VOCABULARY. 
Cya'neus. Blue. 
Cy'athiform. Shaped like a common 
wine-glass. 
Cylin 1 'dried!,. A circular shaft of near¬ 
ly equal dimensions throughout its 
extent. 
Cyme. Flower stalks arising from a 
common centre, afterward variously 
subdivided. 
Cymose. Inflorescence in cymes. 
Cypscte. (From the Greek, kupselion .) 
A little chest. 
D 
De'bilis. Weak, feeble. 
Decan 1 dram. Plants with ten stamens 
in each flower. 
DecaphyVlous. Ten-leaved. 
Decid'uous. Falling off in the usual 
season ; opposed to persistent and ev¬ 
ergreen, more durable than caducous. 
Declined. Curved downwards. 
Decomposition. Separation of the chem¬ 
ical elements of bodies. 
Decompound'. Twice compound, com¬ 
posed of compound parts. 
Decomposi'tce. Name of an ancient 
class of plants, having leaves twice 
compound ; that is, a common foot¬ 
stalk supporting a number of lesser 
leaves, each of which is compounded. 
Decum'bent. Leaning upon the ground, 
the base being erect. This term is 
applied to stems, stamens, &c. 
Decur'rent. When the edges of a leaf 
run down the stem, or stalk. 
Decnr'sive. Decurrently. 
Decus'sated. In pairs, crossing each 
other. 
Deflec'ted. Bending down. 
Defoliation. Shedding leaves in the 
proper season. 
D elds'cent. Gaping or opening. Most 
capsules when ripe are dehiscent. 
Deltoid. Nearly triangular, or dia¬ 
mond-form, as in the leaves of the 
Lombardy poplar. 
Demer'sus. Under water. 
Dense. Close, compact. 
Den'tale. Toothed; edged with sharp 
projections ; larger than serrate. 
Denticulate. Minutely toothed. 
Denu'date. Plants whose flowers ap¬ 
pear before the leaves; appearing 
naked. 
Deor'sum. Downwards. 
Depressed. Flattened, or pressed in at 
the top. 
Descriptions. In giving a complete 
description of a plant, the order of 
nature is to begin with the root, pro¬ 
ceed to the stem, branches, leaves, ap- 
pen lages, and lastly to the organs 
which compose the flower, and the 
159 
manner of inflorescence. Colour and 
size are circumstances least to be re¬ 
garded in description ; but stipules, 
bracts, and glandular hairs, are all of 
importance. 
Dextror'sum. Twining from left to 
right, as the hop-vine. 
DiadeVphous. (From dis, two, and 
adelphia , brotherhood.) Two brother¬ 
hoods. Stamens united in two par¬ 
cels or sets; flowers mostly papiliona¬ 
ceous; fruit leguminous. 
Diagnosis. ' The characters which dis¬ 
tinguish one species of plants from 
another. 
Di'annond-form. See Deltoid. 
Dianthe'ria. (From dis, two, and an¬ 
ther.) "A class of plants including all 
such as have two anthers. 
Dichot''omous. Forked, divided into two 
equal branches. 
Dietin'ia. Stamens in one flower, and 
pistils in another; whether on the 
same plant or on different plants.- 
Dicoc'cous. Containing two grains or 
seeds. 
j Dicotyledonous. With two cotyledons 
or seed lobes. 
Didy'mous. Twined, or double. 
DidynoJmia. (From dis, twice, and dn - 
narnis, power.) Two powers. A 
name appropriated to one of the Lin- 
naean classes. 
Dih'isiVia. (From diairesis, division.) 
One of Jussieu’s orders of fruits. 
Dijform. A monopetalous corolla whose 
tube widens above gradually, and is 
divided into unequal parts; any dis¬ 
torted part of the plant. 
Diffracted. Twice bent. 
Diffa'sed. Spreading. 
Digitate. Like fingers. When one 
petiole sends off several leafets from 
a single point at its extremity. 
Digyn'ia. Having two pistils. 
Dimid'iote. Halved. 
Dioe'cious. Having staminate and pis¬ 
tillate flowers on different plants. 
Dis'coid. Resembling a disk, without 
rays. 
Dislc.~ The whole surface of a leaf, or 
of the top of a compound flower, as 
opposed to its rays. 
Disper'mus. Containing two seeds. 
Dissep'iment. The partition of a cap¬ 
sule. 
Dissil'iens. A pericarp, bursting with 
elasticity ; as the Impatiens. 
Di'stichus. Growing in two 'opposite 
ranks or row's. 
Divar'icale. Diverging so as to turn 
backwards. 
Diverging. Spreading; separating 
‘widely. 
