180 



The Dictionary of Gardening, 



Bellis — continued. 



pretty. See Fig. 240. flood gaiilen kiiuls are B. p. compicua, red ; 

 Crown, pink; Kliza, purple; lliiiiKNS, red; Snowi'LAKE, white. 



^sflte 



FiG 



niil.I.IS ItOTUiNDIFOLIA CtERULESCENS. 



B. rotundifolia coerulescens (round-leaved, bluish).* fi.-heads 

 from ^iii. to IJin. in diameter, resembling those of tlie common 

 Daisy, but with fewer, often broader, ray-flowers, which vary 

 from white to pale blue. I. more or less hairy, with slender stalks, 

 lin. to 3in. long ; blade ovate or sub-cordate, sinuate toothed, 

 three-nerved. RIorocco, 1872. A very beautiful perennial, re- 

 quiring the shelter of a cold frame during severe winters. See 

 Fig. 2U, (B. M. 6015.) 



BELLIUM (from hellis, a Daisy ; the flowers re- 

 sembling tliose of that plant). Okd. Composite. A genua 

 of pretty little, free-flowering plants, differing from the 

 common Daisy only in having a pappus of six to eight 

 broad scales, torn at the apex, alternating with a like 

 n-umber of long scabrous bristles. They thrive best in a 

 mixture of sandy loam and peat. Propagation is readily 

 effected by means of seeds or divisions; the latter should 

 be made in spring. 



Fig. 242. Belli UM bellidioides. 



B. bellidioides (Daisy-like).* Jl.-hcads white, solitary. 

 S{'i)tciiilier. /. .spathulate, radical. 



Bellium — continued. 



June to 

 Stolons creeping, h. 4in. 



Iliily, 1796. Annual. See Fig. 242. 

 B. crassifolium (thick-leaved), fi.-hcads whitish-yellow ; scape» 



tnucli exceedhig the leaves, downy. June. I. Bub-radical, thick, 



obovate, entire, attenuate at base, rather downy. Stems many, 



ascending, h. 6in. Sardinia, 1831. Hardy perennial. (S. B. 



F. G. 2, 278.) 

 B. minutum (very small).* fi.-hcads white and yellow, fin. across, 



on slender stalks, longer than tlie foliage. June to September. 



I. narrow spathulate, attenuated at the base, slightly hairy. 



h. 3in. Levant, 1772. A rare little species, requiring a warm, 



well-drained position on the rockery 



BELLOWS. These were formerly employed for fumi- 

 gating, but are now entirely super.seded by the ordinai-.v 

 fumigators. The Sulphur Bellows is a very useful instru- 

 ment for the uniform distribution of flowers of sulphur on 

 vines and other subjects infested with mildew. In form it 

 is very like those in common domestic use, but has a rose of 

 small holes at the end of its nozzle, through wliich the 

 sulphur is ejected. 



BBLL-FBFFBR. See Capsicum grossum. 



BELOFBRONB (from helos, an arrow, and j)ero?tne, 

 a band ; in reference to the arrow-shaped connectivum). 

 Syn. Dianthera. Okd. Acanthacece. Very pretty stove 

 evergreen shrubs, allied to Justicia. Flowers blue or 

 purple, borne in secund, axillary, or terminal spikes, fre- 

 quently subtended with coloured bracts ; corolla gaping, 

 the upper lip concave, the lower trifid. They are easily 

 cultivated in a compost of loam, leaf soil, peat, and sand. 

 Propagated by young cuttings, taken in spring. Belo- 

 perones may also be treated like Justicias (which see), and 

 will succeed admirably. There are a large number of 

 species, but few of which have been introduced. 



B. oblongata (oblong), fl. rosy-purple; spikes axillary ; anthers 

 calcarate at base ; bracts bracteolate. Summer. I. oblong-lan- 

 ceolate, opposite, h. 3ft. Brazil, 1832. (B. H. 9, 9.) 



B. vlolacea (violet-coloured).* fi. violet, t. lanceolate, acumi- 

 nate, entire. /:. 3ft. New Grenada, 1859. (B. M. 5244.) 



BBITDIITG-BOWIT the branches of fruit trees, by 

 means of weights or string attached to pegs driven into the 

 ground, is sometimes resorted to for the purpose of ac- 

 quiring a particular shape, or fruitfulness ; but authorities 

 differ as to the usefulness of the plan for the latter pur- 

 pose. Young trees that are inclined to grow strong in the 

 middle may be more evenly balanced by adopting the plan 

 of Bending the strong branches, and so diverting the sap to 

 the weaker ones. 



BENGAL QUINCE. See 2Egle Marmelos. 



BENJAMIN-TKEE. See Picns Beujamina. 



BENT GRASS. See Agrostis. 



BENTKAMIA (in honour of George Bentham, a dis- 

 tinguished English botanist). Ord. Comacece. Hardy 

 evergreen shrubs or low trees, now referred to the 

 genus Gonius. The first-named species is rather tender 

 in the neighbourhood of London, and can only be grown 

 successfully against a wall, for which purpose it is very suit- 

 able. In Cornwall and other mild places, it attains a height 

 of 20ft. in the open. Loudon thinks it might be rendered 

 hardier by grafting it on Comus sanguinea. Flowers dis- 

 posed in heads, each head attended by an involucre, which 

 consists of four petal-like parts, and resembles a corolla ; 

 calyx with a minute four-toothed limb ; petals four, fleshy, 

 wedge-shaped ; stamens four- ; style one. Leaves opposite, 

 cxstipulate, sub-evergreen, entire. Fruit constituted of 

 many pomes grown together. They thrive in rather moist, 

 loamy soil, in a sheltered spot. Propagated by seeds, sown 

 when ripe, in a cool-house ; or by layering, in autumn. 

 B. fragifcra (Strawberrv-flowered).* fl. large, white, sessile, 



den.selv aggregate, formmg a round head. June to Octol)er. fr. 



large, about the size of that of the common Arbutus, reddish. 



(. lanceolate, acuminated at both ends, on short petioles, rather 



rough, with small, adpressed down. Branches spreading, smooth. 



h. 10ft. to 15ft. Nepaul, 1825. (G. C. xiv., 723.) 

 B. japonlca (Japanese), fl. yellowish-red. Spring, h. Bft. 



Japan, 1847. (S. 7,. F. J. 16.) 



