431 



CTjc Creas'urjj of Statan]). 



leaves ab 



md axillary and terminal , always the case, as in some instances two 



one-flowered peduncles, supporting white 

 flowers with six spreading segments. The 

 fruic is a pendulous blue sub-globose three- 

 celled berry. [J. T. S.] 



DRYMYRHIZE.E. A synonyme of Zingi- 

 beracece, under which the characters of 

 the plants are given. [J. H. B.] 



DRYXARIA. A genus of polypodia- 

 ceous ferns, generally distinguishable by 

 the production of two separate kinds of 

 fronds : the one pinnate or pinnatifld in 

 the usual way, and bearing sori ; the other 

 very short, always sterile, coarsely veined, 

 and soon acquiring a harsh dried appear- 

 ance, quite stalkless, and lobed at the 

 edge so as to resemble the leaf of an oak, 

 whence they are called querciform. The 

 fronds have a very compound venation, 

 two or three series of irregular quadrate 

 areoles being formed within each other, 

 and free veinlets being produced in the 

 . ultimate areoles. The fructification is 

 that of Polypodium. The genus, which is 

 i very well marked, is therefore known by its 

 I polypodioid fructification, its compoundly 

 I anastomosing venation, and its dwarfed 

 ! querciform sterile fronds. The segments 

 j or pinna? of the larger fronds readily fall 

 i away, beingarticulated at their base. InJ5. 

 ! quercifolia, which is the type of the genus, 

 the sterile oak-leaf fronds are four to six 

 j inches long, and the larger fertile ones 

 from one to two feet or more in length, 

 I dark shining green, with long segments 

 bearing a row of sori on each side of their 

 costa. The few species now retained in j 

 j the genus are all eastern, being found 

 ' in India, and in the islands of the Pacific, j 

 i extending as far as Australia and the 



Feejee Islands. In one species, D. coro- | 

 : nans, the two forms of frond become com- ! 

 bined in one, the fronds of this species | 

 ; being sessile and querciform at the base, j 

 , but elongated upwards so as to bear the 

 I fertile segments on the upper part. Though i 

 ! normally and usually round, as in Pobjpo- \ 

 dium, the sori in D. coronans sometimes , 

 I become confluent in lines between the | 

 1 primary veins, and in that state are very 

 [ similar to those of Selliguea, [T. M.] 



DRTOBALAXOPS. A tree, native of the 

 island of Sumatra, yielding a kind of cam- 

 phor. It constitutes a genus of Diptera- 

 cece, characterised by the calyx having a 

 cup-shaped tube, and a limb divided into 

 | five leafy erect segments. The fruit is a 

 I capsule, enclosed within the cup of the 

 calyx, and bursting when ripe by three 

 valves : according to Professor Oudemans, 

 of Rotterdam, the most recent investi- 

 gator of this plant, and who has enjoyed 

 better opportunities for so doing than his 

 ' predecessors. It appears from his descrip- 

 ! tion in the Annates des Sciences Nat. (4 



seeds have been found. Standing up in 

 the centre of the fruit is a little stalk or 

 columella, which is concealed in a furrow 

 of the seed, where it divides into two 

 wings concealed beneath the edges of one 

 of the cotyledons, which is considerably 

 larger than the other. The seeds have 

 been observed to germinate in the ripe 

 fruit after the dehiscence of its valves. 



B. aromatica or D. Camphora furnishes a 

 liquid called camphor oil, and a crystalline 



j solid known as Borneo or Sumatra Cam- 



] phor. Camphor oil, which is obtained by 

 incising the tree, has a fragrant aromatic 



i odour, and has been employed to scent 

 soap. The solid camphor is found in the 



! cracks of the wood, and is obtained by 

 cutting down the tree, dividing it into 

 blocks and small pieces, from the inter- 

 stices of which the camphor is extracted. 

 It is rarely seen in this country, but 

 fetches a very high price. It differs from 

 ordinary camphor by its six-sided crystals, 

 and its greater hardness and brittleness. 

 It doesnot so readily become condensed on 

 the sides of the bottle wherein it is kept, 

 as ordinary camphor does. This camphor 

 is much sought after by the Chinese, who 

 attribute many virtues to it. It seems to 

 have been long known, as it is mentioned 

 by Marco Polo in the thirteenth century, 

 and Camoens, in 1571, also mentions it as 

 ' the balsam of disease.' [M. T. M.] 



DRYOMENIS. A curious and somewhat 

 anomalous genus of ferns belonging to 

 the group having naked sori, and having 

 the sori small and oblong, but arranged 

 transversely to the veins and parallel with 

 the costa, thus indicating a technical re- 

 lationship with Meniscium. It has a com- 

 pound form of venation, the pinnate veins 

 being first united by transverse venules, 

 and then again once or twice united by 

 zigzag veins forming irregular areoles, 

 from which in the sterile fronds free in- 

 cluded veinlets branch out. The recepta- 

 cles are seated on the transverse veins 

 which join the primary veins proceed- 

 ing from the costa, so that the sori are 

 placed parallel to the costa. The only 

 species, D.menisciicarpon of the Philippine 

 Islands, is a rather coarse-growing fern 

 with broad fronds, becoming taller and 

 contracted with a less copious venation 

 when fertile. It is sometimes associated 

 with the Polypodiecn. [T. MJ 



DRTOPTERIS A name originally given 

 by Adanson to the common male fern now 

 called Lastrea, and subsequently also ap- 

 plied to a group agreeing with this in 

 general structure. It has not, however, 

 been generally adopted, the name Lastrea 

 being preferred by some, who separate the 

 free and netted veined species, and that of 



1 ser v loo. that thr- ralvpa <vf 'the frnit in Nephrodium by others, who, irrespective 

 SPnara in- from earn other carr^wi h : of venation, combine in one group all the 

 eh^fSnvelLiIntof "the ^TsoThlt aspidioid plants with reniform fructifica- 



the fruit. The fruit is usually described t0 a sectl0n ot Polypodium, [T. MJ 



as containing but one seed, but this is not [ DRYOSTACHYUM. A small genus of 



