BIS 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



BIS 



173 



16. Bignonia Grandiflora. Leaves pinnate; leaflets ovate, 

 acuminate, serrate; stem twining; calix semiquinquefid; 

 corolla purple, the size of a rose. Native of Japan. 



17. Bignonia Chelonoitfes. Leaves unequally pinnate ; 

 leaflets ovate, quite entire, acuminate, pubescent ; corollas 

 bearded with the rudiment of a fifth stamina. This is a 

 large tree, with a whitish ash-coloured bark. The fresh 

 flowers, immersed in water, give it a pleasant odour ; and 

 in the East Indies, of which it is a native, they sprinkle it 

 over the temples in a morning, to correct the stagnant air. 



18. Bignonia Spathacea. Leaves unequally pinnate ; leaf- 

 lets ovate, rough with hairs ; calix one-leafed, spotted ; co- 

 rolla salver-shaped. A large tree, native of Malabar, Java, 

 and Ceylon, in woqds near waters. 



19. Bignonia Peruviana. Leaves decompound ; leaflets 



fashed; stem with tendrils at the joints. This species climbs 

 y tendrils, which come out from the joints of the branches. 

 Native of America. 



20. Bignonia Indica ; Indian Trumpet-flower. Leaves 

 bipinnate ; leaflets quite entire, ovate, acuminate. This is 

 a large tree, with ascending branches. Native of the East 

 Indies, and Cochin-china. 



21. Bignonia Cojrulea. Leaves bipinnate ; leaflets lan- 

 ceolate, entire. Native of the Bahamas. 



22. Bignonia Longissima; Waved-leaved Trumpet-flower. 

 Leaves simple, oblong, acuminate ; stem erect ; seeds woolly. 

 This beautiful tree, forty feet high, is now cultivated in many 

 parts of Jamaica, especially in the low lands and savannas, 

 where it grows to a considerable size, and is generally looked 

 upon as an excellent timber-tree. Its numerous flowers, and 

 slender siliques, add a peculiar grace to its growth. Native 

 of the West Indies. 



23. Bignonia Echinata ; Climbing ; lower leaves ternite, 

 upper bijngous cirrhose ; fruits echinate. This is a rambling 

 shrub, climbing to the tops of trees, by its very long and 

 numerous branches ; corolla flesh-coloured. Native of the 

 West Indies, Carthagena, and Guiana. 



25. Bignonia Pentandra. Leaves bipinnate ; stamina five, 

 with two antherse on each ; calix fleshy coloured, five-toothed. 

 Native of Cochin-china, near rivers. 



25. Bignonia Alliacea. Leaves conjugate; leaflets elliptic, 

 entire, coriaceous; peduncles five-flowered, axillary: calices 

 entire. This plant obtained its trivial name from the strong 

 scent of Garlic, which betrays it from afar. It is a native 

 of the West Indian islands, and the forests of Cayenne and 

 Guiana. 



26. Bignonia Cassinoides. Leaves simple, elliptic, coria- 

 ceous ; raceme terminating ; corollalarge, smooth, two inches 

 in diameter. Native of Rio Janeiro. 



27. Bignonia Bijuga. Leaves abruptly pinnate, bijugous; 

 leaflets elliptic, quite entire; branches alternately compressed 

 above, covered with an ash-coloured bark, and smooth ; ra- 

 ceme terminating. Native of Madagascar. 



Bilberry. See Vaccmium. 

 Bindweed. See Convolvulus. 

 Bindwith. See Clematis. 

 Birch Tree. See Betula. 

 Bird Cherry. See Prunus Padus. 

 Bird Pepper. See Capsicum. 

 Bird's Eye. See Adonis. 

 Bird's Foot. See Ornithopus. 

 Bird's Foot Trefoil. See Lotia. 

 Bird's Tongue. See Senetio. 

 Birthwort. See Aristolochia. 



Biscutella ; a genus of the class Tetradynamia, order Sili- 

 eulosa. GENERIC CHARACTER. CaKx: perianth four- 

 VOL. i. 15. 



leaved ; leaflets ovate, acuminate, gibbous at the base, co- 

 loured, deciduous. Corolla : four-petalled, cruciform ; petals 

 oblong, obtuse, spreading. Stamina : filamenta six, the 

 length of the tube of the corolla, two opposite shorter; an- 

 therae simple. Pistil : germen compresed, orbiculate, einar- 

 ginate ; style simple, permanent ; stigma obtuse. Pericarp : 

 silicle erect, compressed, flat, semibifid, with roundish lobes, 

 two-celled.; partition lanceolate, ending in a rigid style ; cells 

 two-valved, affixed to the partition, on its straight margin. 

 Seeds; solitary, roundish, compressed, in the middle of the 

 cell. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Silicle compressed, flat, 

 rounded above, and below two-lobed. Calix: leaflets gib- 

 bous at the base. They are all annual plants, except the last, 

 which perish soon after they have perfected their seeds. 

 These should be sown either in spring or autumn, upon a 

 border of light earth, in an open situation, where they are to 

 remain. Those sown in autumn will come up in about three 

 weeks, and will live through the winter without any protec- 

 tion, and flower earlier the following summer, whereby good 

 seeds may be always obtained ; whereas, those which are 

 sown in the spring, in bad seasons decay before their seeds 

 are ripe. The autumnal plants flower in June, and the spring 

 plants in July, and their seeds ripen about six weeks after : 

 if these are permitted to scatter, there will be plenty of young 

 plants produced without any care. They require no further 

 culture, but to keep them clean from weeds, and to be thinned 

 where they are too close, leaving them eight or nine inches 

 asunder. The species are, 



1. Biscutella Auriculata ; Ear-podded Buckler Mustard. 

 Calices gibbous on each side with the nectary ; silicles run- 

 ning into the style ; flowers in panicles, pale yellow. Native 

 of the south of France and Italy. 



2. Biscutella Apula ; Spear-leaved Buckler Mustard. Sili- 

 cles scabrous ; leaves lanceolate, sessile, serrate. It flowers 

 in June and July. Native of Italy. 



3. Biscutella Lyrata. Silicles scabrous ; leaves lyrate. 

 Native of Spain and Sicily. 



4. Biscutella Coronopifolia. Silicles smooth; leaves 

 toothed, rough with hairs. It is found in dry barren places 

 in Spain, Italy, and Germany. 



5. Biscutella Laevigata; Smooth Buckler Mustard. Sili- 

 cles smooth ; leaves lanceolate-serrate. Flowers in June 

 and July. Native of Italy and Austria. 



6. Biscutella Sempervirens ; Shrubby Buckler Mustard. 

 Silicles somewhat scabrous ; leaves lanceolate, tomentose. 

 This is a very distinct species. Native of Spain. 



Biserrula; a genus of the class Diadelphia, order Decan- 

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

 tubular, erect, semiquinquefid ; teeth subulate, equal, the two 

 upper ones more remote. Corolla : papilionaceous ; banner 

 larger, reflected on the sides, ascending, roundish ; wings 

 ovate-oblong, free, shorter than the banner ; keel the length 

 of the wings, obtuse, ascending. Stamina : filamenta diadel- 

 phous, (simple and nine-cleft,) ascending at theirtips, inclosed 

 within the keel ; anthers small. Pistil : germen oblong, 

 compressed ; style subulate, ascending ; stigma simple. Pe- 

 ricarp .- legume large, linear, flat, two-celled ; partition con- 

 trary to the valves. Seeds: very many, kidney-form, com- 

 pressed. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Legume two-celled, flat; 

 partition contrary. The only known species is, 



1. BiserulaPelecinus; Bastard Hatchet Vetch. -This is an 

 an annual plant, which grows naturally in Italy, Sicily, Spain 

 and the south of France. It sends out many angular stalks, 

 which trail on the ground, subdivided into many branches, 

 with long winged leaves, composed of many pairs of leaflets 

 terminated by an odd one ; these are heart-shaped : towards 

 SY 



