BIARUM 



Calla paliixtris : spathe green outside, shining, velvety 

 purple within, shorter and broader than inB. tnbiftoriim, 

 at length revolute ; tube swelling, connate only at the 

 very base : spadix thicker and shorter. Syria. B.M. 

 5324. 



Bdvei, Blume. Lvs. similar to B. Pyrami : spathe- 

 tube connate a fourth of its length ; blade of spathe 

 lonfier and more narrowly lanceolate, green outside, 

 dark puriile within. Syria, Asia Minor. 



BlDENS (Latin, twice-toothed, referring to the seed). 

 Compisitte. Bub Marigold. Mostly American hardy 

 annual and perennial herbs, allied to Dahlia and Core- 

 op.sis, and distinguished by the barbed awn.s of the seed, 

 which, in B. fromlosa, our common Stick-Tight, or 

 Devil's Bootjack, are very troublesome by clinging to 

 the clothing. B. grandiflora, Balb., from S. Amer., is a 

 yellow-fld. hardy annual, growing 2 ft. high, bearing 

 glabrous pinnatisect lvs.; occasionally cult. For B. 

 atrosanguinea, Hort., see Cosmos diversifolius. 



BIENNIAL. A plant living two years ; particularly 

 one which does not bear flowers and fruituntil t'^e second 

 year from the seed. Plants vary greatly in their dura- 

 tion, depending upon the climate in which they grow 

 and the treatment which they receive. Comparatively 

 few plants are true biennials. The common mullein and 

 bull thistle {Cnieus laiweolatus) are examples. Most 

 cultivated biennials become atmuals if grown in a warm 

 or long-season climate, as turnips, celery, cabbage, 

 onion. If the plants are crowded, or not allowed to attain 

 their full development, they tend to run to seed and com- 

 plete their growth the first year. Gardeners are familiar 

 with this fact in celery, carrots and beets. Plants which 

 are practically annuals under such coiulitions, but which 

 have the power of carrying themselves over winter by 

 means of bulbs, corm.s, tubers, and other food-storage 

 parts, have been caUed pi^end-a^tnuats, DeCandolle esti- 

 mates that true or natural biennials comprise 1 or 2 per 

 cent of the total number of species of seed-bearing 

 plants. L. H. B. 



BIFRENAEIA (Latin for ttviee and strap, referring 

 to tilt* couin'ctive of the pollinia). Orchiddcecf, tribe 

 l^dn<l< If. \'ery like Jlaxillaria, and distinguished by 

 technical characters of the pollinia. About 2.5 trop. 

 Amer. species, of which the two following are best 

 known to the horticulturist. These species do well at 

 the cool end of the Cattleya house, and, in general, 

 should be treated like Maxillaria and Lycaste. 



aurantlaca, Lindl. Psetidobulbs ovate or ovoid, mono- 

 phyllous ; leaf -blades about 6 in. long, oval or nearly 

 so : fls. about 1 in. across, yellow, dotted with deeper 

 yellow. British Guiana. B.M. 3597. 



vitelllna, Lindl. Fls. deeper yellow than in the above, 

 with a brown spot on the labellum. Brazil. 



Oakes Ames. 



BIGELdVIA (after Dr. Jacob Bigelow, author of 

 Florula Bostoniensis, Medical Botany of U. S., etc.). 

 Compt'isitfe. The only species in cult, is the original 

 one, which resembles a goldenrod. Prop, by cuttings 

 and by seed. Culture simple. 



graveolens. Gray (Bigelbwia dracuvcutoldes, DC). 

 Low shrub, 1-6 ft. high, densely white-tomentose. much 

 branched, very leafy, malodorous only in drying : lvs. 

 linear, 1-2 in. long : fi. -heads, yellow, 5-8 lines high, 

 very numerous, crowded, in terminal corymbose cymes, 

 rayless. Alkaline soils Dak. to B. C. and S. to S.Calif, 

 and Ariz. Var. albicaillia is more permanently and 

 densely woolly, dwarfer. and recommended by D. M. 

 Andrews. Boulder, Colo., for low hedges and edgings. 



BIGELOW, JACOB. Botanist, physician, educator, 

 and founder of Mt. Auburn Cemetery, the prototype of 

 all garden and landscape cemeteries, was born at Sud- 

 bury, Mass.. February 27, 1787, and died at Boston, Jan- 

 uary 10, 1879. He was graduated from Harvard in 1806, 

 and began the practice of medicine in 1810. His Florula 

 Bostoniensis, 1814 (2d ed. 1824), was the first American 

 local flora of importance, and served for many years as 

 the only papular manual of New England botany. He 

 was Professor of Materia Medica In Harvard from 1815 



11 



BIGNONIA 



161 



to 1855. and for twenty years J^hysician to the Massachu- 

 setts General Hospital. His American Medical Botany, 

 1817-20, was the first work of its kind. Each of the three 

 volumes contained descriptions of 20 species, with a 

 colored plate of each produced by the aqua-tinting pro- 

 cess, a method invented by Dr. Biselow just before 

 lithography. His essay on " Self-limited Diseases," au 

 attack on heroic remedies and a plea for the recuperative 

 processes of nature, marked an epoch in medical reform. 

 Dr. O. W. Holmes said that it probably had more influ- 

 ence on medical practice in America than any work ever 

 published in this country. He also did much to introduce 

 science into colleges that were too exclusively classical. 

 The genus Bigelovia, named after him by DeCandolle, 

 was founded on a western plant resembling goldenrod. 

 He was the one man without whom Mt. Auburn Ceme- 

 tery would never have existed. This cemetery has been 

 one of the most important factors in the development of 

 landscape gardening in America, and without the reve- 

 nues derived from it the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society could never have played so important a part in 

 American horticulture. Dr. Bigelow was one of the most 

 versatile, useful and interesting men of his day. The 

 popular use of the word "technology" dates from his 

 "Elements of Technology," 1827. For a fuller account, 

 see the sketch by L. H. Bailev, in Botanical Gazette, 

 8:217 (188.3), and Scientific Papers of A. Gray, 2 : 41.'i. 

 See, also. Dr. Bigelow's book on the history of Mt. Au- 

 burn. ^'. M. 



BIGN6NIA (The Abbe Bignon, librarian to Louis 

 XIV.). Bifinonid.ce(p, Climbing American shrubs, mostly 

 tropical, of more than 100 species. Pis. mostly large and 

 showy, long-tubular, with a contracted base, 5-lobed or 

 -toothed, 2-lipped limb; perfect stamens 4: seeds winged, 

 in a linear, compressed capsule. 



Bignonias are strong and rapid-growing evergreen 

 greenhouse climbers, requiring considerable space for 

 their best development, such as the roof of a large con- 

 servatory, or the back wall of a lean to greenhouse. If 

 convenient, they should be planted out under the plant 

 stage of the greenhouse, or otherwise in boxes placed on 

 the stage. A box 5 ft. x 1 \^ ft. and 1 ft. deep will be found 

 a convenient size for them. As with most greenhouse 

 climbing plants, the roots like considerable freedom; 

 but with Bignonias the roots must be somewhat re- 

 stricted (though not to the limitations of a flower-pot), 

 otherwise an immense growth and few flowers will bo 

 the result. They are not very fastidious as to soil. A 

 good, fibrous loam, to which one-third well decomposed 

 cow or sheep manure has been added, suits them admi- 

 rably. A winter temperature of 45°to 5(»°,witli a gradual 

 rise as the days lengthen, should be given them, admit- 

 ting air freely whenever the weather is favorable. They 

 like plenty of moisture at the roots — especially during 

 the spring and summer (the growing season)~but per- 

 fect drainage should be ensured, as the soil at no time 

 must become saturated or sour. Except when in fiower, 

 a good syringing on all fine days will be very beneficial. 

 They should also be sprayed once or twice a week with 

 a moderately strong solution of kerosene emulsion, or 

 kerosene and water, to keep them free from mealy bug, 

 as they are very subject to this pest. The vines should 

 be trained so as to allow a free circulation of air among 

 the branches for the purpose of ripening the wood, as 

 upon this depends the assurance of flowers. All super- 

 fluous branches and weak shoots should be removed, 

 and before the growing season begins all the branches 

 should be shortened from 1 to 3 feet, according to 

 their strength ; this will throw the energy of the plant 

 into the lateral buds, which will produce the flowering 

 branches, providing the wood has been properly ripened 

 the previous season. 



Propagation is effected by cuttings taken in late 

 spring and inserted in sand under a bell glass, or in 

 a propagating box, in a warm temperature. Choose, if 

 possible, stout, short-jointed lateral growths for the pur- 

 pose. They must be carefully watered until rooted, 

 which usually takes from 6 to 10 weeks. 



Cult, by Edward J. Canning. 

 A. Lvs. simple, opposite. 



magniSica, Bull. Free-growing and floriferous, need- 

 ing warm treatment : lvs. ovate-elliptic, stalked, entire: 



