of Central America. They are twining 

 undershrubs, with cordate membranace- 

 ous leaves on long petioles, and one or two- 

 flowered peduncles. The corolla is cam- 

 panulate, spreading, and five-cleft, andthe 

 staminal crown consists of five small lobes 

 adnate to the tube ; the stigma is fleshy 

 with five prominent angles, and very 

 small glandular corpuscles. [W. C] 



DICTYDIUM. A beautiful genus of 

 Fungi allied to Cribraria, but distinguish- 

 ed by the outer coat of the peridium dis- 

 appearing to the very base, and leaving 

 behind a beautiful net-work. In B. um- 

 biUcatum, which is not uncommon on de- 

 cayed fir stumps, the peridium is deeply 

 umbilicate, and looks like an elegant bal- 

 loon. [M. J. B.] 



DICTYMIA. Dictyopteris. 



DICTYOCALYX. Creeping pubescent 



herbs, allied to Nicotiana, but constituting 

 a distinct genus of Solanacece or Atropacece, 

 characterised by the presence of a cylin- 

 drical five-lobed calyx, the tube of which 

 becomes distended after the expansion of 

 the corolla, and is marked by a network of 

 prominent veins. The corolla is mem- 

 branous and funnel-shaped. [M. T. M.] 



DICTYOCLINE. A genus of interesting 

 hemionitoid ferns, which grow in Indiaand 

 China. B. Griffithii, found in Assam and 

 Khasya, is a coarse herbaceous pinnate 

 fern, with three or four pairs of pinnae, 

 and having the sori reticulated between 

 the primary pinnate veins, which trans- 

 versely anastomose so as to form two or 

 three series of roundish hexagonal areoles 

 between them. The aspect of the plant 

 approaches that of some of the larger 

 species of Aspidium. [T. M.] 



DICTYOGENS. (Bictyogence.) A sub-class 

 of monocotyledons or Endogens according 

 to Lindley. The plants are characterised 

 by having net-veined in place of parallel- 



veined leaves, which usually disarticulate 

 with the stem. The woody matter on the 

 rhizomes of the plant is often disposed in 

 a circular wedge-like manner. The name 

 is derived from the Greek word dictyon, a 

 net. This subclass includes Bioscoreaccw 

 or yams, Smilacece or sarsaparillas, and 

 Trilliacece, Roxburghiacece and Philesiacece. 

 Some Aracece and Liliaceos have, however, 

 net-veined leaves. [J. H. B.] 



DICTYOGLOSSTJM. A genus of acros- 

 tichoid ferns, now called Hymenodium. 



DICTYOGRAMMA. A genus of polypo- 

 diaceous ferns, found in Japan and the 

 Feejees, and belonging to the group He- 

 mionitidece, with naked linear reticulated 

 sori, among which Bictyogramma is dis- 

 tinguished by having the primary veins 

 arcuate so as to form costal areoles, and the 

 venules reticulated, except those of the 

 margin, which are free. The sori are nar- 

 row, linear, and sub-parallel, the lines 

 sparingly united towards either end. The 

 fronds are pinnate and somewhat leathery, 

 with a few large pinnse. B.japonica, the 

 typical species, is, as its name implies, 

 found in Japan. B. elongata, from the 

 Feejees, is the same fern which has been 

 called Syngramma pinnata. The name has 

 been used in place of Selliguea. [T. M.] 



DICTYOLOMA. A genus of Brazilian 

 trees belonging to the Simarubacece. The 

 flowers are unisexual ; calyx minute five- 

 parted; petals five, sharply-pointed, or 

 prolonged into a linear appendage ; sta- 

 mens five, attached below to a two-cleft 

 scale. In the female flower there are five 

 ovaries, five styles, and a five-toothed 

 stigma. [M. T. M.] 



DICTYOPTERIS. A genus of ferns be- 

 longing to the reticulated division of the 

 Poly podiem, and comprising a few species 

 found in the East and in Australia. They 

 have either simple or bipinnate fronds, 

 sometimes of large size ; and dot-like naked 

 sori, which are seated at the confluence of 

 several veinlets (compital). The areoles 

 of the reticulated veins are without free 

 included veinlets, which, together with 

 their uniformly reticulated, not connivent- 

 ly-anastomosing venation, separates them 

 from all other genera of ferns with netted 

 veins, and naked dot-like sori. [T. MJ 



DICTYOSTEGIA. A genus of Burman- 

 niacem, consisting of a very few species 

 from tropical America, all small slender 

 leafless annuals, with very small flowers in 

 a terminal cyme or head. They grow on 

 rotten leaves in damp shady woods, and 

 differ from Burmannia chiefly in their 

 capsules opening by lateral pores. 



DICTYOTA. A small genus of dark seed- 

 ed Algce,, with thin flat ulva-like forked 

 fronds, producing spores in little superfi- 

 cial disks. The species are of an olive- 

 green, and are widely diffused in either 

 hemisphere. B. dichotoma is one of the 

 commonest Alga: on our coast, and assumes 

 a great variety of forms as regards the 

 length, breadth, and division of its fronds. 



