427 



0)C Crea&trg at 28ataug. 



[drak 



must at least be greater than that of the ' 

 pyramids. The trunk of this tree is hol- 

 low, and may he ascended by a staircase in 

 the interior up to the height at which it 

 begins to branch. Near the ground Le 

 Due found it to be seventy-nine feet in 

 circumference. As to its great age, Hum- 

 boldt mentions that when he saw it, it had 

 the same colossal size— a diameter of more 

 than sixteen feet— which it had when the j 

 French adventurers, the Bethencourts, j 

 conquered these gardens of the Hesperides 

 in the beginning of the fifteenth century, 

 yet it stiU flourishes as if in perpetual j 

 youth, bearing flowers and fruit. A tree like j 

 this of slow growth, which four centuries 

 have changed so little, may well be believed 

 to possess great antiquity. [T. M.] 



DRAOENOPSIS. A genus of Liliacece, 

 separated from Braccena by Dr. Planchon, 

 and consisting of plants agreeing in 

 the following peculiarities : a six-parted 

 marcescent campanulate perianth, with 

 the segments biseriate ; six stamens in- 

 serted at the base of the perianth seg- 

 ments ; a three-celled ovary with many 

 ovules in each cell ; and a pea-shaped berry 

 containing several seeds in each of its 

 three cells. To this genus are referred B. 

 australis and B. indivisa, two beautiful Aus- 

 tralian arborescent species, with erect sim- 

 ple stems, and Fucea-like heads of crowded 

 lanceolate-ensiform leaves. [T. II.] 



DRACOCEPHALOI. This alarming 

 name, literally Dragon's-head, has been 

 given to a genus of from twenty-five to 

 thirty species of herbaceous labiates, dis- 

 tinguished by having the throat of the 

 corolla inflated, and the upper lip concave. 

 They grow to the height of from six inches 

 to three feet, and in habit somewhat re- 

 semble Salvia. B. canariense or Cedronella 

 triphylla is better known as Balm of Gilead, 

 a designation which it hardly merits, being 

 a native of America and the Canaries, and 

 having no healing properties, though the 

 foliage is fragrant. It is distinguished by 

 its pinkish spiked flowers, and ternate 

 leaves. B. Moldavifa is an annual with 

 reddish stems, oblong blunt leaves, and 

 whorled purplish blue or white flowers, 

 forming a leafy spike. B. virginianum, 

 also called PJiysostegia, bears numerous 

 large light blush flowers, arranged in four 

 ranks, of which, it is said, 'the position 

 may be altered at pleasure, and as they 

 are placed, so they will remain for several 

 hours.' Fr. Bracocephale ; Ger. Brachen- 

 kopf. [C. A. J.] 



DRACONTIUM. A genus of Orontiacece, 

 comprising certain tropical species, with a 

 thick fleshy rhizome, whence proceed a 

 number of stalked pedate leaves, a sessile 

 spadix with a hooded spathe, and very 

 fetid flowers, which are hermaphrodite 

 and have a five to eight-cleft perianth ; 

 stamens five to eight, the anthers with two 

 transverse cells ; ovary three-celled, each 

 cell containing a single ovule ; style awl- 

 shaped ; berries distinct, with one to three 

 seeds. B. polyphyllum, a native of some 

 parts of India, Japan, &c, possesses power- 



ful stimulant properties. In Guiana it is 

 considered as a remedy against the Labaeri 

 snake, which it resembles in the colour of 

 its spotted leaf-stalks. [M. T. MJ 



DRACOPHYLLUM. A genus of Epacri- 

 dacece, which is distinguished by having a 

 calyx of five coriaceous leaves; a broad- 

 tubed glabrous corolla with five spreading 

 lobes curved in at the point ; and the 

 stamens inserted on the corolla in the New 

 Zealand species, hypogynous in those of 

 Australia and New Caledonia ; the ovary is 

 five-celled with five glands at its base. They 

 have narrow grassy leaves sheathing at the 

 base, and white flowers forming a race- 

 mose, spicate, or paniculate inflorescence. 

 Most of them are natives of New Zealand, 

 where their peculiar habit gives a striking 

 character to the scenery. Some few are tall 

 trees, the others only shrubs. [R. H.] 



DRACOPIS. A genus of annual compo- 

 site plants consisting of one N. American 

 species, B. amplexicaulis, which has oblong- 

 cordate stem-clasping leaves, and con- 

 spicuous flower-heads with a yellow ray and 

 prominent black disk. It is an old garden 

 plant, and is allied to Eudbeckia. [T. M.] 



DRACUNCULUS. A genus of Aracece, 

 consisting of certain South European 

 plants, with tuberous rhizomes and pedate 

 leaves, scarcely differing from Arum, ex- 

 cept in the upper part of the spathe being 

 fiat not convolute. One species, B. vul- 

 garis, the old Arum Bracunculus, is com- 

 mon in gardens,where its pedately-divided 

 leaves and spotted stems render it very 

 ornamental. [M. T. MJ 



DRAGON. Bracunculus vulgaris ; also 

 applied to the orontiaceous genus Bracon- 

 tium. — , GREEN. Ariscema Bracontium. 



DRAGONNE. (Fr.) Tulipa turcica. 



DRAGONNIER. (Fr.) Braccena Braco. 



DRAGON ROOT. Ariscema atrorubens; 

 also an American name for Ariscema Bra- 

 contium. 



DRAGON TREE. Braccena Braco. 



DRAGON'S-BLOOD. A dark-red astrin- 

 gent resinous secretion of the fruit of 

 Calamus Braco; another kind is obtained 

 from Braccena Braco. Ecastaphyllum mone- 

 taria yields a similar resinous product. 



DRAGON'S-EYE. Nephelium Longanum. 



DRAGON'S-HEAD. A common name for 

 Bracocephalum. — , FALSE. Physostegia. 



DRAGON'S-MOUTH. Epidendrum ma- 

 crochilum. 



DRAKEA elastica is a curious ter- 

 restrial orchid of "West Australia with 

 woolly roots ending in fleshy tubercles ; 

 a single orbicular leaf three-quarters of 

 an inch across, growing quite close to the 

 ground, and a slender erect smooth scape 

 twelve to eighteen inches high, bearing at 

 the apex a solitary dull-coloured flower 

 three-quarters of an inch across. The 

 shield-shaped labellum ' is placed on a long 

 arm with a moveable joint in the middle, 



