BID 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



B I G 



171 



branched ; leaves obovate, acute ; veins and their axils villose 

 underneath ; stipules oral, obtuse. Native of Pennsylvania. 



13. Betula Crispa ; Curled-leaved Alder. Peduncles 

 branched ; leaves ovate, acute, somewhat waved ; veins 

 hairy underneath ; axils naked ; stipules roundish, ovate. 

 Native of Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay. 



14. Betula Daurica. Leaves ovate, acuminate, serrate, 

 hairy on the nerve. This species, when young, is scarcely 

 to be distinguished from our common Birch, except by the 

 leaves : it does not grow so tall, and the trunk does not 

 exceed a foot in diameter : the wood is hard, yellower than 

 that of the common sort, and in old trees marbled with 

 brown and gray towards the middle : it is tougher, and there- 

 fore more fit for the use of the wheelwright : it is also used 

 for making charcoal. Native of Dauria. 



15. Betula Fruticosa. Leaves rhomboid-ovate, equally 

 serrate, smooth. It abounds in marshes, and on rocky 

 mountains, and in the cold subalpine regions of eastern 

 Siberia, especially towards the lake Baikal. 



Bidens ; a genus of the class Syngenesia, order Polygamia 

 .fliqualis. GENERIC CHARACTE*. Calix : common im- 

 bricate erect ; leaflets often equal, oblong, channelled, con- 

 cave. Corolla : compound uniform, tubular ; corrollules her- 

 maphrodite, tubular ; proper one-petalled, funnel form, bor- 

 der five-cleft erect. Stamina : filamenta five, capillary, very 

 short; antheree cylindric, tubular. Pittil: germen oblong ; 

 style simple, the length of the stamina ; stigmas two, oblong, 

 reflex. Pericarp; none. Calix: unchanged. Seed: soli- 

 tary, obtuse-angular ; down with two or more awns, oblong, 

 straight, acute, rough-hooked backwards. Receptacle : flat, 

 chaffy ; chaffs deciduous, flatfish. ESSENTIAL CHARAC- 

 TER. Calix: imbricate. Corolla: sometimes, but seldom, 

 with a floscule or two in the ray. Seed : crowned with erect 

 scabrous awns. Receptacle: chaffy. The species are, 



1. Bidens Tripartita ; Triftd Water Hemp Agrimony, or 

 Bur Mary gold. Leaves trifid ; calices somewhat leafy ; seeds 

 erect ; root annual ; stem one to three feet high. This plant 

 dyes a deep yellow : the yarn or thread must be first steeped 

 in alum-water, then dried and steeped in a decoction of the 

 plant, and afterwards boiled in the decoction. The seeds have 

 been sometimes known to destroy gold fish by adhering to 

 their gills and jaws. As it is found by a chemical analysis to 

 possess much the same qualities as Verbesina acmella, it is 

 probable that it might have the same good effects in expelling 

 the stone and gravel : it grows readily in wet situations. 



1. Bidens Minima ; Nodding Bur Marygold. Leaves lan- 

 ceolate, sessile ; flowers and seeds erect. This, like the first 

 species, prospers in a wet soil. 



3. Bidens Nodiflora ; Sessile-flowered Bidens. Leaves 

 oblong, quite entire, one-toothed ; stem dichotomous ; flowers 

 solitary, sessile ; annual. Native of the East Indies. It must 

 be sown upon a moderate hot-bed in the spring, and after- 

 wards treated like other hardy annual plants, planting them 

 into the full ground the latter end of May They will flower 

 in June, soon after which the plants decay. 



4. Bidens Tenella. Leaves linear ; peduncles capillary ; 

 calices mostly four-leaved ; seeds erect, five-fold. It is an 

 annual, a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and must be 

 cultivated in the same manner as the preceding species. 



5. Bidens Cernua : Drooping Water Hemp Agrimony, or 

 Bur Marygold. Leaves lanceolate, stem-clasping ; flowers 

 nodding, yellowish-green ; seeds erect ; root annual Native 

 of most parts of Europe. Found at Ditchingham in Nor- 

 folk, and Tarporley in Cheshire ; it is frequent in Ireland. 

 It flourishes in wet situations. 



6. Bidens Frondosa ; Smoothed-stalked Bidens. Leaves pin- 



nate, serrate, marked with lines, smooth ; seeds erect; calices 

 leafy ; stem polished, three feet high. It grows naturally in 

 Virginia, Maryland, and Canada, where it is often a trouble- 

 some weed. It is easily propagated by seeds sown in the 

 spring, in an open situation, where, if they be permitted to 

 scatter, the plants will come up the following spring. Two 

 or three of them may be transplanted where they are to grow, 

 and, after they are rooted, will require no further care. 



7. Bidens Pillosa ; Hairy Bidens. Leaves pinnate, some- 

 what hairy ; stem with bearded joints ; calices with a 

 simple involucre ; seeds diverging. Native of America, and 

 the island of Tongataboo in the South Seas. See the third 

 species. 



8. Bidens Bipinnata ; Hemlock-leaved Bidens. Leaves 

 bipinnate, gashed; calices involucred ; corollas half radiated ; 

 seeds diverging. Annual. Native of Virginia. For its cul- 

 tivation, see the sixth species. 



9. Bidens Nivea; Snowy Bidens. Leaves simple, cordate- 

 ovate, acuminate ; branches trichotomous, serrate ; flowers 

 hemispherical ; peduncles elongated. Native of Jamaica, in 

 elevated pastures, and on the sea-coast of the southern parts. 

 It is propagated by seeds, which should be sown on a hot-bed 

 in the spring ; and when the plants are fit to remove, they 

 must be each planted into a separate small pot, plunged into a 

 fresh hot-bed, and treated as othertender plants from the same 

 hot countries : in autumn, they must be placed in the bark- 

 stove, and will generally live some years with management. 



10. Bidens Verticillata. Leaves oblong, entire, lower ones 

 entire, upper ones opposite ; flowers verticilled. Native of 

 Vera Cruz in South America. For the cultivation of this 

 plant, see the preceding species. 



11. Bidens Scandens. Leaves opposite, ovate, acuminate, 

 serrate ; stem climbing, shrubby ; flowers panicled, ovate. 

 Native of the cooler mountains of Jamaica, and of Vera 

 Cruz. See the ninth species. 



12. Bidens Bullata ; Various- leaved Bidens. Leaves ovate, 

 serrate ; lower ones opposite, upper ones ternate, the middle 

 larger. Native of America, found also wild in Italy. See 

 the third species 



13. Bidens Hirsute. Leaves opposite, ovate-lanceolate, 

 entire, tomentose-hirsute ; stem climbing, shrubby; pedun- 

 cles opposite, diverging, many-flowered ; annual. Native 

 of Jamaica. See the ninth species. 



14. Bidens Odorata. Stem four-cornered, branching very 

 much ; leaves connate, bipinnate ; pinnules wedge-trifid, 

 smooth ; seeds rugged. It is a native of Mexico. See the 

 ninth species. 



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

 spermia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one- 

 leafed, erect, cup-form, five-cleft. Corolla-, monopetalous, 

 campanulate ; tube very small, the length of the calix ; throat 

 very long, ventricose beneath, oblong-campanulate ; border 

 five-parted, the two upper divisions reflex, lower patulous. 

 Stamina:'- filamenta four, subulate, shorter than the corolla ; 

 two longer than the other two. Antherse reflex, oblong, as it 

 were doubled. Pistil . germen oblong ; style filiform, situ- 

 ation and form of the stamina ; stigma capitate. Pericarp : 

 silique two-celled, two-valved ; partition membranaceous, 

 parallel, thickened at the sutures. Seeds : very many, imbri- 

 cate, compressed, membrane-winged on both sides. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix : five-cleft, cup-form. Corolla : 

 throat bell-form, five-cleft, ventricose beneath. Silique: two- 

 celled. Seeds: membrane-winged. These are exotic trees 

 or shrubs, and may be raised from seeds sown on a moderate 

 hot-bed in the spring. They should be soon inured to the 

 open air, to prevent their being drawn up weak. They may 



