SWEET-SMELLING PLANTS 



37 



forest tree with scented wood, largely used for commercial pur- 

 poses ; it bears a profusion of greenish-white flowers, the fine 

 fragrance of which perfumes the air in the evening. 

 Datura (Thorn Ajjjjle, Stramonium). — A handsome class of soft- 

 wooded flowering shrubs, mostly natives of semi-tropical climates. 

 They will grow to the height of 5 or 6 feet in a season, and 

 produce, amidst a mass of elegant foliage, large and fragrant 

 trumpet-shaped flowers, from 6 to 12 inches in length and propor- 

 tionately thick. The colours are various, and the flowers both single 

 and double. Others open their blossom in the evening only. The 

 whole group form noble objects if planted out in suitable situations 

 in the early summer. They are mostly annuals, and their beauty 

 disappears as soon as the heat departs ; those that are lasting may 

 be taken under glass to impart a delicate, yet ^Dowerful scent 

 throughout the greenhouse. 



' The giant Datura bares her breast 

 Of fragrant scent, a virgin white, 

 A pearl amidst the realms of night.' — Bishop Hebee. 



Day lily. See Hemerocallis. 



Decumaria. — Hardy climbers. D. harhara, from Texas, is a beauti- 

 ful variety that produces bunches of white flowers scented like the 

 Hawthorn. D. sinensis, from China, also possesses similar attrac- 

 tions. 



Delphinium Brunonianum. — A musk-scented variety of this member 

 of the Larkspur family, found in elevated places in the mountains 

 of Northern India. D. glaciale is another species, the whole plant 

 being strongly impregnated with musk. 



Detarium Senegalense. — A West African tree, bearing white fragrant 

 flowers, followed by an edible fruit the size of a peach. 



Deutzia. — Xeat-growing, hardy, shrubby plants, largely cultivated 

 for winter and spring decoration of the greenhouse and conserva- 

 tory. Out of doors they form dense bushes, that are literally 

 covered with racemes of pretty white flowers in spring ; they drop 

 their leaves in autumn, the small plants can then be lifted, trans- 

 ferred in pots under glass in heat, and forced into bloom during 

 the winter months ; the flowers emit a pleasing fragrance like May, 

 and are exceedingly attractive. There are double and single 

 varieties, likewise a rose-coloured kind. 



Dianthus caryophyllus.— Carnation, Pink, Picotee. See Illustration, 

 * Of all the flowers that adorn the garden, ' says Hogg, ' whether 

 they charm the eye with their beauty, or regale the sense of smell- 

 ing by their fragrance, this family may justly be said to hold high 



