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Dichorisandra (compounded of Greek words referring to the division of the stamens into two series). Commelinaceae. Tropical perennial herbs, with handsome foliage, often beautifully variegated, and rich blue flowers borne in thyrse-like panicles.

Dichorisandra (compounded of Greek words referring to the division of the stamens into two series). Commelinaceae. Tropical perennial herbs, with handsome foliage, often beautifully variegated, and rich blue flowers borne in thyrse-like panicles.

The dichorisandras are usually handled as warmhouse subjects, although some of them may be plunged in the open ground south of Philadelphia. D. thyrsiflora is a satisfactory plant of unusual and interesting appearance, which requires little attention when once well established, and may be relied upon to flower regularly year after year. It needs careful repotting every year at first until a good-sized pot (say 8-inch) is well filled with roots. It then throws up a strong shoot each year about 5 or 6 feet high, unbranched, and with perhaps 8 or 9 leaves near the top. The handsome thyrse of blue flowers gives a color that is rare in the greenhouse. This plant may be the only representative of its interesting order in a private collection. It is willing to be crowded into the background, where its bare stem is hidden, and where the light may be poorest. The stem dies down in the winter time, when water should be gradually withdrawn. Water should be given liberally during the growing season. Of the foliage plants of this genus. D. mosaica is commonest. It is dwarfer, and does not flower so regularly. (Robert Shore.)

The dichorisandras are usually handled as warmhouse subjects, although some of them may be plunged in the open ground south of Philadelphia. D. thyrsiflora is a satisfactory plant of unusual and interesting appearance, which requires little attention when once well established, and may be relied upon to flower regularly year after year. It needs careful repotting every year at first until a good-sized pot (say 8-inch) is well filled with roots. It then throws up a strong shoot each year about 5 or 6 feet high, unbranched, and with perhaps 8 or 9 leaves near the top. The handsome thyrse of blue flowers gives a color that is rare in the greenhouse. This plant may be the only representative of its interesting order in a private collection. It is willing to be crowded into the background, where its bare stem is hidden, and where the light may be poorest. The stem dies down in the winter time, when water should be gradually withdrawn. Water should be given liberally during the growing season. Of the foliage plants of this genus. D. mosaica is commonest. It is dwarfer, and does not flower so regularly. (Robert Shore.)

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==Species==

==Species==

<!-- This section should be renamed Cultivars if it appears on a page for a species (rather than genus), or perhaps Varieties if there is a mix of cultivars, species, hybrids, etc    -->

D. acaulis, Cogn. Stemless: lvs. in a rosette, almost sessile, narrowly oblong, wavy, acutish, short-cuneate at the base, sparsely pilose on both sides: panicles terminal, sessile, much shorter than the Ivs. Brazil. I.H. 41:19. Handsomely variegated with countless abort longitudinal lines.—D. albo-marginata, Lind. St. 3—4 ft.: lvs. lanceolate, acuminate, attenuate to base, glabrous: raceme peduncled, 2 in. long, dense; petals dark blue, white at base; sepals white. Brazil. G.W. 4, p. 307.—D. angustifolia. Lind. & Rod. St. purple, spotted green: lvs. oblong-lanceolate, sessile, glabrous, roundish at the base, acute, about 6 in. long, 2 in. wide at the middle, purple below, marked above with short transverse white lines. Ecuador. I.H. 39:158.—D. leucophthalmos, Hook., differs in having radical infl., its fls. lying flat on the ground. Lvs. elliptic, acuminate, green on both sides: fls. blue, with a white eye; stamens 6. Brazil. B.M. 4733. J.F. 4:428.—D. ovalifolia, Presl. Lvs. oval, sessile, acuminate, glabrous, the upper ones oblong-lanceolate: panicle wide-branching. Nicaragua to Colombia.—D. oxypetala, Hook., is instantly recognized by its acute petals, which are purple. Lvs. green on both sides. Brazil. B.M. 2721.—D. picta, Lodd., has narrower petals than usual, with a white spot at the base, but is told from all others here described by the irregular blotches of purple on the upper side of the lvs. The purple is the same color as that on the under surface. Brazil (?). B.M 4760. L.B.C. 17:1667.—D. Regina, Hort. = Tradescantia Regina, Lind. & Rod., intro. about 20 years ago by a firm of Continental Eu. —D. Saundersii, Hook., differs from all others here described in the extreme density of its head-like infl. Lvs. green on both sides, lanceolate: sepals white, tinged blue. Brazil. B.M. 6165.— D. Siebertii, Hort. A little-known plant with white midrib and margins; probably a form of D. ovalifolia.—D. thysiana=Palisota.

==Gallery==

==Gallery==