DIOSPYROS 
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wood hard and black. D. reticulata Willd. (Mauritius) and D . 
Ebenum Koen. (Ceylon) yield the finest ebony. D. Embryopteris 
Pers. is the gaub tree of India; its fruit contains a sticky pulp, used 
for caulking seams in boats. D. Kaki L. f. is the Chinese date 
plum, or persimmon, whose fruit is used as a sweetmeat when dried, 
D. Lotus L. (temp. As.) the common date-plum. D. virginiana L. 
(U.S.) is the N. Am. ebony or persimmon, cultivated for both wood 
and fruit. 
Diotis Desf. Compositae (vn). 1 sp. D. candidissima Desf. ( D . mart- 
tinia Sm.), the cotton- weed, on the coasts of Brit., W. Eur., and the 
Medit. A hairy perennial (p. 186). 
Dipcadi Medic. Liliaceae (v). 12 sp. Afr. , Medit., trop. As. 
Diphylleia Michx. Berberidaceae. 2 sp. N. Am., Japan. 
Diphysa Jacq. Leguminosae (ill. 6). 10 sp. Mexico, Cent. Am. 
Diplachne Beauv. Gramineae (x). 14 sp. trop. and sub-trop. 
Diplacus Nutt. = Mimulus Linn. 
Dipladenia A. DC. Apocynaceae (11. 4). 20 sp. S. Am. Most are 
lianes climbing by hooks — “a circle of blunt spines at the bases of the 
leaves.” 
Diplarrhena Labill. Iridaceae (11). 2 sp. S. Austr., Tasm. 
Diplazium Sw. Polypodiaceae. 210 sp. trop., Chi., Jap. 
Diplotaxis DC. Cruciferae (11. 10). 20 sp. Eur., Medit. (2 in Brit.). 
Diplusodon Pohl. Lythraceae. 42 sp. Brazil. 
Dipsaceae. Dicotyledons (Sympet. Aggregatae). About 150 sp. placed 
in 5 to 10 genera by different authors; chiefly N. temp., Old World. 
Most are herbs with opp. exstip. leaves (connate in Dipsacus), and 
cymes (Triplostegia, Morina) or heads of flowers. That the heads 
are also cymose (p. 65) is indicated by the fact that the firs, do not 
open in strictly centripetal order. The outer firs, have the corolla 
more or less drawn out on one side (cf. Compositae, Cruciferae &c.). 
Bracteoles of the ordinary kind are rare (Triplostegia). Most genera 
have an epicalyx, a cup- shaped organ springing from the base of the 
ovary, and usually regarded as composed of the two united bracteoles. 
K and C 5-merous, or 4-merous by union of two members. Sta. 4, 
epipetalous. G (2), i-loc. with one pendulous anatropous ovule. 
Firs, usually protandrous, of the floral class B' (p. 91). Fruit an 
achene (see Compositae) usually enclosed in the epicalyx. Seed with 
endosperm. Several are cultivated as ornamental plants; Dipsacus 
yields teasels. Chief genera: Morina, Dipsacus, Scabiosa. Placed 
in Asterales by Ben th.- Hooker, in Dipsacales by Warming. (See 
Sambucus for relationships.) 
Dipsacales (Warming). The 7th cohort of Sympetalae. 
Dipsacus Linn. Dipsaceae. 12 sp. Medit., Eur., Afr. D. sylvestris 
Mill., the common teasel, in Brit. The connate leaves form troughs 
round the stem in which rain-water collects ; it is very probable that 
some of this is absorbed by the plant. The protandrous firs, are 
