Dichorisandra
(from dis, twice, chorizo, to part, and aner, an anther; referring to the anthers being two-valved). ORD. Commelinaceae. A genus of stove herbaceous perennials, containing several beautiful-flowered plants, many of which have also very ornamental leaves. Sepals green or coloured, three, sub-equal, ovate or oblong; petals, like the sepals, distinct; stamens six (sometimes only five), all perfect, with short, erect, naked filaments. Stems erect or ascending, often branched. To grow Dichorisandras vigorously, they should be potted in a compost of peat, loam, and leaf mould, in about equal parts, with the addition of a little silver sand. A liberal supply of water, with ordinary stove heat, and shading from the direct rays of the sun, will be necessary during the summer. In winter, they should be kept much drier, but must not be exposed to cold. Propagated by divisions, by cuttings, or by seeds. Besides the species described below, about seven or eight others are believed to have been introduced.
D. albo-marginata (silvery-margined). fl. in a dense raceme, 2in. long; sepals white, blue, and puberulous outside; petals larger, rhomboid-ovate, blue, the lower part white. l. lanceolate, acuminate. Stem erect, glabrous, simple or branched above. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Brazil, 1868. (R. G. 569.) D. leucophthalmus (white-eyed).* fl. often three together, each on a branch of the peduncle, large; peduncle or scape emerging from a joint at or near the base of the stem, prostrate, glabrous, flexuous, panicled, here and there sheathed with brown scales; bracts from a broad base, subulate, herbaceous; sepals oblong, concave, spreading, between herbaceous and scariose; petals four times as large as the sepals, broadly obovate, spreading, blue-purple, white in the lower half; anthers bright yellow. June. l. 4in. to 6in. long, elliptic-lanceolate, sharply acuminated, moderately attenuated below, till they form the sheath; striated, patent, and often recurved. Stems two or three together, erect, terete, jointed, 9in. or more high, glabrous. h. 1ft. to 1 1/2ft. Brazil. (B. M. 4733.) D. musaica (mosaic).* fl. bright azure-blue, disposed in a terminal spike or truss. Autumn. l. ovate, acute, dark green above, profusely pencilled and veined with zigzag transverse lines of pure white; under side deep reddish-purple. Stems terete, chequered, surrounded at the nodes by close brownish sheaths. h. 1 1/2ft. Maynas, 1866. (F. d. S. 1711-2.) D. oxypetala (sharp-petaled). fl., corolla of three reddish-purple-veined, ovate, acute, spreading petals, with a white spot at the base; pedicels remote, two-flowered, the upper ones very short, the lowest one long, deflexed; pedicels and flowers with small brown ovate bracts; calyx of three ovate, acute, spreading, reddish-purple veined petals, with a white spot at the base; anthers linear-oblong, whitish at the base. August. l. confined to the upper part of the stem, alternate, elliptical, attenuated, both at the base and at the extremity, entire, striated, the sides a little incurved, very glabrous, except a little pubescence at the base, on the under side. Stem oblique, simple, or forked. h. 2ft. 1810. (B. M. 2721.) D. picta (spotted). fl. purple-blue, with a very distinct white spot at the base, about 1in. across, disposed in short terminal panicles. September. l. broad-elliptic, about 4 1/2in. long, green, with a broad stripe of brown on each side, but edged with green. Branches short. h. 6in. Brazil, 1830. (B. M. 4760.) D. Saundersii (Saunders'). fl. 3/4in. in diameter, crowded in a dense ovoid, almost capitate panicle, 2in. long; pedicel very short, glabrous; sepals oblong, obtuse, concave, glabrous, white, tipped with violet; petals more than twice as large as the sepals, obovate, concave, rounded at the tip, violet except at the base, which is white. July. l. numerous, sub-bifarious, lanceolate, long-acuminate, recurved for the most part, five-nerved, dark green, suddenly contracted at the base into the sheath; margins recurved in the lower part, pale beneath; sheaths hardly tumid, green; mouth rounded. Stem slender, very sparingly branched. Branches slender, cylindrical, terete, pilose. h. 2ft. Brazil, 1873. (B. M. 6165.) D. thyrsiflora (thyrse-flowered).* fl. of a rich dark blue, to which the bright yellow anthers form a pleasing contrast; thyrse compact, often 6in. or 7in. in length. Summer and autumn. l. broad, sheathing, extremely dark green. h. 4ft. Brazil, 1822. A splendid stove plant, of easy culture, now, unfortunately, rarely seen. One of the handsomest flowers of the order. (B. R. 682.) D. undata (wavy). l. broadly ovate, dark green, with longitudinal bands, alternately of green reflected with silver, and of green shaded to black, strikingly undulated or waved; under surface of a uniform purple. Amazons, 1879. A very dwarf-growing species. (F. d. S. 1763-4.) D. vittata (striped). l. purplish-green, with two silvery stripes. Brazil, 1871.