180 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Bellis continued. 



pretty. See Fig. 240. Good garden kinds are B. p. conspieua, red ; 

 CROWN, pink; KLIZA, purple; UUBENS, red; SNOWKLAKE, white. 



Fio. 241. BELLIS ROTUNDIFOLIA C<ERULESCENS. 



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

 from |in. to l}in. in diameter, resembling those of the 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 Sin. long ; blade ovate or sub-cordate, sinuate toothed, 

 three-nerved. Morocco, 1872. A very beautifid perennial, re- 

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

 f1g.2?l. (B. M.6015.) 



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

 sembling those of that plant). OBD. Composite. A genus 

 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 

 number 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. 



B ellium continued. 

 B. bellidloides (Daisy-like). A.-heads white, solitary. June to 



September. I. spathulate, radical. Stolons creeping, h. 4in. 



Italy, 1796. Annual. See Fig. 242. 

 B. crassifolium (thick-leaved), fl. -heads whitish-yellow ; scapes 



much exceeding the leaves, downy. June. I. sub-radical, thick, 



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

 ascending, h. bin. Sardinia, 1831. Hardy perennial. (S. B. 

 F. O. 2, 278.) 



B. minutum (very small).* Jl.-head* white and yellow, Ain. across, 

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

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

 h. Sin. 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 gating, but are now entirely superseded by the ordinary 

 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 which the 

 sulphur is ejected. 



BELL-PEPPER. See Capsicum grossum. 



BELOPERONE (from belos, an arrow, and peronne, 

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

 STN. Dianthera. ORD. Acanthacece. Very pretty stove 

 evergreen shrubs, allied to Jiisticia. Flowers blue or 

 purple, borne in secnnd, 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 largo 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. II. 9, 9.) 

 B. violacea (violet-coloured).* fl. violet. I. lanceolate, acumi- 



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



BENDING-DOWN 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, flee JEgle Marmelos. 

 BENJAMIN-TREE. See Ficus Benjamina. 

 BENT GRASS. See Agrostis. 

 BENTHAMIA (in honour of George Bentham, a dis- 

 tinguished English botanist). OBD. Cornacece. Hardy 

 evergreen shrubs or low trees, now referred to the 

 genus Cornus. 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 I 20ft. in the open. Loudon thinks it might be rendered 

 hardier by grafting it on Cornus sanguined. 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 ; stylo one. Leaves opposite, 

 exstipulate, 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 (Strawberry-flowered).* fl. large, white, sessile, 



densely aggregate, forming a round head. June to October, fr. 



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



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



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



h. 10ft 



ft. to 15ft. Nepaul, 1825. (G. C. xiv., 728.) 



FIG. 242. BELLIUM BELLIDIOIDES. 



B. ja 



. japonlca '(Japanese), 

 Japan, 1847. (S. F. J. 1 



. J. 16.) 



fl. yellowish-red. Spring, h. 8ft 



