Dichopogon
(from dicha, double, and pogon, a beard; in allusion to the two appendages of the anthers). ORD. Liliaceae. A small genus (two species) of greenhouse, perennial herbs, natives of Australia and Tasmania. Flowers loosely racemose, solitary or fascicled in the scarious bracts; perianth marcescent, persistent, not twisted, the segments distinct, spreading, the inner ones broader; stamens six, hypogynous; pedicels slender, often jointed above the middle; scape often branched, leafless, or furnished with leafy bracts below the inflorescence. Leaves radical, narrow-linear. Rhizome short; root-fibres fascicled, often bearing tubers. D. strictus, the only species as yet in cultivation, thrives in a compost of sandy loam and peat, and may be increased by divisions of the rhizome, or by the tubers on the root-fibres. D. strictus (straight). fl., perianth pale or dark purple, 1 1/2in. or less in diameter, the segments horizontally spreading, the outer ones elliptic-oblong, acute, the inner twice as broad; raceme or panicle 3in. to 8in. long. November. l. 1 1/2ft. long, 1/2in. broad, concave, Grass-like, sheathing at the very base. Stem longer: than the leaves, erect, stout or slender. Tubers 1/4in. to 3/4in long, fleshy. 1883. (B. M. 6746.)