DAP 
DEN 
after which any cool place where they 
can be secured from frost, moisture, and 
light, will be suited to their preservation 
through the winter. Where a large 
quantity have to be stored, they are 
sometimes placed in clamps in the man¬ 
ner of potatoes, but this is not advisable 
where it can be avoided, on account of 
the damp which accumulates. 
DAPHNE (Linn.) Nat. Or. Thyme- 
laceee. Several of these species are es¬ 
teemed for their early habit of flowering 
and delicious fragrance; they are dwarf, 
evergreen, hardy, or half-hardy shrubs, 
growing best in peat, and preferring a 
shaded situation. 
D ARLINGTONIA (De Candolle.) 
Nat. Or. Leguminosa . Yery pretty plants, 
producing numerous white flowers; they 
require to be treated as alpines, to be 
grown in peat and leaf-mould, and to 
have the protection of a frame in winter. 
DATURA (Linn.) Nat. Or. Solana- 
ceee. It is somewhat doubtful if this 
genus can with propriety be termed or¬ 
namental, for though its flowers are 
large and showy, the straggling naked 
appearance of its stems and branches 
militate much against its general adop¬ 
tion. The species are all of annual du¬ 
ration, and require the treatment of 
tender plants of the class. D. cerato- 
caulon , I), fastuosa , and I). Metel are 
perhaps the best. 
DAYIESIA (Smith.) Nat. Or. Le- 
gurninosdt. Handsome greenhouse plants, 
growing well in peat and loam. Like 
all other New Holland plants these re¬ 
quire a bountiful supply of air, on all 
favorable occasions, through the winter, 
and in summer they are much better 
placed in the open air, so that they are 
slightly shaded from the mid-day sun; 
some of the species have a subscandent 
habit, which with their densely-filled 
drooping spikes of yellow and red flowers, 
give them a very graceful appearance. 
DECUMARIA (Linn.) Nat. Ord. 
Philadelphiacece. Hardy climbing plants 
admit of so little variety that it is desir¬ 
able to mention all that are known. 
The present is a small genus, but con¬ 
tains plants deserving of more extensive 
cultivation ; they are well suited for co¬ 
vering walls or arbours, growing readily 
in any common soil, without regard to 
situation or aspect; they are, however, 
deciduous. 
DELPHINIUM (Linn.) Nat. Or. 
Ranunculacece. This is a group of highly 
interesting, hardy, herbaceous, peren¬ 
nial, and annual plants, indispensable to 
every garden. The Larkspur (I). Ajacis ) 
is a well known instance of the popular 
character of the genus, and the many 
varieties cultivated afford the flower- 
gardener an opportunity of ensuring a 
fine display. Among the perennial kinds 
are plants of various habits and heights, 
so as to make a suitable selection for al¬ 
most any purpose quite easy. They grow 
freely in rich garden soil, without further 
trouble than merely fastening their stems 
to sticks in the blooming season, when 
their large spikes of splendid blue flowers 
are prominent objects in even the richest 
collection. The annual species should 
be sown in March in rich ground, where 
the plants will be free from shade, and 
when about an inch high they should be 
thinned sufficiently to allow a free cir¬ 
culation of air among them. The fol¬ 
lowing selection of the herbaceous kinds 
should be grown everywhere, Azureuni , 
Barlowii, chinense , elegans pleno, gran- 
dijlorum , g. album , g. pleno, and Ivery- 
anum. 
DENDROBIUM (Swartz.) Nat. Or. 
Orchidaceee. In this extensive genus 
w r e are presented with some truly mag¬ 
nificent epiphytes which, regarded either 
for their singular manner of growing, 
graceful or grotesque habits, and large, 
handsome, and richly scented flowers, 
are perhaps unsurpassed in the entire 
range of vegetable forms. In a cultural 
sense they may be divided into two sec¬ 
tions, the pseudo-bulbous class, and 
those with tall bulbous stems. Many 
of the former are extremely small com¬ 
pared with the splendid flowers they 
produce, and, from this circumstance, 
are usually grown on billets of wood, 
lest the young shoots should receive in¬ 
jury from excessive moisture. Those 
belonging to the other section are again 
divisible; the upright growing species, 
| such as D. nobile, make the best appear- 
