An Encyclopedia of Horticulture. 



161 



BASTARD VERVAIX. SO; Stachytarpheta. 



BASTARD VETCH, s-v phaca. 



BASTARD WIND FLOWER. See Geutiana 

 Pseudo-pneumonanthe. 



BASTARD WOOD-SAGE. S. » Teucrium Pseudo- 

 scorodonia. 



BAST MATS. Sre Bass Mats. 



BATATAS (its aborigiiKilnamel. Orb. Comvlvularew. 

 This goiuis is now referred to Jjiomwa. Strong, free-grow- 

 ing-, greenbouse or stove deciduous twiners. Calyx of five 

 sepals ; corolla canipanulato ; stamens inclosed. They are 

 of easy culture, only requiring plenty of room to sjiread, 

 and are well adapted for trellis work, or to run up pillars. 

 They are all tuberous rooted, and therefore require to be 

 kept dry when in a dormant state. A rich, open, loamy 

 soil is most suitable. Young cuttings strike readily under 

 a hand glass, in lieat. 



B. bignonloides (Kisnonia-like).* jl., corolla dark purple, funnel- 

 shaped, with a curled linih ; peduncles niunv-Howereil, nut^uit, 

 shcuter th.in the petioles. .July. I. thiee-iolied ; biiul lobes 

 rounded, iiiihriKite. Cayenne, 1824. (B. M. 2645.) 



B. CavanillesU (Cavanilles').* fl. pale whitish-red; lobes of 

 corolla obtuse, crenulateil ; jjeduncles one to three-flowered. 

 August. /. quinale : leaflets ovate, entire, unequal. Native 

 country unknown, 1815. 



Fig. 208. Batatas edulis, showing Tuber. 



B. ednlls (eilible).* Sweet Potato. /., corolla lin. long, white 

 out^i(le ami purple inside; peduncles equal in length to the 

 petioles, or exceeding them, three to four-flowereil. /. variable, 

 usually angular, also lobed. Stem creeping, rarely climbing. 

 East Indies, 1797. See Fig. 208. 



B. glancifoUa (milky-green -leaved), fl., corolla small, purplish, 

 with an inflated tube, and ovate, acute segments ; peduncles two- 

 flowered, length of leaves. May. (. sagittate, truncate behmd, 

 on long petioles. Mexico, 1732. 



B. heterophylla (various-leaved). /. blue ; peduncles solitary, 

 axillary, bearing each three sessile flowers. July. L quinately 

 palmate; lobes or leaflets ovatc-siiathulate, acute. Plant very 

 villous. Cuba, 1817. 



B. panlcnlata (i)anicle(l).* fl. large, purple ; peduncles much 

 exceeding the petioles, many-flowered, dichotomously and corym- 



Batatas — cont inued. 



bosely panicled. June. /. palmate, five to seven-cleft ; lobes 

 ovate-lanceolate or elliptic, bluntish, rarely sub-acuminated. 

 India, 1799. (d. C. n. s., x., 341.) 



B. senegalensis (Senegalese), fl. white or purplish, lar^e ; 



jieiluiicles thri'c-flowered. June. I. quinately palmate; lobes 



ovate, obtuse, middle one the largest. Stem white, tubercular. 



liuinea, 1823. 

 B. venosa (veiny), fl. purple; peduncles umbellate, with an 



ovate-cordate, solitary leaf at the hase of each pedicel. July. 



I. digitately quiiuite ; leafleUs petiolatc, acuniinateil, quite entire. 



Frame, 1820. 



BATEMANNIA (named after Mr. J. Bateman, a 

 collector and cultivator of orchids, and author of a. 

 " Monograph of Odontoglossuni," and other works on orchi- 

 daceous plants). Okd. Orchidacew. A small and easily- 

 grov.'U genus of dwarf, compact-growing epiphytes, closely 

 allied to Maxillariii , hut diil'ering from that genus in having 

 the anther-bed with a membranous border. They may be 

 grown in pots, in a compost of peat and moss, or on blocks 

 of wood with moss. They require an intermediate house 

 and plenty of water in the growing season. Propagated by 

 divisions and offsets. They have generally a free-flower- 

 ing habit : but some of the species are not so ornamental 

 as many other orchids. 



B. armiUata (braceleted). /!. green, white. 1875. (B. X. O. 316.) 

 B. Burtii (Burt's), fl. red-brown, yellow base, 3iu. across ; lip 

 white, lipped chocolate. Autumn. I. elliptic-oblong, or ligulate, 

 sub-distichous. Plant bulbless. Costa Rica, 1872. (B. M. 6003.) 

 B. Colleyl (Colley's). fl. on a pendulous raceme, rising from the 

 b.ase of the pseudo-bulbs ; sepals and petals browni.sh-purpla 

 within, green without ; lip white. Autumn, ft. 6in. Demerara, 

 1834. (B. R. 1714.) 

 B. grandlflora (large-flowered).* fl., flower-spike coming up with 

 the young growth, bearing_ three or four flowers, of curious struc- 

 ture ; sepals and petals olive-green, striped with reddish-brown ; 

 lip white, with reddisli-purple streaks, orange or yellow towards 

 the base. Pseudo-bulbs ovate, 3iu. or 4in. long, and bearing two 

 large, broad, leathery leaves. New Grenada, 1866. (B. M. 5567.) 

 B. Walllsll (Wallis').* fl., sepals light ^eenish-yellow outside, 

 olive-green to chestnut-brown inside, with some yellow at the 

 base ; petals with scarlet stripes at the very base, but otherwise 

 coloured like the sepals ; lip blade greenish, with a brownish 

 hue at the anterior part ; peduncles slender, corymbose. A. 1ft. 

 Columbia, 1876. 



BATSCHIA. See Iiithospermnm. 



BAITERA (named after Francis and Ferdinand Bauer, 

 German botanical draughtsmen). Ord. Saxifragacew. Small 

 shrubs, natives of Australia, New Zealand, &c. Flowers 

 axillary, solitary, pedunculate. Leaves six in a whorl, ap- 

 proximating by threes, and therefore, as it were, opposite 

 and ternate, exstipnlate. Easily cultivated in a compost of 

 sandy loam and peat. Propagated by cuttings, placed in 

 sandy soil, under a glass. These very pretty little green- 

 house evergreens flower nearly the whole year through. 



B. huxnills (low), fi., corolla red, one-half smaller than B, 

 ritbioides, and the plant is altogether much smaller. July to 

 December. I. oblong, crenated. h. 1ft. New South Wales, 

 1804. (L. B. C. 1197.) 



B. rubl83folla (madder-leaved). Synonymous with B, rubioides. 



B. rubioides (madder-like).* fl. pale red, or pink. I. lanceo- 

 late, crenated. h. lit. to 2ft. Ntw South Wales, 1793. SvN. B, 

 rubiwfulia. (A. B. R. 198.) 



BATTHINIA (in honour of John and Caspar Bauhin, 

 two famous botanists of the sixteenth century). Moun- 

 tain Ebony. Ord. Leguminosu;. Very showy stove ever- 

 green shrubs. Flowers racemose ; petals five, spreading, 

 oblong, rather unequal, upper one usually distant from tho 

 rest. Leaves two-lobed, constantly composed of two jointed 

 leaflets at the top of the petiole, sometimes nearly free, but 

 usually joined togr Iher, more or less, and with an awn in 

 the recess. They oucceed well in a mixture of sand, loam, 

 and peat, requiring good drainage ami moderately firm 

 potting. Propagated by cuttings, which shoidd be taken 

 when the wood is neither very ripe nor very young ; the 

 leaves must be dressed off, and the cuttings planted in 

 sand, under a glass, in moist heat. Although glorious 

 objects in the tropics, few of the species flower under 

 onr comparatively sunless skies ; those which hitherto have 

 succeeded well in Britain are marked with an asterisk. 



