184 



THE DICTIONARY OF GARDENING, 



Bertholletla continued. 



TRIBE Lecythidem of ORD. Myrtacece. B. excelsa is a tall 

 tree, having the young branches leafy at the apex. Leaves 

 alternate, oblong, quite entire, rather coriaceous. From 

 this Brazilian species are obtained the well-known Brazil 

 or Para Nuts of commerce. The tree is of no value for 

 decorative purposes. 



BERTOLONIA (named after A. Bertoloni, an Italian 

 botanist, author of " Rariorum Italise Plantarum Decades," 

 Ac.). ORD. MelastomacecB. Elegant little creeping or 

 dwarf-growing stove plants, chiefly cultivated for their 

 exquisitely marked leaves. Flowers white or purple. 

 Leaves stalked, ovate-cordate, five to eleven-nerved, 

 crenulated ; cymes corymbose, terminal. They thrive in a 

 compost of equal parts peat, leaf mould, and sand, in a 

 warm, close, and moist atmosphere, but are most suc- 

 cessfully cultivated under a bell glass in the stove; in 

 fact, the latter is the only plan of growing them whore a 

 constantly humid atmosphere cannot be otherwise obtained 

 without such means. They are easily propagated by 

 cuttings or seeds. 



B. aenea (coppery), fl. purple. A. 6in. Brazil. 

 B. guttata (spotted). See Gravesla. 



B. maculata (spotted).* fl. violet- 

 bearing at the apex a short raceme 



long petioles, cordate, ovate, quite entire, pil 

 d 



calyces 

 Brazil, 1850. (B. M. 4551.) 



it-purple ; peduncles axillary, 

 of six to seven flowers. /. on 



and cal 



on the margins, five-nerved. Branches, petioles, peduncles, 

 hispid from long bristles. 



on both surfaces 

 tioles, peduncles, 

 Stem rooting at the base. 



armorata (marbled).* t 5in. to Sin. long, ovate-oblong, 

 y, five-nerved; upper side vivid bright green, beautifully 

 ed with irregular streaks of pure white ; under surface of 



B. marmorata 



hairy, 



marked with irregular streaks of pure 

 a uniform rich purple. Stem fleshy, h. (An. Brazil, 1858. 

 B. pubescens (downy).* I. ovate-acuminate, Sin. to 4in. long, and 

 2in. to Sin. broad ; bright light green, with a broad chocolate- 

 coloured band down the centre ; upper surface clothed with long 

 white hairs. Ecuador. 



(named in honour of Berzelius, a cele- 

 brated Swedish chemist). ORD. Bruniacece. Very pretty 

 little greenhouse evergreen shrubs. Heads of flowers 

 naked, with three bracts at the base of each; usually 

 crowded at the tops of the branches. Leaves short, some- 

 what trigonal, imbricate or spreading. They require a 

 mixture of peat, loam, and sand, with thorough drainage 

 and moderately firm potting. Young cuttings root freely 

 in sand, under a bell glass, in gentle heat. 

 B. abrotanoides (Abrotanum-like). fl.-hcads white, the size of 

 a filbert, terminal, crowded, sub-corymbose ; bracts clavate, 

 green, smooth, ustulate at the apex. May to July. I. ovate, 

 ustulate at the apex, smooth, spreading, on short petioles. 

 h. lift. Cape of Good Hope, 1787. (L. B. C. 355.) 

 B. lanuginosa (woolly).* fl.-heads white, about the size of a pea, 

 at the tops of lateral branches, disposed in a fastigiate panicle ; 



bracts spathulate, cal 

 triquetrous, spreading, 



callose at the apex. 



June to August. 



callose at the apex, rather hairy. Branches 



erect, villous when young. A. 1ft. to 2ft. Cape of Good Hope, 

 1774. (L. B. C. 572.) 



BESCHORNERIA (in honour of H. Beschorner, a 

 German botanist). ORD. Amaryllidea;. Greenhouse 

 evergreen succulents, allied to Littcea and Feurrrcea. 

 Perianth deeply six-parted; segments linear spathulate, 

 tubulose-connivent, often spreading at the point ; stamens 

 six, about as long as the perianth. For culture, &c., see 

 Agave and Aloe. 



B. bracteata (bracteate). /. at first green, turning yellowish-red 

 when mature ; panicle 2ft. to 3ft. long ; branches many-flowered 

 and corymbose, subtended by large scariose reddish bracts. I. in 

 a dense rosette, 12in. to 18in. long, thin, glaucous green with 

 scabrous margin. A. 5ft. to 6ft. Mexico. See Fig. 247. (B. M. 



0641.) 



B. Dccostcriana (Decoster's). fl. green, tinged with red, pen- 

 dulous, bracteate ; panicle 2ft to 3ft. long, inclined, with nume- 



rous bracts. 



, , - 



acts. 1. numerous, spreading, 18in. to 24in. long, by lin. 

 - broad ' edges mmutel y serrulate, h. 8ft. MexFco, about 



B. Tonelil (Tonel's).* fl. tubular, 2iin. long, drooping, pedicellate, 

 dark blood-red below and down the centre, the rest very bright 

 verdigris green ; panicle 2ft. long, slender, inclined ; bracts 

 several to each fascicle of flowers; scape 4ft. 

 1. few, spreading 15in. to 20in. long, by 

 ? n n d n kee i ed . be ?,S?; th towa.nla the top, minut 

 1872. (B. M. 6091.) 



g, sener, ncne ; bracts 



; scape 4ft. high red-purple 



ong, by 2Jin. broad, acuminate 



p, minutely serrulate. Mexico, 



Beschorneria continued. 



FIG. 247. BESCHORNERIA BRACTEATA. 



B. tnbiflora (tube-flowered), fl. greenish-purple, nutant, fascicled, 

 bracteate ; fascicles remote, seen ml ; scapes erect, long, simple. 

 May. I. radical, linear, channelled, recurved, spinosely denti- 

 culate, h. 6ft. Mexico, 1845. (B. M. 4642.) 



B. yticcoides (Yucca-like), fl. bright green, pendent, racemose, 

 with rich rosy-red bracts; scapes slender, coral-red, simple. May 

 and June. 1. radical, thickish, lanceolate, acute, 1ft. to lift long. 

 h. 4ft Mexico. 



BESLERIA (named in honour of Basil Besler, an 

 apothecary at Nuremberg). SYN. Eriphia. ORD. Ges- 

 neracece. Very pretty stove sub-shrubs, usually erect, 

 branched. Peduncles axillary, few-flowered. Leaves oppo- 

 site, petiolate, thickish ; nerves and veins very prominent 

 beneath. Stems sub -tetragonal. A light rich earth, or a 

 mixture of sand, loam, and peat, and a moist atmosphere, 

 are necessary for successful cultivation. Beslerias may 

 be increased by cuttings, which root readily in heat. 

 B. coccinea (scarlet-berried).* fl. yellow; peduncles axillary, 

 bearing three to six flowers in an umbel at top ; bracts two, at 

 the division of the common peduncle, orbicularly cordate, toothed, 

 scarlet. I. ovate, glabrous, stiff, a little toothed. Guiana, 1819. 

 Climbing shrub. (A. G. 255.) 



B. crlstata (crested), fl., corolla yellowish, hairy outside; 

 peduncles axillary, solitary, one-flowered ; bracts cordate, 

 toothed, sessile, scarlet June. I. ovate, serrated. Guiana, 1739. 

 Climbing shrub. 



B. grandiflora (large-flowered).* /. large, campanulate, spotted 

 with red ; peduncles axillary, elongated, many-flowered. I. ovate- 

 oblong, acuminated, crenated, densely pilose above, villoua be- 

 neath, as well as on the branches. A. 3ft Brazil. 

 B. Imrayi (Imray's). fl. rather small, yellow, in axillary whorls. 

 I. large, lanceolate, serrate, glabrous. Stems quadrangular. 

 Dominica, 1862. Herbaceous perennial. (B. M. 6341.) 



