Dipcadi
(derivation obscure). SYNS. Polemannia, Tricharis, Uropetalum, and Zuccagnia. ORD. Liliaceae. A genus of pretty hardy and half-hardy bulbs. allied to Galtonia. There are about a score of species, natives of South Europe, tropical and Southern Africa, and East Indies. Flowers greenish or yellowish; raceme simple, sparsely flowered; pedicels short, bracteate at base. They require a compost of light sandy loam and leaf mould; the roots must be kept dry during winter. Propagated by offsets, in spring. D. Balfourii (Balfour's). fl. greenish-yellow, nearly 1in. long; racemes loosely ten to twelve-flowered, 6in. to 9in. long; scape green, terete, 2ft. to 3ft. long. September. l. three to four, ensiform, sub-erect, about 1ft. long and 1in. broad. h. 2ft. Socotra, 1880.
D. glaucum (grey-leaved). fl., corolla of a greenish tawny colour, glaucous or clouded with a grey bloom or hoar on the outside, almost 1in. long, tubularly campanulate; segments oblong, obtuse; raceme long, spiked, many-flowered, irregularly and distantly scattered; scape upright, scarcely flexuose, 2ft. to 3ft. high; peduncles straight, two or three times longer than the flower. August. l. upright, lorately oblong, lanceolate, glaucous, like the rest of the plant, flat, convolute, and sheathing at their base. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1814. SYN. Uropetalon glaucum (under which name it is figured in B. R. 156).
D. serotina. (late-flowering). fl. brown-coloured; racemes many-flowered; scape bending; corolla cernuous, cylindric-campanulate, six-partite for more than three-fourths of the length; segments linear-oblong, equal; outer ones acute, patent; inner more obtuse, partly coherent. June. l. nearly the length of the scape, alternately linear, channelled. h. 9in. Spain. SYN. Scilla serotina (under which name it is figured in B. M. 859). There is a variety of this with pinkish flowers, D. s. fulvum (figured in B. M. 1185). D. umbonatum (umbonate). This species is closely allied to D. Welwitschii, but differs from that by its smaller and differently-shaped bulb, larger bracts, more numerous and shorter flowers, and differently-shaped ovary. Cape of Good Hope, 1865. SYN. Uropetalum umbonatum. (Ref. B. 17.) D. Welwitschii (Welwitsch's). fl. green throughout, at first cernuous, finally erecto-patent, the inner segments of the perianth connate at the edges, shortly patulous at the tips, the outer segments reaching down within 1/4in. of the base, the outer third reflexed, the tip cylindrical; raceme secund, four to six-flowered, 3in. to 4in. long; scape 1ft. long, erect, slender, terete, glaucous-green, naked. l. linear, about two lines broad, equalling or slightly exceeding the scape, sheathing it at the base, flat upwards, recurved, fleshy in texture, minutely ribbed, glaucous-green, naked. h. 1ft. Angola, 1867. This species succeeds well if grown exposed to the light in a cool greenhouse. SYN. Uropetalum Welwitschii. (Ref. B. 16.)