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Dirca (Dirke, mythological name; also a spring near Thebes). Thymelaeacea. Leatherwood. Two North American small early-blooming shrubs, sometime's planted.
Bushes with tough fibrous bark, alternate, thin short entire petiolate deciduous lvs., apetalous perfect fls. in peduncled fascicles of the previous season's growth, the branches developing subsequently from the same nodes: calyx corolla-like, yellowish, campanulate, undulately obscurely 4-toothed, bearing twice as many exserted stamens as its lobes (usually 8); ovary nearly sessile, free, 1-loculed, with a single hanging ovule; style exserted, filiform: fr. berry-like, oval-oblong. The dircas often have the habit of miniature trees. The bark is of interlaced strong fibers, and branches are so tough and flexible that they may be bent into hoops and thongs without breaking, and were so used by the Indians and early settlers. The leatherwood is not one of the showiest of hardy shrubs, but its small yellowish fls. are abundant enough to make it attractive, and it deserves cult, especially for the earliness of its bloom in spring. It is of slow growth, and when planted singly makes a very shapely specimen; planted in masses or under shade it assumes a straggling habit. It thrives in any moist loam. Prop. by seeds, which are abundant and germinate readily; also by layers.
D. occidentdlis, Gray. A similar species found on northerly slopes of cafions in Calif., differs mainly in the deeper calyx-lobes, lower insertion of the stamens, sessile fls., and white involucre; blooms Nov.-Feb. Not in the trade, but worthy of cult. A. Phelps Wyman.
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