B R O 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



B R O 



199 



nicle fascicled, ovate ; spikelets subsessile, villose, seven- 

 flowered ; awns erect ; root annual. Native of the neigh- 

 bourhood of Madrid, on the borders of corn-fields, flowering 

 in May. 



tb'. Bromus Scoparius. Panicle fascicled ; spikelets sub- 

 sessile, smooth ; awns spreading. The awns in the same plant 

 are sometimes upright, sometimes spreading; the corollas 

 are smooth, especially the outer glume ; the colour is some- 

 times green, often blood-red, but more frequently paler. 



17. Bromus Rigens ; Stiff Brome-grass. Panicle spiked ; 

 spikelets subsessile, erect, pubescent, subquadrirtorous ; 

 culms six or seven inches high, clothed with leaves, which 

 are nerved, and slightly haired on the upper surface, the 

 sheaths covering the whole culm. Native of Portugal. 



18. Bromus Racemosus ; Racemed Brome-grass. Raceme 

 entirely simple ; peduncles one-flowered ; spikelets six-flower- 

 ed, even-awned. It is found in calcareous pastures in the 

 neighbourhood of Oxford, flowering in June and July. 



19. Bromus Triflorous ; Three-flowered Brome-grass. Pa- 

 nicle spreading; spikelets- subtriflorous; stem five feet high. 

 Native of Germany, and of Denmark, in woods ; flower- 

 ing in June and July. 



20. Bromus Madritensis ; Madrid Brome-grass. Panicle 

 thinner, expanding, erect ; spicules linear ; the intermediate 

 .ones in pairs; pedicles thicker upwards. Native of Spain, 

 Italy, and England, on old walls, about London, Oxford, 

 and Severnstoke in Worcestershire : very common in dry 

 meadows ; flowering in May. 



21. Bromus Ramosus; Branched Brome-grass. Culm 

 much branching ; spicules sessile ; leaves involute-subulate; 

 root perennial. Found in the Levant, and observed also in 

 Dauphiny. 



22. Bromus Pinnatus ; Pinnated or Spiked Brome-grass. 

 Culm undivided ; spikelets alternate, subsessile, columnar, 

 subawned ; root perennial ; leaves flat ; the flat side of the 

 spikelets is turned to the culm ; awns terminating. Whilst 

 it flowers, the spikelets separate horizontally from the culm; 

 before and after flowering, they are pressed to it. The Mea- 

 dow Spiked Brome-grass,according to Mr.Hudson, is smooth, 

 of a yellowish green, the lower leaves sometimes alittle hairy, 

 the awn shorter than the floscules. Found in pastures, es- 

 pecially in a calcareous soil, in many parts of Europe. 



23. Bromus Crista ; Crested Brome-grass. Spikelets imbri- 

 cate, in a double row, sessile, depressed. Native of Siberia 

 and Tartary. 



24. Bromus Distachyos; Two-spiked Brome-grass. Spikes 

 two, erect, alternate. Native of the south of Europe, and 

 the Levant : it is an annual plant. 



25. Bromus Stipoides. Panicle somewhat erect : pedun- 

 cles ensiform. Native of Majorca. 



Brooklime. See Veronica. 



Broom. See Genista, Spartium, and Aspalathus. 



Brosimnm ; a genus of the class Dioecia, order Monandria, 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Male. Calix : ament common, glo- 

 bular, covered on all sides with imbricate, orbicular, peltate, 

 membranaceous, deciduous scales ; three larger surrounding 

 the base of the ament ; and others smaller, of an irregular 

 shape, between each of which the stamens break out. Co- 

 i'/lla : none. Stamina : filamenta solitary, very short, cylin- 

 dric ; antherae bilamellate ; lamellas orbicular, peltate ; 

 lower gaping from the upper, dispersing a globular pollen. 

 Pistil: germen at top included in a spongy ament, very 

 Miiiill, ovate, abortive; style single, upright, bifid at the tip; 

 stigmas reflex, simple. Female on a different tree. Calix: 

 ament like the male. Corolla. .- none. Pistil: germen fflo- 

 bular, (the scaly body of the ament itself;) style springing 



from the middle of the germen at top, long, bifid ; stigmas 

 simple, sharp, a little reflex. Pericarp: berry pedicelled, 

 corticose, spherical, one-celled. Seeds: solitary, with a two- 

 lobed kernel, surrounded by a thin membrane, and bipartite. 

 ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Male. Ament: globular, covered 

 all round with orbiculate peltate scales. Corolla: none. 

 Filiunenta : solitary, between the scales. Female. Ament as 

 in the male. Corolla : none. Style : bifid. Berry : one- 

 seeded. The species are, 



). Brosimum Alicastrum. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, peren- 

 nial ; aments globular, pedicelled, solitary, axillary : fruit 

 corticose. This tree is frequent in the parishes of St. Eli- 

 zabeth and St. James, in the island of Jamaica ; and in both 

 is computed to make up a third part of the woods. The 

 timber is not despicable ; but the leaves and younger 

 branches are more useful, and a hearty fattening fodder for 

 all sorts of cattle. The fruit, boiled with salt fish, pork, beef, 

 or pickle, has been frequently the support of the negroes 

 and poorer sort of white people, in times of scarcity, and 

 proved a wholesome and not unpleasant food : when roasted, 

 it eats something like our European Chestnut, and is called 

 bread-nut. The leaves and younger shoots are full of gum, 

 which renders them disagreeable to most cattle at first, but 

 they soon grow very fond of them. 



2. Brosimum Spurium. Leaves lanceolate, ovate, acumi- 

 nate. ; aments pedicelled, ovate, axillary in pairs; fruits soft. 

 This is pretty common in St. Mary's parish, Jamaica, 

 where it is called milk-wood. It rises to a considerable 

 height in the woods, is reckoned among the timber-trees, and 

 is sometimes used as such, though not generally valued. 

 . Brosstea ; a genus of the class Pentandria, order Mono- 

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

 five-parted ; divisions ending in erect points, the length of 

 the corolla. Corolla: monopetalous, conic, truncated at 

 the end, entire. Stamina: five. Pistil: germen pentacoc- 

 cous ; style subulate, shorter than the corolla ; stigma sim- 

 ple. Pericarp: capsule roundish, divided with fhe furrows, 

 five-celled, covered with a large, converging, fleshy, succu- 

 lent calix, bursting at the sides. Seeds: very many, ex- 

 tremely minute. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix : fleshy. 



Corolla: truncate. Capsule: five-celled, many-seeded. 



The only known species is, 



1. Brossffia Coccinea. Branches alternate ; leaves alter- 

 nate, ovate, serrate, petiolate; flowers few, terminating the 

 branches, alternate. An obscure plant, and the character 

 doubtful. Native of South America. 



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

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

 tubular, short, five-toothed, permament ; toothlets a little 

 unequal. Corolla: monopetalous, funnel-form; tube cylin- 

 dric, twice as long as the calix ; border flat, equal, five- 

 cleft ; divisions rounded, emarginate ; the upper somewhat 

 large, constituting the upper lip ; the four others equal. Sta- 

 mina : filamenta four, in the throat of the corolla ; the two 

 upper shortest ; the lower broader, higher coloured, reflex, 

 closing the throat of the corolla. Antherae simple, bent in, 

 converging ; the inner ones twin, the outer opening at the 

 top with a little hole, and closing the throat of the corolla. 

 Pistil : germen ovate, retuse ; style filiform, the length of 

 the tube of the corolla; stigma thick, fourlobed. Pericarp: 

 capsule ovate, obtuse, one-celled, covered, bursting into four 

 parts at the top; partition thin, parallel. Seeds: numerous, 

 small ; receptacle nearly columnar, compressed. ESSEN- 

 TIAL CHARACTER. Calix: five-toothed. Corolla: border 

 five-cleft, equal, spreading, with the navel closed. Anthercti 

 two larger. Capsule: one-celled. These plants being 



