BALSAM 



125 



BB. Lf.- segments acute at tip. 



Gasip&es, HBK. {GuilUlma speciosa, Mart.). St. 



about tiO ft. hijEch. single or capspitose. with rings of subu- 



,_>^^ 





178 Balaka Seemanni 



iate -compressed black spines, 1 in. long, the rings about 

 as far apart as the cliain. of the st. : Ivs. 6 ft. long, curv- 

 ing; segments dark green above, pale green below, very 

 numerous, approximate, l^^ft. long, 134 in. wide, linear- 

 lanceolate, long-acuminate, bristly or minutely prickly 

 along the margins. Lower Amazon. 



hdrrida, Oerst. Caespitose stems 6-8 ft. high, 8-9 in. 

 diam., very spiny, sheathed for most of Its length with 

 bases of dead Ivs.; spines H-4 in. hmg, 4-sided, whitish 

 tomentose, at length glabrous: Ivs. 2?^-3 ft. long; sheath 

 8 in., brown-tomentose ; petiole IJ^ft., densely spiny, 

 subtetragonal, densely brown-tomentose beneath : seg- 

 ments 7 in. long, %\n. wide, lanceolate, rigid, glaucous. 

 Nicaragua. Jared G. Smith. 



BACULARIA ( Latin, 6ac»/«m, a small walking-stick). 

 Palmdveip. tribe Arecece. Low spineless palms, with an- 

 nular reed-like single or fasciculate sts: Ivs. terminal, 

 unequally pinnatisect; segments membranous, broad or 

 narrow, split or toothed at the apex, the broader ones 

 many-nerved, the narrow ones 1-nerved, the terminal 

 confluent ; midrib and nerves without scales below; 

 margins not thickened, recurved at the base; petiole and 

 rachis sparsely scurfy, convex on the back, flat above or 

 concave toward the base : sheath short, open : spadices 

 numerous, longer than the Ivs., spreading, recurved : 

 peduncle very slender, scurfy, compressed at the base : 

 spathes 2, remote, the lower one at the base of the pe- 

 duncle tubular, the upper membranaceous, linear, ensi- 

 form : fls. green : fr. small, elongate-ovoid, subacute, 

 green, %-%\n. long. Species 2. Temperate and tropical 

 Australia. See Palms. 



monostichya, F. Muell. {Areca ynonostdchya, Mart. 

 K^tifia monosfdchya, F. Muell.). Trunk 6-12 ft. high: 

 Ivs. iVo— i ft. long ; the sheath broad, coriaceous, about 

 6 in. long, produced into 2 stipular lobes; segments very 

 irregular, acuminate, very variable in breadth and dis- 

 tance, adnate to the rachis, or tapering at the base, the 

 longest about 1ft. long. Queensland, N. S.W. B.M. 6644. 

 Jared G. Smith. 



BA£]RIA (after the Russian zoologist, Karl Ernst von 

 Baer). CompdsifCB. Californian annuals (or one peren- 

 nial species), with numerous showy, inch-wide yellow 

 ris. in early summer. 



grAcilis, Gray (Burrielia grdclUs, DC). Easily dis- 

 tinguished from Actinolepsis coronaria by its hairy sts. 

 and foliage and undivided Ivs.: plant much branched: 

 height 4-12 in.: Ivs. opposite, connate, linear-lanceolate: 

 fls. solitary, on slender terminal peduncles : involucre 

 leafier than \n Actinolepsis coronaria, the scales longer, 

 downy, in 2 series: rays 8-12. B.M. 3758. — This is likely 

 to be cult, as Lasthenia Californica, which, however, is 

 not hairy and has much longer Ivs. 



B. chrysostoma, Fisch. & May. Lvs. narrowly linear, 1 line 

 orj^ess \vide : fls. larger than in B. gracilis ; habit more erect. 

 =Actinolepsis coronaria. 



BALAEA (the Fijian vernacular name). PalmdcecCy 

 tribe Arh-eiv, Differs from Ptychosperma in having 

 the seed not sulcate, and in tbe half-rhomboid seg- 

 ments of the Ivs.; and from Drymophloeus in the form 

 of the leaf and the caducous spathes. Species 2. Fiji 

 Islands. 



SeSmanni, Becc. (Ptychosperma Seemanni, H. 

 Wendl.). Fig. 178. Caudex slender. 8-12 ft. high, 

 straight, ringed, about 1 in. in diam.: Ivs. pinnatisect, 

 4 ft. long ; segments erose-dentate at the apex, alter- 

 nate, 9 on each side, semi-rhomboid, obliquely truncate, 

 the upper margin longer, cuspidate at the apex, the 

 terminal one deeply bifid. Growing as underwood in 

 dense forests. Fiji. — Stems used for spears by natives, 

 because of their strength and straightuess. Fig. 178 Is 

 adapted from Seeman's Flora V'itiensis. 



Jared G. Smith. 



BALLOON VINE. See Cardiospennum. 



BALM (Melissa officindlis, Linn.). Lahidt(^. Sweet 

 herb, the lvs. being used for seasoning, particularly in 

 liquors. It has a lemon-like flavor. It is a hardy peren- 

 nial from southern Eu. The plant grows 1-2 ft. high, 

 somewhat hairy, loosely branched, with ovate-crenate 

 lvs. and yellowish or whitish fls. in 

 loose axillary clusters. Thrives in 

 any warm position, and is easy to 

 grow. Prop, by seeds ; also by di- 

 vision. 



179. Pod of 

 garden Balsam. 



180. Explosion of 

 Balsam pod. 



BALSAM, Impdtiens Balsdmina, Linn. {Balsdmina 

 hort^nsis, DC. Balsdmina Impdti ens. 'H.ort. Impdfiens 

 coccinea, Sims, B.M. 12.5G). Grraniilceif'. An erect, 

 much-branched, half succulent annual, long ago intro- 

 duced from India, and now widely cult, for its showy 



