! 4i; 



€!)£ EreaSitrg of Santang. 



[disc 



leaves, alternate on the stems, and often 

 arranged in bundles of four or five. The 

 twigs terminated by a loose spike of tubu- 

 lar sweet-scented flowers resembling those 

 of the Verbenas so commonly seen in our 

 flower-beds. Indeed the plant would be a 

 Verbena were it not that the fruit is com- 

 posed of two little nuts or pyrena? (whence 

 the name) instead of four. A still closer 

 relationship exists between this plant and 

 Priva ; the latter, however, has an herba- 

 ceous stem. [A. A. B.] 



DIPYRENOUS. Containing two stones 

 or pyrenae. 



DIRCA. A genus of Thymelacece, 

 with hermaphrodite flowers, the perianth 

 coloured, somewhat bell-shaped and ob- 

 lique ; the stamens eight, inserted in two 

 rows in the tube of the perianth ; the ovary 

 one-celled, with a single pendulous ovule. 

 The fruit is drupaceous. There is one 

 snecies, D. palustris, a North American 

 shrub called Leather-wood, Moose-wood, 

 and Wicopy ; the twigs are used as thongs ; 

 fruit poisonous ; leaves alternate entire; 

 flowers pale yellow. [J. H. B.] 



DIRCJEA. A genus of Gesneracece, con- 

 sisting of Brazilian herbs with tuberous 

 rhizomes, and herbaceous stems bearing 

 large opposite leaves, and long-tubed 

 showy panicled flowers, often of a rich 

 scarlet colour. The group is typified by 

 the species formerly known as Gesnera 

 foudaUs, bulbosa, &c, and is distinguished 

 bv the great development of the upper lip 

 of the corolla. [T.M.] 



DIS. An Algerian name for the fibrous 

 stems of Festuca patula and Arundo tenax, 

 which are used for cordage. 



DISA. A numerous genus of terrestrial 

 orchids peculiar to South Africa and 



Disa grandiflora. 



Abyssinia. The species vary much in 

 habit, but most agree in having the sepals 



usually much larger than the petals, and 

 the posterior sepal instead of the labellum, 

 I as in Habenaria and other allied genera, 

 I is furnished with a more or less evident 

 j hood-like spur. D. grandiflora is perhaps 

 I the most beautiful of all terrestrial or- 

 : chids, and is spoken of by Dr. Harvey as 

 ] the pride of Table Mountain, where it 

 l grows in great profusion on the borders of 

 streams and water pools which are dry in 

 summer, producing its gorgeous flowers 

 I in February and March. The stems grow 

 I two and a half feet high, and are furnished 

 | with a number of broad grassy leaves, and 

 j terminated by from one to four splendid 

 I flowers, measuring from three to five 

 inches across. The lateral sepals are of a 

 ■ bright crimson, the dorsal one paler on 

 ! the outside, and blush-coloured and deli- 

 cately veined with crimson within. Un- 

 fortunately this plant is very difficult to 

 cultivate, and is therefore not so fre- 

 quently seen in our gardens as it deserves 

 to be. It is beautifully represented in 

 Lindlei/s Sertum Orchidaceum, t. 49. D. 

 spathulata is a most remarkable species 

 from the long and slender stalk of the lip, 

 which much exceeds the flower in length, 

 and has a trowel-shaped more or less 

 lacerated apex. Many species have rose- 

 coloured flowers, but in a goodly number 

 there is a charming mixtm - e of blue, 

 white, green, and purple, in the same 

 flower. [A. A. BJ 



DISANDRA. A trailing plant often seen 

 in greenhouses, referred by some botanists 

 to Sibthorpia. 



DISCANTHUS. A palm-like plant from 

 the Andes of Eastern Peru, forming a 

 genus of Cyclanthacece. It has the long 

 radical trifid leaves, and the inflorescence 

 of a Carludovica or of a Cyclanthus, and 

 most of the characters of the latter genus; 

 but it differs chiefly in the perianth con- 

 sisting of distinct disks embracing the 

 spadix, and in the ovules being naked from 

 their first appearance. The lobes of the 

 leaves have also only one strong rib, and 

 are not plicate as in Cyclanthus. 



DISCARIA. A genus of Bhamnacece, 

 nearly allied to Colletia, but differing in 

 having no petals. One species, D. a.us- 

 tralis, is common to Tasmania, New Zea- 

 land, and Australia, and the others are 

 found in extra-tropical South America. 

 All of the six known species are spiny 

 undershrubs of no beauty, some almost 

 leafless, and others with minute oblong 

 or spathulate smooth leaves. The small 

 opposite secondary branches terminate in 

 a sharp spine, and towards their base are 

 found, in twos or threes, the little flowers, 

 which have a short bell-shaped calyx tube, 

 and from four to five small scale-like hooded 

 petals. [A. A. B.] 



DISCHISMA. A genus of Selaginacece, 

 containing nine species from Southern 

 Africa. They are herbs or herbaceous 

 shrubs, with linear entire or dentate 

 leaves, and flowers in more or less hairy 

 t erminal bracteate spikes, the corolla tube 



