BRA 



OR BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



BRA 



181 



Box- Tree. See Buxus. 



Brabeium -. a genus of the class Polygamia, order Monce- 

 cia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : ament pubescent, 

 with ovate, obtuse, three-flowered scales. Corolla: one- 

 petulled, funnel-form, four-parted, deciduous; divisions linear, 

 obtuse, rolled back at the top, deciduous. Stamina : fila- 

 menta four, capillary, inserted into the base of the segments 

 of the corolla, and scarcely so long as that ; antherre small, 

 gaping on the sides. Pistil : germen very small, villose ; 

 style filiform, longer than the stamina, somewhat thicker at 

 the top; stigma simple. Pericarp : drupe very dry, roundish, 

 villose. Seed : nut-globular. Male Flowers on the same tree. 

 dilir : ament as in the hermaphrodites. Corolla : one-petal- 

 k'd, funnel-form, four or five cleft ; clefts oblong, revolute. 

 Stamina : filamenta four or five, inserted into the throat, of 

 ;i middling length ; anthera; oblong, fastened to the inside of 

 the filamenta, except at the tip. Pistil : germen none ; style 

 filiform, of a middling length ; stigmas two, erect. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Hermaphrodite : scales of the ament. 

 Corolla : four-parted, revolute above. Stamina : four. Pis- 

 til: one. Drupe: roundish. Seed: globular. Male: scales 

 of the ament. Corolla : four or five parted. Stamina : 

 four, inserted into the throat ; style bifid, abortive. The 

 only known species is, 



1. Brabeium Stellulifolium ; African Almond. Native 

 of the Cape of Good Hope, where it becomes a tree of mid- 

 dling growth ; but in Europe it seldom exceeds nine feet 

 high. It is difficult to propagate this tree by layers, which 

 are often two years before they make roots strong enough to 

 be taken from the old plants ; when the branches are laid 

 down, it will be a good method to slit them at a joint, as is 

 practised in laying Carnations ; which will promote their 

 taking root. They must have but little water, especially in 

 winter, for as the young shoots are chiefly pith within, they 

 are very apt to rot with much moisture. The best time to 

 make the layers is in April, just as the plants are beginning 

 to shoot : and they must always be of the former year's 

 growth. The plants must have a good green-house in 

 winter ; but in summer they should be set abroad in a 

 sheltered situation, where they will thrive, and annually 

 produce flowers in the spring, making a pretty variety among 

 exotic plants. 



Bradleja ; a genus of the class Monnecia, order Mona- 

 delphia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Male Flower. Culiv : 

 none. Corolla: petals six, ovate, concave, spreading, nearly 

 equal. Stamina: filamenta three, extremely minute ; anthera; 

 cylindric, erect, formed of three united twin untherae, tipped 

 at the point with a cusp or spearlet. Female Flowers. Calix : 

 none. Corolla : one petalled, six parted, inferior, three of 

 the parts interior. Pistil : germen globose, six-furrowed, 

 superior ; style none ; stigmas six to eight, very small, con- 

 verging. Pericarp : capsule depressed, round, twelve- 

 streaked, six-celled, six-valved, gaping. Seed : solitary, 

 somewhat globose. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. 

 Calix: none. Corolla: petals six, nearly equal ; filamenta 

 three, with three twin antherae. Female Calix : none. 

 Corolla : six-parted, three parts interior ; germen superior, 

 with six to eight stigmas. Capsule : six-celled, six-valved. 

 Seed : solitary. The species are, 



1 . Bradleja Sinica ; Chinese Bradleja. A shrub, with 

 leaves resembling the Annona, but not of a lucid surface. 

 | 2. Bradleja Zeylunica. A Ceylonese shrub. 



3. Bradleja Glochidion. A tree which grows in the islands 

 of the Southern or Pacific ocean. 



Brassica : a genus of the class Tetradynamia, order 

 Siliquosa. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : perianth four- 



VOL. i. 16. 



leaved, erect, a little converging ; leaflets lanceolate-linear, 

 concave-channelled, gibbous at the base, erect, parallel, deci- 

 duous. Corolla : cruciform ; four-petalled ; petals subovate, 

 flat, expanding, entire, gradually lessening into claws nearly 

 the length of the calix ; nectareous glands four, ovate, of 

 which one on each side between the shorter stamina and the 

 pistil, and one on each side between the longer stamina and 

 the calix. Stamina : filamenta six, subulate, erect, of these 

 two opposite ones are of the length of the calix, and four 

 longer ; antherae erect, acuminate. Pistil : germen columnar, 

 the length of the stamina; style short, the thickness of the 

 germen ; stigma capitate, entire. Pericarp : silique long, 

 somewhat like the shaft of a column, but flatted on both 

 sides ; partition with a prominent columnar top, two-celled, 

 two-valved ; valves shorter than the partition. Seeds: many, 

 globular. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : erect, con- 

 verging. Seeds : globular. A gland between the shorter 

 stamina and the pistil, and between the longer and the calix. 



The species are, 



* Silif/ues slender, four-angled, with a short permanent Style 



1. Brassica Orientalis ; Perfoliate Cabbage. Stem-leaves 

 cordate, stem-cliisping, smooth ; root-leaves scabrous, quite 

 entire; siliques four-cornered ; root spindle-shaped, small, 

 white. Native of corn-fields and cliffs in the Levant, about 

 Montpellier; inGermany, Switzerland, Austria.Carniola, Pied- 

 mont, &c. In England it is found near Harwich ; Bardsey, 

 near Orford, Suffolk ; Godstone, and Maresfield, Sussex. 

 Annual, flowering in June. This, with the second, third, 

 fourth, and fifth species, may be propagated by sowing their 

 seeds on a bed of light earth, early in the spring, in the place 

 where they are designed to remain, for they do not bear trans- 

 planting well. When the plants ufe come up pretty strong, 

 they should be so thinned as to leave them four or five inches 

 apart, and they must be constantly kept clear from weeds. 

 They will flower in June, and ripen seed in the beginning of 

 August. If these be permitted to fall, the plants will come 

 up, and maintain themselves without any further care. They 

 are cultivated merely for curiosity. 



2. Brassica Austriaca ; Austrian Cabbage. Leaves cor- 

 date, stem-clasping, smooth, all quite entire; siliques four- 

 cornered, striated, erect. Native of Austria. It is a biennial 

 plant. For its culture and propagation, see the preceding. 



3. Brassica Campestris ; Yellow Field Cabbage. Root 

 and stem slender ; stem-leaves uniform, cordate, sessile. 

 Root annual ; corolla yellow, never white. For its culture 

 and propagation, see the first species. 



4. Brassica Arvensis ; Purple Field Cabbage. Leaves 

 stem-clasping, spatulate, repand ; the upper cordate, quite 

 entire. Perennial. Native of corn-fields in the south of 

 Europe. For its culture and propagation, see the first species. 



5. Brassica Alpina : Alpine Cabbage. Stem-leaves cordate, 

 sagittate, stem-clasping ; radical leaves ovate ; petals erect. 

 Native of Germany and Sweden. For its culture and pro- 

 pagation, see the first species. 



** Siliqttes with a rylindric, rather ohtuse Style. 



6. Brassiea Napus ; Wild Cabbage, Rape, or Navew. 

 Root caulescent, fusiform. The roots when cultivated may 

 be eaten, but have a stronger taste than the Turnip. It is 

 much cultivated in the Isle of Ely, and some parts of Eng- 

 land, under the title of Rape or Cole-seed ; and in some parts 

 of England for its seed, from which the rape-oil is drawn ; 

 and for feeding cattle. The residue, tifter the oil is expressed, 

 is called oil-cake or rape-cake. It is a very efficacious manure, 

 and is sold at from four to six pounds per ton. It is not this 

 but the lint-cake, or residuum of Flax-seed, used in making 

 linseed oil, that is used in fattening beasts. It grows among 



3 A 



