AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



191 



Billbergia continued. 



beneath, with transverse bars. h. lift. Brazil, 1856. SYNS. B. 

 pallida and B. Wioti. 



B. pallida (pale). Synonymous with B. pallescens. 



B. pyramidalls (pyramidal), fl. red, with purple margin, in 

 erect spikes ; bracts lanceolate, rosy. February. I. curved, lisru- 

 late-lanceolate, with white bands beneath. A. 1ft Peru, 1822. 

 (B. H. 1873, 16.) 



B. Qucsncliana (Quesnel's).* fl. deep purple; bracts flesh- 

 coloured; upper ones variegated with white. A. 6ft. Guiana, 

 1874. An erect growing species, possessing the same habit as B. 

 rosea-marginata, but having the leaves more acuminate, and deep 

 green in colour. SYN. Quesnelia rufa. (F. d. S. 10, 1026.) 



B. rosea-marginata (rose-margined).* fl., inflorescence a dense 

 oblong spike of light blue, subtended by large, broad, deep, rose- 

 coloured bracts, with scarious margins. January. 1. sheathing 

 at the base, about 2ft. long, channelled, spiny on the margin, and 

 marked with transverse mealy bands, h. IJft. Tropical America, 

 1880. SYNS. B. rubro-marginata, and Quesnelia roseo-marginata. 



B. rubro marginata (red-margined). Synonymous with &. 

 rosea-marginata. 



B. Saundersii (Saunders'X* JL about 2in. long, disposed in a 

 loose pendulous inflorescence ; sepals crimson, half the length of 

 the petals, which are yellow outside and blue within. I. tufted, 

 ligulate, rounded at the apex, terminated by a short mucro, saw- 

 toothed, green above, purple beneath, and spotted white on both 

 surfaces. Brazil, 1868. SYN. (according to Morren) B, ehloro- 

 tticta. (F. M. n. s. 106.) 



B. thyrsoidea (thyrsoid). fl. dense, in thyrsoid spikes, almost 

 without bracts. June. I. green, ligulate, shortly acuminate, the 

 margin toothed. A. 1ft Brazil, 1850. (B. M. 4756.) 



B. vlttata (striped), fl. indigo blue, with crimson calyces and 

 bracts ; racemes nodding. I. banded, ligulate, elongate, ' ' 

 A. lift. Brazil, 1843. (B. H. 1871, 14, 15.) 



B. Wlotl (Wiofs). Synonymous with B. patteteeng. 



B. zebrina (zebra-streaked).* fl. greenish ; scape clothed with 

 ed bn . ' 



I. sheathing 

 their length, forming thus a sort of tube, deep green, with 



large, pale, salmon-coloured bracts ; inflorescence gracefully 

 curved downwards. Early spring. I. sheathing for about half 



zones of . 

 America, '. 



Y, the whole deepening with age^ A. lift South 



SYN. Oelicodea zebrina. (L. B. C. 1912} 

 BILOBATE. Two-lobed. 

 BINATE. In pairs. 



BINDING. The process of securing a graft or bud 

 in its place by means of Baffia or Bast. The same term 

 is applied to hard clay or other soil impervious to water, 

 in summer. 



BINDWEED. See Convolvulus. 



BIOPHYTUM (from bios, life, and phyton, a plant; 

 the leaves of one species being sensitive to the touch). 

 TRIBE Oxalidece of OKD. Geraniacece. A genus of pretty 

 and interesting perennials, differing from Oxalis, in which 

 genus it has been included, in the valves of the capsule 

 being patent and separate to the base. They will thrive in 

 a mixture of loam and peat. Propagated by seeds, which 

 should be sown in spring, on a hotbed. Probably the only 

 species in cultivation is the following : 



B. sensltivum (sensitive), fl. yellow, small. July. L. leaflets 

 oblong, obtuse, mucronate. A. 6in. India and China, 1823. The 

 leaves of this plant contract on the slightest touch. SYN. Oxalis 

 tensitiva. (B. B. 31, 68.) 



BIOTA. See Thuya. 



BIOTIA. See Aster corymbosus. 



BIPARTITE. Divided into two nearly to the base. 



BIPINNATE. Twice pinnate. 



BIFINNATIFID, or BIPINNATIPARTED 

 Having both primary and secondary segments of a leaf 

 divided, but not to the base. 



BIFLICATE. Having two folds or plaits. 



BIRCH. See Betula. 



BIRD-CHERRY. See Cerasus Padus. 



BIRDLIME. A preparation made from Mistletoe 

 berries and Holly bark. It is used for catching birds. 



BIRD-PEPPER. See Capsicum baccatum. 



BIRDS. As a class, Birds are very much more useful 

 than hurtful in gardens. Owls are of great use in catch- 

 in? mice, and Night-jars in catching night-flying insects. 



Birds continued. 



Hooks are very useful in lessening the numbers of wire- 

 worms, and of hurtful insects in general; but, if very 

 numerous, they may be driven to eat potatoes and other 

 vegetable food, and may then do harm. The same may 

 be said of Starlings. Blackbirds and Thrushes feed 

 much on snails and worms, but they also feed on the 

 ripe fruits in gardens. As a rule, slender-billed birds 

 feed almost wholly on insects or other animals, and are 

 to be encouraged in gardens at all seasons. . Among 

 these may be enumerated the Tree-creeper, Wryneck, 

 Warblers, and Wrens of various kinds, Chats, Hedge- 

 sparrow, Larks, Redstart, Robin, Titmice, and Wagtails. 

 Swifts, Swallows, and Martins, are also great destroyers 

 of insects. The Finches feed, in part, on insects, but 

 also eat large quantities of seeds, and often do consider- 

 able damage among plants grown for seed, e.g., Cabbages, 

 and in the seed-beds. Sparrows are about the most 

 troublesome, though they are often assisted by Buntings, 

 Chaffinches, Linnets, and others. When seed-beds or 

 fruits have to be protected, this may be done by nets; 

 or, more simply, by threads tied to sticks a few inches 

 above the surface of the ground, or in front of the trees. 



BIRD'S-EYE PRIMROSE. See Primula fari- 

 uosa. 



BIRD'S-FOOT. See Ornithopus. 



BIRD'S-FOOT FERN. See Pellaa ornlthopus. 



BIRD'S-NEST FERN. See Asplenium Nidus. 



BIRTHWORT. See Aristolochia. 



BISCUTELLA (from bis, double, and scutella, a saucer; 

 in allusion to the form of the silicles). Buckler Mustard. 

 OBD. Cruciferce. Perennial or annual herbaceous plants, 

 usually hispid, but sometimes downy or smoothish. Flowers 

 yellow, scentless; pedicels filiform, bractless. Leaves ob- 

 long, entire, toothed or pinnatifid, somewhat radical or 

 cauline. Stems round, erect, usually corymbosely branched 

 at the top by racemes, which, when in flower, are short, 

 but elongated at the time of fruiting. All the species pro- 

 duce seeds freely. The annuals should be sown in the 

 open borders. Some of the perennial kinds are well adapted 

 for ornamenting rockwork, in a dry, sunny situation. Of the 

 annuals, columnce, lyrata, maritima, and obovata, are best. 

 Of the perennials, coronopifolia, Icevigata, and sempervirens 

 are the most desirable, but none aro worth cultivation out- 

 side botanical collections. , 



BISERIAL, or BISERIATE. Arranged in two 

 parallel rows. 



BISERRATE. Toothed in a saw-like manner, but 

 with the primary teeth again serrated. 



BISULCATE. Doubly furrowed. 



BITERNATE. Twice ternate. 



BITTER ALMOND. See Amygdalus communis 



BITTER APPLE. See Citrullus Colocynthis. 



BITTER-SWEET. See Solanum Dulcamara. 



BITTER VETCH. See Orobus. 



BITUMINOUS. Clammy, adhesive. 



BIVON2EA (named after Antonio Bivona-Bernardi, 

 a Sicilian botanist, author of " Sicularum Plantarum Cen- 

 turia I. et II.," Palermo, 1806). OBD. CrucifercB. A pretty 

 little monotypio genus, well adapted for ornamenting 

 rockwork or the front of flower borders. A dry sandy 

 soil is most suitable for its culture. Propagated by seeds, 

 sown in spring where the plants are intended to remain, 

 thinning-out being necessary to ensure full growth. 

 B. lutea (yellow).* fl. yellow, small ; racemes terminal, elongated 



as they grow ; pedicels filiform, bractless. April. L alternate, 



lower ones stalked, the rest sessile, cordate, stem-clasping at the 



base, ovate, toothed, bluntish. Stem filiform, sparingly branched. 



A. Sin. to6in. Sicily, 1823. An annuaL 



