AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



193 



Black Ply continued. 



more or less dangerous, especially in the hands of the in- 

 experienced. Black Fly is, however, one of the most 

 difficult insects to eradicate, especially if allowed to 

 multiply. A syringing of clean water should follow either 

 of the above applications. See also Aphides. 



BLACK JACK OAK. See Qnercns nigra. 



BLACK MAIDENHAIR SFLEENWORT. See 

 Asplenium Adiantum-nigTum. 



BLACK FINE. See Finns austriaca. 



BLACKTHORN. See Prunus spinosa. 



BLACK VARNISH TREE. See Melanorrhcea. 



BLACK WATTLE. See Callicoma serratifolia. 



BLADDER CATCHFLT. See Silene inflata. 



BLADDER KETMIA. See Hibiscus Trionnm. 



BLADDER NUT. See Staphylea. 



BLADDER SENNA. See Colntea. 



BLADDER WORT. See Utricularia. 



BLADE. The lamina or expanded part of a leaf. 



BLJERIA (named after Patrick Blair, M.D., F.R.S., 

 who practised medicine at Boston, in Lincolnshire, and was 

 author of "Miscellaneous Observations," 1718; "Botanic 

 Essays," 1820, &c.). OBD. Ericaceae. Pretty little green- 

 house evergreen shrubs, natives of Southern and Tropical 

 Africa. Flowers terminal, glomerate; corolla short- tubu- 

 lar, with a four-cleft limb, very freely branched. Leaves 

 verticillate, with revolute margins. For culture, see Erica. 



B. artlcnlata (jointed).* fl. reddish; heads drooping. May. 



I. four in a whorl, ovate or linear, glabrous, and shining ; bracts 



solitary, h. 1ft. 1795. 

 B. ericoldes (Heath-like), fl. purplish-red. August. I. four in a 



whorl, oblong, obtuse, ringed ; bracts three, length of the calyx. 



h. 2ft. 1774. SYN. Erica, orbicular*. (L. B. C. 153.) 

 B. purpurea (purple), fl. purple ; heads drooping. June. L four 



in a whorl, ovate, sub-ciliated. Stem flexuous, erect, h. 2ft. 1791. 



BLAKEA (named after Martin Blake, of Antigua, a 

 great promoter of useful knowledge). ORD. Melastomacece. 

 Handsome stove evergreen shrubs or trees. Flowers red, 

 large, showy; peduncles axillary, terete, one-flowered, naked, 

 opposite or solitary, shorter than the leaves, usually with 

 brown tomentum. Leaves petiolate, three to five-nerved, 

 coriaceous, glabrous above and shining, but usually densely 

 clothed with rusty tomentum beneath. They thrive well 

 in peat, or a mixture of loam and peat, and require to be 

 liberally supplied with water, particularly in spring and 

 summer. Cuttings root freely if taken from shoots that 

 are quite ripe (otherwise they are apt to rot), planted in a 

 pot of sand, and plunged in a moist heat, under a hand 

 glass. 



B. qninquenervla (five-nerved), fl. flesh-coloured, large, with 

 white disks ; peduncles twin, shorter than the petioles. June. 

 L elliptic, acuminated, naked, and shining on both surfaces, five- 

 nerved, h. 10ft. to 16ft. Guiana, 1820. (A. G. 210.) 

 B. trinervia (three-nerved), fl, rose colour, large ; peduncles 

 solitary, longer than the petioles. June. J. oval-oblong, three- 

 nerved, glabrous and shining on both surfaces in the adult state, 

 and when young serrulated ; petioles and branchlets clothed with 

 rusty tomentum. Roots issuing from the branches and stems. 

 ft. 4ft. to 8ft. Jamaica, 1789. (B. M. 451.) 



BLANCHING. This process is effected for the pur- 

 pose of obtaining crispness, and for converting what would, 

 under ordinary circumstances, be a dangerous plant in 

 the case of Celery especially so into a highly popular 

 delicacy. Blanching can only bo accomplished by entirely 

 excluding the light from the plants, thus depriving the 

 colouring matters of their power to decompose water 

 and carbonic acid gas. It is also termed Etiolation. 



BLANDFORDIA (named after George, Marquis of 

 Blandford). ORD. Liliaceae. A very beautiful genus of 

 greenhouse bulbous plants, natives of Australia. Flowers 

 solitary, on recurved pedicels ; perianth funnel-shaped, six- 



Blandfordia continued. 



cleft ; stamens six. Leaves linear, elongate, striate ; radical 

 ones dilated, and somewhat sheathing at the base ; others 

 shorter and more distant, appearing on the flower-stem. The 

 best soil in which to grow them is loam and peat in equal 

 proportions, with a little rough silver sand added. They 

 should be repotted moderately firm in the autumn, allow- 

 ing good drainage, and should then be placed under the 

 greenhouse stage, or in any other position where they will 

 be free from water drippings. Water must only be given 

 when dry, until they commence to grow, when it may be 

 gradually increased, and they may be introduced into a 

 higher temperature, if necessary, there to remain till after 

 flowering. When the foliage is ripened off, they may be 

 stored away until the time for re-potting. Propagated 

 by seeds and offsets, or by division of the old plants, 

 which must be done when repotting. 



B. aurea (golden).* fl. IJin. to 2in. long ; scape bearing an umbellate 

 cluster of three to five pure golden-yellow drooping bell-shaped 

 flowers. Summer. I. narrow, linear, keeled or channelled, from 

 the base of which the flower scape arises, h. 1ft to 2ft. 187C 

 (B. M. 5809.) 



B. Cnnninghnmii (Cunningham's).* fl. rich coppery red, the 

 upper part, yellow ; about 2in. long, bell-shaped, pendulous ; from 

 twelve to twenty, terminating in a stout scape 3ft high. June. 

 1. linear, slightly keeled at the back, about iin. broad. This 

 magnificent species should have a little charcoal mixed with the 

 soil already mentioned. (B. M. 5734.) 



B. C. hybrids, (hybrid). /. red, margined with clear yellow. 

 bell-shaped, in a dense drooping umbel 



B. flammea (fiery).* fl. dullish yellow, in dense umbel like 

 clusters ; bracts ovate-lanceolate, stiff ; perianth inversely conical. 

 June. I. linear, bluntly keeled, h. 2ft. 1849. 



B. f. elegans (elegant).* fl. crimson, tipped with yellow, large, 

 funnel-shaped. Summer. I. long, linear-ensiform. This very 

 handsome form is often taken for the type. 



B. f. 



. f. princeps (magnificent).* 

 and bright yellow within, abo 



fl. rich orange-red externally, 

 about Sin. long, tubular, borne on a 



scape about 1ft. high, slightly pendulous, and arranged near the 

 er. /. stiff, sub-erect, long, bright green, disposed 

 splendid greenhouse 



summit. Summer 

 in a distichous manner. 



plant, and should be in every collection. 1873. SYN. B. princept. 

 See Fig. 255. (B. M. 62C9.) 



B. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl. crimson, very large ; bracts 

 as long as the pedicels, the inner much the shortest. July. A. 2ft. 

 18ia (B. E. 924.) 



B. intermedia (intermediate), fl. yellow, pendulous, funnel- 

 shaped, in sixteen to twenty-flowered racemes ; bracts leaf- 

 forined. September. I. channelled, acutely keeled, scabrous on 

 the margins, h. lift 



B. marginata (margined), fl, orange-red, conical, in long pen- 

 dulous racemes ; bracts narrow, fohaceous, about equalling in 

 length the pedicels. July. I. stiff, sub-erect, with scabrous 

 margins. A. 2ft. 1842. (B. R. 31, 18.) x 



B. nobilis (noble).* it. orange, with yellow margins, on long 

 pedicels, drooping, disposed in a terminal raceme ; bracts twice 

 as short as the pedicels. July. I. very narrow. A. 2ft. 1803. 

 (B. M. 2003.) 



B. princeps (magnificent). Synonymous with B. flammea princep*. 

 BLATTA. See Cockroaches. 

 BLEABERRT. See Vaccininm Myrtillus. 

 BLEACHING POWDER. See Chloride of Lime. 

 BLECHNTTM (from Blechnon, the Greek name of a 

 fern). OBD. Filices. A very attractive genus of stove 

 and greenhouse Ferns, thriving in a compost of peat, leaf 

 soil, and loam. Sori linear, continuous, or nearly so, parallel 

 with, and usually contiguous to, the midrib. Involucre 

 distinct from the edge of the frond. Fronds uniform, 

 generally pinnate or pinnatifid. Veins usually free. For 

 general culture, see Ferns. 



B. australe (southern).* ecu. stont, creeping, scaly, tti. erect, 

 4m. to bin. long, frondt 9in. to 18in. long, and from 2in. to 3in. 

 broad, lanceolate, narrowed towards both ends ; pinnae numerous, 

 the barren ones lin. to liin. long, Jin. to |in. broad, linear, 

 hastate-cordate, or auricled at the base, especially on the upper 

 side, with a very coriaceous texture ; fertile pinna narrower, tori 

 in a continuous or slightly broken line, close, but not contiguous, 

 to the midrib. South Africa, Ac., 1691. Greenhouse species. 

 B. boreale. See Lomaria Splcant. 



B. brariliense (Brazilian).* cou. erect, stout, sub-arborescent, 

 1ft. or more long, densely clothed at the crown with dark brown 

 scales, tti. short, stout, densely scaly, frondt oblong-lanceolate, 



