BOMBAX 



121 



BORAGE 



BO MBAX. Silk Cotton-tree. (From bombax, cotton ; 

 in reference to the woolly hairs which envelop the 

 seed, like those of the cotton-plant. Nat. ord. Mallow- 

 worts [Malvaceae]. Linn. i6-Monadelphia, &-Polyandria.) 

 Trees more remarkable for their prodigious size that 

 for their use or beauty. Stove trees. Cuttings of rather 

 young shoots, but firm at the base, placed in sandy peat, 

 under a bell-glass, and in bottom-heat ; peat and loam. 

 Summer temp., 60 to 85 ; winter, 50 to 60. 

 B. Cei'ba (Ceiba). 100. White. S. Amer. 1692. 



" Silk Cotton- tree." 



Co'ngo (Congo). See COCHLOSPERMUM GOSSYPIUM. 

 eria'nthus (woolly-flowered). See ERIODENDRON 



LEIANTHERUM. 



zlobo'sum (globe-form). 60. Guiana. 1824. 



Gjssy'pium (Cotton-plant). See COCHLOSPERMUM 



GOSSVPIUM. 

 grandiflo'rum (large-flowered). See COCHLOSPERMUM 



GOSSYPIUM. 



htptaphy'llum (seven-leaved). See B. MALABARICUM. 

 ., Jenma'ni (Jenman's). 'British Guiana. 

 malaba'ricum (Malabar). 60. Scarlet. Malabar. 



" Cotton-tree." 

 ,, penta'ndrum (five-anthered). See EROIDENDRON 



ASFRACTUOSUM. 



quina'tum (five-leaved). See BOMBAX CEIBA. 



septena'tum (seven-leaved). 50. White. Carthagena. 



1699. 

 ,, vittfo'lium (vine-leaved). See COCHLOSPERMUM vm- 



FOLIUM. 

 BOMBYX NEUSTRIA. See LACKEY MOTH. 



BONAPA RTEA. (Named after Napoleon Bonaparte. 

 Nat. ord. Browelworts [Bromeliaceae]. Linn. 6-Hex- 

 andria, i-Monogynia. Most of the species are now referred 

 to Agave.) 



Remarkable for the gracefulness of their long, rush-like 

 leaves. They are well adapted for growing in vases, 

 out of doors, in summer. Stove plants. Seeds in a 

 hotbed ; cuttings in sand, under a glass, in heat ; well 

 drained. Summer temp., 60 to 70 ; winter, 55 to 60. 



B. gra'cilis (slender). See DASYLIRION ACROTRICHUM. 

 ., ju'ncea (rush-leaved). See AGAVE GEMINIFLORA. 



BONA'TEA. (Named after M . Bonat, a distinguished 

 Italian botanist. Nat. ord. Orchids [Orchidaceae]. Linn. 

 2O-Gynandria, i-Monogynia. Allied to Habenaria.) 



Stove orchids. Division of the roots, or semi-bulbous 

 tubers ; peat and loam. Summer temp., 60 to 85 ; 

 winter, 50 to 55. 

 B. anUnni'fera (antennae-bearing). Green and white. 



Rhodesia. 1905. 

 specio'sa (showy). 2. Green, white. May. Cape of 



Good Hope. 1820. 

 Uga'ndea (Uganda). Light green, white. Uganda. 



1906. 



BONES are beneficial as a manure, because their chief 

 constituent (phosphate of lime) is also a constituent of 

 all plants ; and the gelatine which is also in bones is of 

 itself a source of food to them. The bones of the ox, 

 sheep, horse, and pig, being those usually employed, 

 their analyses are here given : 



Phosphate of lime . . 

 Carbonate of lime . . 

 Animal matter . . . 



Ox. Sheep. Horse. Pig. 

 55 7o 68 52 



33 



25 



31 



47 



The bones must be applied to the crops in very small 

 pieces or powder ; and ten pounds, at the time of insert- 

 ing the seed, are enough for thirty square yards, if sown 

 broadcast ; and a much smaller quantity is sufficient 

 if sprinkled along the drills in which the seed is sown. 

 There is no doubt that bone-dust may be employed 

 with advantage in all gardens and to all garden-crops ; 

 but it has been experimented on most extensively 

 with the turnip and potato, and with unfailing bene- 

 fit. Mixed with sulphur, and drilled in with the 

 turnip-seed, it has been found to preserve the young 

 plants from the fly. Mr. Knight found it beneficial 

 when applied largely to stone-fruit at the time of plant- 

 ing ; and it is quite as good for the vine. To lawns, the 

 dust has been applied with great advantage when the 

 grass was becoming thin. As a manure for the shrubbery, 



parterre, and greenhouse, it is also most valuable ; and, 

 crushed as well as ground, is employed generally to mix 

 with the soil of potted plants. Mr. Maund finds it pro- 

 motes the luxuriance and beauty of his flowers. One 

 pound of bone-dust, mixed with twelve ounces of sul- 

 phuric acid (oil of vitriol), and twelve ounces of water, 

 if left to act upon each other for a day, form super- 

 phosphate of lime, a wineglassful of which has been 

 found beneficial to pelargoniums. Applied as a top- 

 dressing, mixed with half its weight of charcoal-dust, it 

 is a good manure for onions, and may be applied at the 

 rate of nine pounds to the square rod. There is little 

 doubt of this superphosphate being good for all our 

 kitchen-garden crops, being more prompt in its effects 

 upon a crop than simple bone-dust, because it is soluble 

 in water, and therefore more readily presented to the 

 roots in a state for them to imbibe. Bones broken into 

 small pieces are generally used as drainage for pelar- 

 goniums and other potted plants. 



BONGA'RDIA. (Named in compliment to Heinrich 

 Gustav Bongard, a German botanist. Nat. ord. Barberry- 

 worts [Berberidaceae].) 



A hardy, tuberous perennial for the rockery, but as it is 

 liable to perish from damp in winter a hand-light should 

 be placed over the site of the tubers from October to ApriL 

 Sandy soil should be used. Offsets from the tubers. 



B. Rauwo'lfii (Rauwolfs). J. Yellow. Spring. Syria. 

 Persia. 1740. Syn. Leontice chrysogonum. 



BONNA'YA. (Named after the German botanist 

 Bonnay. Nat. ord. Figworts [Scrophulariaceae]. Linn. 

 2-Diandria. i-Monogynia. Related to Torenia.) 



Stove plants. Seeds for annuals ; divisions, and 

 cuttings of creepers and trailers ; rich, sandy loam. 



B. brachyca'rpa (short-seed-podded). See ILYSANTHES 



CAPENSIS. 



re'ptans (creeping). $. Blue. July. E. Ind. 1820. 



Perennial trailer. 

 veroniccefo'lia (speed well-leaved). \. Pink. August. 



E. Ind. 1798. Biennial trailer. 



BONNE-TIA. (Named after C. Bonnet, a distinguished 

 naturalist. Nat. ord. Theads [Ternstrdmiaceae]. Linn. 

 i^-Polyandria, i-Monogynia.) 



Stove tree. Cuttings of firm young shoots in sand, 

 under a glass, in heat ; loam and peat. Summer temp., 

 60 to 80 ; winter, 55 to 60. 



B. meridiona'lis (meridional). Red. Trop. Amer. 1819. 

 palu'stris (marsh). See B. MERIDIONALIS. 



BONPLANDIA. (Commemorative of the botanist 

 Bonpland. Nat. ord. Polemoniaceae.) 



Greenhouse perennial. Seeds. Peat, loam and sand. 

 B. geminifto'ra (twin-flowered). 2. Violet. July. 

 Mexico. 1813. 



BO'NTIA. (Named after /. Bont, a Dutch physician. 

 Nat. ord. Myoporads [Myoporaceae]. Linn. i^-Didy 

 namia, 2-Angiospermia.) 



Stove evergreen shrub, requiring similar treatment to 

 Bonnetia. 



B. daphnofdes (Daphne-like). 6. Yellow, purple. June. 

 W. Ind. 1690. 



BORAGE. (Bora'go officina'lis). Its young leaves, 

 smelling somewhat like cucumber, are sometimes used 

 in salads, or boiled as spinach. Being aromatic, its 

 spikes of flowers are put into negus and cool tankards. 



Soil and Situation. For the spring and summer 

 sowing, any light soil and open situation may be allotted, 

 provided the first is not particularly rich ; for those 

 which have to withstand the winter, a light, dry soil, and 

 the shelter of a south fence, are most suitable. A very 

 fertile soil renders it luxuriant, and injures the flavour. 



Times and Mode of Sowing. Sow in March or April, 

 and at the close of July, for production in summer and 

 autumn, and again in August or September, for the 

 supply of winter and succeeding spring, in shallow drills, 

 twelve inches asunder. When of about six weeks' 

 growth, the plants are to be thinned to twelve inches 

 apart, and the plants thus removed of the spring and 

 autumn sowing may be transplanted at a similar dis- 

 tance ; but those of the summer sowing seldom will 

 endure the removal, and at all times those left unmoved 

 prosper most. At the time of transplanting, if at all 



