TIIK lUTLlJ IJOOK 



BURBIPGEA 



the bulbs may be lifted from July to 

 Sei)tembcr, and the offsets detached 

 and replanted at once 4 to G ins. apart 

 and 3 to 4 ins. deep. 



BUPHANB ( boKS, an ox ; hone, 

 slaughter ; the bulbs are said to be 

 fatal to cattle). Nat. Ord. Amaryl- 

 lideae. — A small genus of no great 

 garden value, closely related to 

 Ha^manthus, having large tunicated 

 bulbs, leathery leaves, and numerous 

 red funnel-shaped flowers in umbels. 

 There are only two species, both 

 natives of Cape Colony. They are 

 not quite hardy enough for open-air 

 culture, but grow easily in a green- 

 house in a compost of sandy loam 

 and peat, in the same way as the 

 Brunsvigias. 



E. ciliaris {Amaryllis ciliaris ; Hce- 

 manthus ciliaris; Brunsvigia ciliaris; 

 Cohurgia ciliaris; Crossyne ciliare). 

 — This species has roundish bulbs 3 

 to 4 ins. in diameter, stiff leathery 

 leaves, G to 12 ins. long, thickly 

 ciliated Avith brown or straw-coloured 

 bristles. From fifty to one hundred 

 dull purple flowers are borne in a 

 dense umbel on a stout scape 4 to G 

 ins. high. The variety guttata has 

 narrower leaves and longer bristles. 

 {Jjot. Reg. t. 1153.) 



B. disticha {li. toxicaria ; lla^man- 

 thus toxicaria; Amaryllis disticha; 

 Brunsvigia toxicaria). The Bush- 

 men's Poison Plant. — A species with 

 huge roundish bulbs 6 to 9 ins. in 

 diameter, with many hundreds of thin 

 Ijrown tunics. Leaves 1 to 1', ft. 

 long, distichous, not ciliated, but 

 often wavy. The deep scarlet sweet- 

 scented flowers are borne in dense 

 umbels G to 12 ins. across, on stout 

 compressed stalks G to 12 ins. high. 

 {Bot. Mag. t. 1217; Bot. Peg. t. 

 567.) 



From the bulbs of this species the 

 Bushmen of S. Africa express a 



l)oisonous juice, in which they dip 

 their arrows when bent on killing- 

 raids. 



BURBIDGEA (after F. W. Bur- 

 hidge, late curator of Trinity College 

 Botanic Gardens, Dublin). Nat. Ord. 

 Scitaminese. — The only representive 

 of this genus is — 



B. nitida. — An ornamental-looking 

 plant, closely related to Alpinia, 3 to 

 4 ft. high, with tufts of erect, roundish 

 stems, furnished with elliptic, lance- 

 shaped pointed leaves 4 to 6 in. long. 

 The bright orange-scarlet flowers are 

 borne in terminal racemes, sometimes 

 as often as three times in one year. 

 {Bot. Mag. t. G403.) 



I''i(i. 8\.—liv.rhiilf!ca nitida. (L) 



This plant is rarely seen outside 

 botanic gardens. Being a native of 

 N.W. Borneo, it naturally requires 

 l)lcnty of heat and moisture. It must 

 therefore be grown in the stove, Avith 

 a mininum winter temperature of G5° 

 F., and may be treated as a pot plant 

 or i)laced in a border. It flourishes 

 in loamy soil enriched with a little 

 old cow - manure, and during the 



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