174 



BIX 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



B L 



the upper part of the branches come out the peduncles, 

 which sustain several small purplish flowers. It is propa- 

 gated by seeds, which in this country should be sown in the 

 autumn, on a bed of light earth, where the plants will come 

 up in about three weeks, and will live in the open air very 

 well. These should be sown where they are designed to 

 remain, or transplanted very young ; for when they are large 

 they will not bear removing. When the plants are come up, 

 they will require no other care but to keep them clean from 

 weeds ; and where they are too near, they should be thinned 

 to about a foot distance from each other. They flower in 

 June, and the seeds ripen in September. 



Bishop's Weed. See Ammi. 



Bitter Vetch. See Orobus. 



Bittertoort. See Gentiana. 



Bixa ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Monogynia. 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: perianth five-toothed, very 

 small, obtuse, flat, permanent. Corolla : double, outer with 

 petals, five, oblong, equal, large, more rude ; inner with five 

 petals like the outer, but thinner. Stamina: filamenta nu- 

 merous, setaceous, shorter by half than the corolla; antherae 

 erect. Pistil : germen ovate ; style filiform, the length of 

 the stamina ; stigma parallelly bifid, compressed. Pericarp : 

 capsule ovate-cordate, compressed, fenced with bristles, 

 bivalve, gaping at the angles, one-celled, with an inner 

 bivalve membrane. Seeds : numerous, turbinate, witli a trun- 

 cated navel, berried. Receptacle : linear, longitudinal, fast- 

 ened to the middle of the valves. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. 

 Corolla: ten-petalled. Calix: five-toothed. Capsule: his- 

 pid, bivalve. The only known species is, 



1. Bixa Orellana ; Arnotto, or Arnotta. This shrub rises 

 with an upright stem to the height of eight or ten feet, send- 

 ing .out many branches at the top, forming a regular head. 

 The name of this plant is variously spelt in England, as 

 arnotto, arhotta, anotta, anato, anoto, annotto. The drug 

 called terra orellana, or orleana, roncou, or arnotto, is thus pre- 

 pared from the red pulp which covers the seeds. The con- 

 tents of the fruit are taken out and thrown into a wooden 

 vessel, where as much hot water is poured upon them as is 

 necessary to suspend the red powder or pulp ; and this is 

 gradually washed off with the assistance of the hand, or of a 

 spatula or spoon. When the seeds appear quite naked, they 

 are taken out, and the wash is left to settle ; after which the 

 water is gently poured away, and the sediment put into shal- 

 low vessels, to be dried by degrees in the shade. After ac- 

 quiring a due consistence, it is made into balls or cakes, and 

 set to dry in an airy place, until it is perfectly firm. Some 

 |>ersons first pound the contents of the fruit with wooden 

 pestles, then covering them with water, leave them to steep 

 six days : this liquor being passed through a coarse sieve, 

 and afterwards through three finer ones, is again put into 

 the vat or wooden vessel, and left to ferment a week. It is 

 then boiled until it is pretty thick, and when cool it is spread 

 out to dry, and then made up into balls, which are usually 

 wrapped up in leaves. Arnotto, of a good quality, is of the 

 colour of fire, bright within, soft to the touch, and dissolves 

 entirely in water. It is reputed to be cooling and cor- 

 dial, and is much used by the Spaniards in their chocolate 

 aud soups, both to heighten the flavour, and to give them an 

 agreeable colour. It is esteemed good in bloody fluxes, and 

 disorders of the kidneys: mixed with lemon-juice and a gum, 

 it makes the crimson paint with which the Indians adorn 

 their persons. It was formerly used by dyers to form the 

 colour called aurora; but at present it is not held in such 

 estimation as a dye, though it still maintains its ground 

 with painters. Arnotto is well known to be the drug which 



is used for dyeing cheese in Gloucestershire, under the name 

 of cheese-colouring. It is used in Holland for colouring 

 butter. The bark makes good ropes for the common plan- 

 tation uses in the West Indies ; and pieces of the wood are 

 used by the Indians to procure fire by friction. It is pro- 

 pagated by seeds, and may be cultivated with great ease. It 

 is planted in many parts of Jamaica, Barbadoes, Cayenne, 

 &c. in rich soils and shady situations, shooting luxuriantly 

 near rivulets. The seed should be sown in a small pot, filled 

 with light rich earth, and plunged into a hot-bed of tanner's 

 bark, where, if the bed be of a proper temperature of heat, 

 the plants will appear in about a month after : when these 

 are about an inch high, they should be taken out of the pot, 

 and carefully separated, so as not to tear off their tender 

 roots, and each replanted in a small pot filled with some 

 rich light earth, and plunged into a fresh hot-bed of tanner's 

 bark, observing to shade them every day until they have 

 taken new root ; after which they must be treated as other 

 tender plants from the same country. 



Blackberry. See Rubus Fruticosus. 



Blackbumia ; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Mo- 

 nogynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth very short, 

 four-toothed, inferior ; teeth short, acute, horizontal. Co- 

 rolla : petals four, elliptic. Stamina .- filamenta four, subu- 

 late, rather shorter than the petals; antherae heart-shaped, 

 erect. Pistil : germen conic ; style filiform, erect, length 

 of the stamina ; stigma simple. Pericarp : berry. Seed : 

 single. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: four-toothed. Pe- 

 tals : four, elliptic. Antherx : heart-shaped. Germen : 

 conic. Stigma: simple. Pericarp.- berry with a single seed. 

 The only known species is, 



1. Blackburnia Pinnata. Leaves alternate, abruptly pin- 

 nate, with two or three pairs of leaflets, which are opposite, 

 oblique, ovate, quite entire, and very smooth ; panicles axil- 

 lary, small. Native of Norfolk Island. 



Bladder Nut. See Staphybea. 



Bladder Sena. See Colutea. 



Bladhia ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GEN-ERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth one-leafed, 

 very short, permanent, five-parted ; parts ovate, concave, 

 spreading, torn, subserrate. Corolla : one-petalled, wheel- 

 shaped , five-parted ; parts ovate, obtuse, spreading. Stamina -. 

 filamenta five, very short ; antherae heart-shaped, acute, 

 converging into a cone, shorter than the corolla. Pistil: 

 germen superior; style filiform, longer than the corolla; 

 stigma simple, acute. Pericarp: berry globose, crowned by 

 the permanent style, one-celled. .Seed: single, globose, in- 

 volved in a membrane. ESSEN. CIIAR. Corolla: wheel- 

 shaped, deciduous. Berry : containing one arilled seed. 

 These plants are all natives of Japan. The species are, 



1. Bladhia Japonica. Leaves serrate, smooth; corolla 

 white, sweet-smelling. 



2. Bladhia Villosa. Leaves serrate, villose ; stem filiform, 

 almost erect, tomentose a finger's length. 



3. Bladhia Crispa. Leaves oblong, curled, smooth ; stem 

 round, smooth, a span or more in height; berry red, the size 

 of a pea. 



BUeria; a genus of the class Tetrandria, order Monogy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth four parted ; 

 leaflets linear, erect, a little shorter than the corolla, per- 

 manent. Corolla: monopetalous, cumpanulate ; tube cylin- 

 dric, the length of the calix, pervious ; border small, four- 

 cleft ; divisions ovate, reflex. Stamina : filamenta four, seta- 

 ceous, the length of the tube, inserted into the receptacle; 

 antherse oblong, compressed, erect, obtuse, emarginate. 

 Pistil: germen four-cornered, short; style setaceous, much, 



