214 



The Dictionary of Gardening, 



Bromus — coiUimied. 

 about as large as those of Briza maxima. It grows about 

 2ft. high, and is of very easy culture in common garden soil. 

 •Sow Beeds outside in patches, in July, thinning out the 

 plants when necessary. There are numerous other species 

 belonging to this genus, but the above-mentioned is the only 

 one worth growing in gardens. It forms a beautiful object 

 in the mixed border, or among ferns. 



BRONGIiriAKTIA (in honour of Adolphe Brong- 

 niart, a distinguished botanist, and one of the editors of 

 "Annales des Sciences Naturelles"). Ord. Leguminoso!. 

 Handsome greenhouse evergreen sub-shrubs, clothed with 

 silky villi. Flowers large, purple ; pedicels twin, axillary, 

 one-flowered. Leaves impari-pinnate, with many pairs of 

 leaflets, the terminal one not remote from the rest. They 

 require a compost of sandy loam, leaf soil, and fibry peat, 

 with perfect drainage. Cuttings of the yoiang shoots, if 

 firm at the base, will root if dibbled in sand, under a bell 

 glass, in a cool house. 



B, podalyrioides (Podalyria-like).* /. purple, large. September. 

 I. with two to five pairs of leaflets ; leaflets elliptic-oblong, 

 rounded, and mucionate at the apex, clothed with adpressed 

 hairs on both surfaces, but silky when young, h. 1ft. New Spain, 

 1827. 

 B. sericea (.silky).* Jl. purple. September, k. 1ft. l, leaflets 

 ovate-oblong, acute, very silky on both surfaces. Mexico, 1843. 



BROOK-IiIJVEi:. See Veronica Beccabunga. 



BBOOm. See Besom. 



BROOM. See Cytisus scoparins. 



BKOOIII BAPB. See Orobanche. 



BBOOm, SPANISH. See Spartium jnnceum. 



BBiOSIMUlVI (from brosimos, edible ; fruit edible). 

 Bread Nut. Okd. Urticacew. A genus of stove evergreen 

 shrubs or trees, principally of economic value in their native 

 countries. Male and female flowers generally in a globular 

 head, but sometimes borne on separate trees ; calyx and 

 corolla wanting. Leaves entire. They generally thrive 

 in a rich fibry loam. Cuttings of ripe wood, with their 

 leaves on, root if placed in sand, in moist heat. 

 B. Allcastriun. fl-, catkins globose, stalked, twin, axillary. /)'. 

 coated. (. ovate-lanceolate, li. 6ft. Jamaica, 1776. 



BBOUGKTONIA (named after Mr. Arthur Broughton. 

 an English botanist). Okd. Orchidea;. A very com- 

 pact-growing stove evergreen, allied to Lmlia, succeeding 

 best if suspended from the roof on a block of wood, with a 

 little moss; it requires a free supply of heat and water 

 when in a growing state. Propagated by dividing the 

 plant. The colour of the flowers is very distinct. 

 B. sangnlnea (blood-coloured).* fl. blood-coloured, rather large, 

 disposed in a terminal p.\nicle ; scape divided ; colunm distinct, or 

 at the very base united with the unguic\date lip, which is 

 lengthened at the base into a tube, connate with the ovarium. 

 Summer. I. twin, oblou?, seated on a pseudo-bulb. h. IJft. 

 Jamaica, 1793. (13. »I. 3076.) 



BBOTJSSONBTIA (named after P. N. V. Broussonet, 

 a French naturalist, who wrote numerous works on Natural 

 History). Ord. Vrlicacece. Ornamental fast-growing, de- 

 ciduous, Mulberry-like trees. They require rather good 

 open garden soil, and prove hardy in situations which are 

 not very exposed. Propagated by suckers and cuttings of 

 ripened wood, inserted in autumn, in a cool house ; and by 

 seeds, sown when ripe, or kept till the following April. 

 B. papyrifera (paper-bearing).* The Paper Mulberry, fi. gTcenish, 

 diii-cious ; males in pendulous, cylindrical catkins, each flower 

 in the axU of a bract ; females in peduncleil, axillary, upright 

 glnbular heads. May. I. simple, alternate, exstipulate^ variously 

 lobed or entire, h.airv, large, h. 10ft. to 20ft. China, 1751. There 

 are several varieties' (littering in the shape and character of the 

 leaves. (B. M. 235S). 



BBOWAIiLIA (named in honour of John Browall, 

 Bishop of Abo, who defended the sexual system of Lin- 

 naeus against Siegesbeck, in a book entitled " Examen 

 epicriseos," &c., 1739). Oed. Scrophvl«rinem. A genus 

 of handsome shrubs or herbs. Flowers blue or white, axil- 

 lary and terminal ; corolla salver-.shaped, resupinate from 

 the contortion of the peduncle j tube tifteen-nerved, ventri- 



Browallia — continued. 

 cose at top. Leaves alternate, stalked, ovate in outline. 

 They thrive best in a rich, open, sandy soil. To have strong 

 plants in bloom by Christmas -and after, seeds should bo 

 sown in July, in pans or pots of light rich sandy soil, and 

 kept in a close frame, or hand light, where they can be 

 shaded till germination takes place. When large enough to 

 handle, the seedlings may either be pricked out, three in a 

 pot, or potted singly, according to the size of the specimens 

 required. In the former way, they form fine masses for 

 conservatory or greenhouse decoration, or to cut from ; and 

 in the latter, they are very suitable for window recesses, 

 &o. After potting, they should be stood in a pit or frame, 

 and syringed every morning and evening, to ward off at- 

 tacks of insect pests. An abundance of weU-diluted liquid 

 manure is required as soon as the flower-buds appear. 

 To keep the plants dwarf and bushy, it wiU be needful 

 to stop them about three times during the remainder of 

 the summer and autumn, keeping as near the glass as 

 possible ; they should be housed by the end of September. 

 These elegant little greenhouse annuals are unrivalled for 

 affording choice, neat sprays for bouquets during the winter 

 and early spring months, or for growing as pot plants, 

 to furnish warm greenhouses or sitting-room windows. 

 Many of the species and varieties are largely employed for 

 summer decoration of the flower garden, with highly satis- 

 factory results; for this purpose, seeds should be sown 

 in gentle heat early in spring, and the plants transferred 

 to the flower borders late in June, or early in July, having 

 been previously encouraged in pots, and well hardened off. 



B. abbreviata (shortened). JJ. light red ; pedicels shorter than 



the calyx ; calyx campamdate, with teeth as long as the tube. 



I. oval, hairy "when young, quite glabrous when mature. 1852. 



(R. G. 94.) 

 B. demissa (low).* fl. of a bright but pale blue colour, sometimes 



red or purple; peduncles axillary, one-flowered, downy. June. 



I. ovate-oblong, acuminated, oblique at the base. h. 6in. to 1ft. 



Panama, 1735. (B. M. 1136.) 



Fig. 283. Browallu elata, showing Habit and Flower. 



B. elata (tall).* fl. deep blue ; calyx beset with glandular hairs ; 

 peduncles axillary, one or many-tlowered. July. I. oval, acumi- 

 nated, /i. Uft. Peru, 1768. Of this extensively-grown species 

 there are two varieties, one with white flowers, and the other, 

 nramlilloni. with pale blue, both of which are well worth glowing. 

 See Fig. 2S3. (ii. M. 34.) 



B. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl., corolla with a greenish- 

 yeUow tube, which is clothed with glandular villi, and a white or 

 very pale lilac limb ; peduncles one-flowered, axillary, racemose at 

 the tops of the branches. July. I. ovate, acute, attenuated into 

 the pcti.iles at the base. h. 1ft. to 3ft. Peru, 1829. (B. M. 3069.) 



B. Jamesoni (Jameson's).* /. bright orange, with lighter- 

 coloured throat, tubular. June. h. 4ft. New Grenada, 1860. 

 This species has been recently re-introduced, after having been 

 lost to cultivation for over thirty years. (B. iM. 4605.) 



B. Roezli (Roezl's). ;(. large, either of a delicate azure blue, or 

 wliite, with a yellow tube. Spring to autumn. (. shining green. 

 .\n exceedingly pretty species, having flowers double the size of 

 any other, and forming a dense compact bush, lift, to 2ft. m 

 height. Rocky Mountains. 



