184 THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 
Bertholletia—continued. Beschorneria— continued. 
TRIBE Lecythidew of ORD. Myrtacew. B. excelsa is a tall i 
tree, having the young branches leafy at the apex. Leaves AE 
alternate, oblong, quite entire, rather coriaceous. From YY 
this Brazilian species are obtained the well-known Brazil 4 
or Para Nuts of commerce. ‘The tree is of no value for TN 
decorative purposes. 
BERTOLONIA (named after A. Bertoloni, an Italian 
botanist, author of “ Rariorum Italiæ Plantarum Decades,” 
&c.). ORD. Melastomacee. Elegant little creeping or 
dwarf-growing stove plants, chiefly cultivated for their 
exquisitely marked leaves. Flowers white or purple. 
Leaves stalked, ovate-cordate, five to eleven-nerved, 
crenulated ; cymes corymbose, terminal. They thrive in a 
compost of equal parts peat, leaf mould, and sand, in a 
warm, close, and moist atmosphere, but are most suc- 
cessfully cultivated under a bell glass in the stove; in 
fact, the latter is the only plan of growing them where a 
constantly humid atmosphere cannot be otherwise obtained 
without such means. They are easily propagated by 
cuttings or seeds. 
B. ænea (coppery). fl. purple. h. 6in. Brazil. 
B, guttata oa geren nig era 
B, maculata ( 
| and calyces ‘rom a Jon bristles. Stem rooting at the base. 
f mi “BM. asoL . 
mara aein dirii a m eo 8in. Page 
— ; upper vi 
marked with sriegnler snrenin. oF sallaga oem und Bi poe 
regener eh gig purple. Stem aiy. Ga Brazil, 1858. 
B. pubseeers (downy).* J. ovate-acumina’ = bmg to 4in. long, and 
Mi owner an ren a 
z 
2in. to šin. broad; bright light green, with a broad chocolate- 
coloured band down the centre ; upper surface clothed with long 
white hairs. Ecuador. 
BERZELIA (named in honour of Berzelius, a cele- 
brated Swedish chemist). ORD. Bruniacee. Very pretty 
little greenhouse ev shrubs. Heads of flowers 
naked, with three bracts at the base of each; usually 
crowded at the tops of the branches. Leaves short, some- 
what trigonal, imbricate or spreading. They require a 
mixture of peat, loam, and sand, with thorough drainage 
and moderately firm potting. Young cuttings root freely 
in sand, under a bell glass, in gentle heat. 
B. abfotanoides Abrotanumlike). J -heads white, the size of 
m filbert, termi crowded, s bi clavate, 
green, smooth, ustulate at oe apex. ay tS to July. l ovate, 
X. 
KA lift. Cape of Good Hope, 1787. (L. B, O E) petioles. 
B. ‘woolly).* heads whi = ae 
ey ome (woolly).* fi, marge br k the size of a 
of lateral 
thula; 
1774. (L. B. C. =. 
horiéur of H. Beschorner, a 
German botanist). — 2A a i oH. Greenhouse 
tg succulents, allied to Littwa and Fourcroya. 
eae dee x-parted; segments linear spathulate, 
often spreading at the point; stamens 
scant Jongas the ‘peranth For culttre, &., see 
B. 
sit a Aade eid 
and corymbose, subtended Scaviowe reddish bracts. t | 
seabrous margin. h. bft. to 6ft. Mexico, ico "ee Pig of nih P 
B. Decosteriana (Decoster’s), 
Sr aire ie prieg ite ae 
rous bracts. mero a ie 24in, to lin. 
ae eet ; edges ly serrulate. h, 8ft, Me ie Big Pe 
: =; Tonen I’s).* fl. tubular, 
dark blood-red Ted below and down iain lone. nthe reat Very bright 
j bracts 
Fia. 247. BESCHORNERIA BRACTEATA. 
tubifiora (tube-flowered). enish-purple, nutant, fascicled, 
*practate| Mrascieles iaee ok ie scapes erect, long simple. 
May. linear, c y recurved, spinosely denti- 
poe nett Sesion, 1845. (B. M om) F 
B (Yucca-like), f b racemose, á 
with rich -red bracts; papes soe v a af cotal red a ie. 
r sre gS Se acute, 
ee honour of Basil Besler, an 
apothecary at SYN. : ais D 
neraceæ. Very. pretty 
branched. Peduncle = eile Sei 
site, petiolate, thickish; nerves veins very 
beneath. Stems sub-tet 
mixture of samy A kem, Beslerias may 
readily in heat. 
f alinea ech ront 
(sete 
yellow; peduncles axillary 
in ri umbel at wa bracts two, at- 
CRY. orbicularly cordate, toothed, 
toothed. Guiana, 1819, 
oe 
hairy outside ; 
"bracts cordate 
grandiflora large-flowered).* fl. pA campanulate, sii 
y red; Se ai xillary, as many- weet 3 
oblong, , crenated, di nsely pioen a) above, be- 
, well as on the endon h. 
| neath, as 
t in 
aa ggg ie ds > A nih a T axillary 
Eae e. 
