
OPS LY) oP OO _ AFI. DED 
| What 13 Dichondra? 
cy oa Dm es 
‘ SFOS is Ss 
By JOHN L. BUNCH 
843 E. Mission Dr., San Gabriel, Calif. 
In his Botany of Northern United States, 
1856, Asa Gray gives the following descrip- 
tion: 
Dichondra Forst. Calyx 5-parted. Corolla 
broadly bell-shaped 5-cleft. Stamens included. 
Styles, ovaries, and the utricular 1-2 seeded 
pods 2 distinct. Stigmas thick, small creeping 
perennial herbs, soft-pubescent with kidney 
shaped entire leaves, and auxiliary 1-flowered 
braetless peduncles. Corolla small, yellowish 
or white. (Name composed of (Gr.) dis, dou- 
ble, and Chondro, grain, fruit, or seed.) 
Dichondra repens, Forst. var. carolinensis, 
Choisy. Leaves round-kidney-shaped, pube- 
scent,,green both sides; corolla not exceeding 
the calyx (1”-1.5” long).-moist ground, Vir- 
ginia near Norfolk. and southward. (Widely 
diffused in Southern Hemisphere.) 
Dichogamy, N. Bot. Maturation of stamens 
and pistils at different periods. Insuring cross 
pollination. 
Dichotomy—1. Division into two subordinate 
parts; hence, a cutting in two; a division. 2. A 
system of branching in which the main axis 
forks, repeatedly into two branches. 3. A fork- 
ing or bifurcation, esp. repeated bifurcation, 
as of the stem of a plant. 
DICHONDRA maintains a neat appearance 
throughout the year. It seldom needs mowing. 
and requires no renovating. 
DICHONDRA is a low, dark green creeping 
plant that quickly forms a thick mat of small, 
velvety leaves. On superficial inspection one 
might think the plant a variety of exception- 
ally compact and dark green clover. Looking 


