BET 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



BET 



167 



villose mouth. Berry, globose, inferior, two-celled, many- 

 seeded. The only known species is, 



L. Bertiera Guianensis. This is a shrub six or seven feet 

 in height, the thickness of the human arm ; branches oppo- 

 site, knotty tomentose. Found in the wood of Aurora in 

 Guiana, flowering and fruiting in the month of June. . 



Besleria; a genus of the class Didynamia, order Angio- 

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 five-parted, acuminate, erect, loose, with reflected tops. 

 Corolla : monopetalous, ringent ; tube the length of the 

 calix, roundish, gibbous on one side at the base, and at the 

 top ; border five-cleft ; divisions roundish, the lowermost 

 largest, the two upper less divided. Stamina : filamenta 

 four, within the tube of the corolla, of which two are a little 

 shorter. Antherae oblong, twin, hanging down on each side. 

 Pistil: germen globular, sitting on a glandular body, which 

 embraces it and is permanent, cordate where the corolla is 

 gibbous ; style subulate, erect ; stigma bifid, obtuse. Peri- 

 carp : berry subglobular, one-celled ; partition two opposite 

 semiovate latninas. Seeds: numerous, round, very small, 

 nestling, fixed to the inner surface of the berry. ESSENTIAL 

 CHARACTER. Calix: five-parted. Berry: subglobular, many- 

 seeded. These plants grow naturally in the warm countries. 

 The seeds should be sown on a hot-bed, early in the spring, 

 and when the plants are come up half an inch high, they 

 should be each transplanted into a small pot filled with light 

 fresh earth, and plunged into a hot-bed of tanner's bark, ob- 

 serving to water and shade them until they have taken root, 

 after which time they should have air and water in proportion 

 to the warmth of the season, and the heat of the bed in which 

 they are placed. When the plants have filled these small pots 

 with their roots, they must be shaken out, the roots trimmed, 

 and put into large ones, filled with light fresh earth, and 



treated as before. In the second year they will flower. 



The species are, 



1. Besleria Melittifolia. Peduncles branching; leaves 

 qvate. Native of South America. 



2. Besleria Lutea. Peduncles simple, crowded ; leaves 

 lanceolate. Native of Martinico, Jamaica, &c. 



3. Besleria Cristata. Peduncles simple, solitary $ calices 

 serrate-crested ; corolla yellow. Native of woods and moist 

 mountains in Martinico. 



4. Besleria Bivalvis. Stem herbaceous, long, creeping, 

 hairy, round ; calices bivalve, torn. Observed at Surinam. 



5. Besleria Biflora. Peduncles two-flowered; involucre 

 caducous, inflated ; leaves ovate, quite entire. Native of 

 the island of Otaheite. 



6. Besleria Cymosa. Peduncles cymed ; pedicels with 

 little bractes ; leaves ovate, crenate. Native of the island 

 of Tanna. 



Beta ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Digynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Caliz: perianth five-leaved, con- 

 cave, permanent ; divisions ovate-oblong, obtuse. Corolla : 

 none. Stamina: filamenta five, subulate, opposite to the 

 leaves of the calix, and of the same length with them. An- 

 thera roundish. Pistil: germen in a manner below the 

 receptacle; styles two, very short, erect; stigmas acute. 

 Pericarp: capsule within the bottom of the calix, one-celled, 

 deciduous. Seed: single, kidney-form, compressed, involved 

 in the calix. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix .- five-leaved, 

 Corolla : none. Seed : kidney-form, within the substance 

 of the base of the calix. The species are, 



1. Beta Vulgaris; Red Garden Beet. Flowers heaped; 

 leaflets of the calix toothed at the base. There are many 

 seminal varieties ; for the Beet is very subject to change and 

 to degenerate in our climate. It is a native of the sea-coast 



of the southern parts of Europe. The roots of Red Beet are 

 boiled, sliced, and eaten cold, by themselves, or in salads ; 

 are used as garnish to dishes, and as a pickle. The green- 

 leaved sort is most esteemed ; the roots being the largest and 

 tenderest. Martial has justly marked the Beet for its fatuity. 

 It is said to be prejudicial to the stomach, and to afford little 

 nourishment : taken in quantity, it tends to loosen the belly. 

 The juice both of the roots and leaves is said to be a power- 

 ful errhine, occasioning a copious discharge of mucus, without 

 provoking sneezing. A good sugar may be obtained from 

 the juice of the fresh roots. This species is frequently sown 

 with Carrots, Parsnips, or Onions, by the kitchen-gardeners 

 near London, who draw up their Carrots or Onions when they 

 are young, whereby the Beets obtain room to grow, when the 

 other crops are gathered ; but if the other crops are not 

 removed in time, it will be better to sow them separately. 

 This sort requires a deep light soil; for, as their roots run 

 deep in the ground, so in shallow ground they will be short 

 and stringy. The seeds should be sown in March, but the 

 plants should not be left nearer than a foot apart, or in good 

 land a foot and a half, for the leaves will cover the ground at 

 that distance. The roots will be fit for use in the autumn, 

 and continue good all the winter ; but in the spring, when 

 they begin to shoot, they will be hard and stringy : a few 

 roots may be left for seed, or some of the fairest roots trans- 

 planted to a sheltered spot of ground, where they may be 

 defended from strong winds, which frequently break down 

 their stalks, if they are not well supported, especially when 

 the seeds are formed; which, becoming heavy as they increase 

 in bulk, are apt to weigh down the tender stalk upon which 

 they grow. The seed will ripen in September, when the 

 stalks should be cut off, and spread on mats to dry, and 

 afterwards threshed out and cleared, and put up in bags 

 for use. 



2. Beta Cicla ; Wliite Garden Beet. Flowers threefold ; 

 leaflets of the calix unarmed at the base. The lower leaves 

 of this sort are thick and succulent, and their footstalks are 

 broad : for these it is cultivated ; the leaves being boiled as 

 Spinach, or put into soups, and the stalks and midrib of the 

 leaf being eaten as Asparagus : it affords both food and 

 medicine. The juice of the fresh root is an excellent remedy 

 for the head-ache, and that species of the tooth-ache in which 

 the whole jaw and side of the face is affected. The method 

 of using it, is to snuff it up the nose in order to provoke 

 sneezing, and a discharge of humours from the head and parts 

 adjacent. This sort is commonly sown by itself, and not 

 mixed with other crops. It must be sown in the beginning 

 of March, upon an open spot of ground, that is not very 

 moist ; the seeds should be sown thinly, because the plants 

 require room to spread ; for when they are too close, the 

 leaves, being small and full of fibres, will be unfit for the 

 purposes designed. When the plants have put out four leaves, 

 they should be hoed, as is practised for Carrots, carefully 

 cutting up all the weeds, and also the plants where they are 

 too near each other, leaving them at least four inches asunder : 

 if this be done in dry weather, all the present weeds will be 

 destroyed ; but as young weeds will soon appear, in three 

 weeks' or a month's time the ground should be a second time 

 hoed over, to cut up the weeds, and thin the plants to a 

 greater distance ; for by this time they will be past danger, 

 and should not be left nearer than six inches. A large variety 

 of this has been introduced from abroad, under the titles of 

 Mangel Wurzel, Racine de Disette, Root of Scarcity. It is 

 much cultivated on the continent, both in the fields and gar- 

 dens. Its qualities, and the quantity of its produce, have 

 been much magnified, like most other newly introduced 



