BUR 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



BUT 



three, ovate, oblong, very small, placed in the mouth of the 

 calix, extremely minute. Stamina: filamenta six, very short ; 

 antherae in the mouth of the calix, very short, two always 

 together, separated by a reflected point. Pistil .- germen 

 cylindric, shorter by half than the calix ; style filiform, the 

 length of the corolla ; stigmas three, obtuse, concave. Peri- 

 carp : capsule covered by the calix, cylindric, three-cor- 

 nered, three-celled, three-valved, gaping at the angles. 

 Seeds : numerous, very small. ESSENTIAL, CHARACTER. Calix: 

 prismatic, coloured, trifid ; angles membranous. Petals : 

 three. Cqptule : three-celled, straight. Seeds : minute. 

 These plants are very difficult to preserve in gardens ; for, 

 as they naturally grow in marshy places, which are covered 

 with water great part of the year, they will not thrive when 

 planted in dry ground, and, being too tender to live abroad 

 in England, they must be planted in pots, plunged in troughs 

 of water, so as to cover the surface of the mould about three 

 inches. The species are, 



1. Bunnannia Disticha. Spike double ; root composed 

 wholly of capillary fibres, and very small. The plant has 

 the appearance or habit of an Anthericum ; root-leaves six, 

 eight, or nine, grass-like orensiform, two inches long, quite 

 entire ; stem upright, straight, quite simple, a span or a span 

 and a half in height, having six or seven very small, alternate, 

 scale-like leaves, sheathing the base, an inch long, scarcely 

 separating from the stem, but in a manner embracing it; two 

 equal, simple, divaricating spikes, each composed of about 

 nine flowers, terminate the stem. The flowers are sessile, in 

 a single row, pointing upwards ; they are blue, very elegant, 

 and do not fall off. Native of Ceylon, in open watery places ; 

 called in that country, jawteel jawul, or dya-jawul, that is, 

 water-jawul. 



2. Burmannia Hi flora. Flowers two together ; root strong 

 and fibrous, with several oblong oval leaves arising from it, 

 which are smooth and entire, four or five inches long; among 

 these springs the flower-stem, six or eight inches high, termi- 

 nated by blue flowers, growing twotogether.in each sheath. 

 It grows naturally in watery places, in Virginia and Carolina. 



Jiurnet. See Poterium, Sanguisorba, and Pimpinella. 



Bur-reed. See Sparganium. 



liursera; a genus of the class Polygamia, order Dioecia. i 

 GENERIC CHARACTER. Hermaphrodite. Calix: perianth one 

 leafed, minute, three-parted ; parts ovate, acute. Corolla : 

 petals three, ovate, acute, spreading, entire, deciduous. Sta- 

 mina . filamenta six, subulate, erect, fixed round the base of 

 the germen ; antherse ovate, erect. Pistil : germen ovate ; 

 style short, thick, trifid at the tip ; stigmas very short, sim- 

 ple. Pericarp: capsule fleshy, obovate, three-cornered, 

 three-celled, three-valved. Seeds: berried, solitary, (com- 

 monly only one,) compressed. Male tm a separate tree. Ca- 

 lix: perianth five-toothed, minute. Corolla : petals five, lan- 

 ceolate, acuminate, reflex, shrivelling. Stamina: filamenta 

 five, eight, ten, placed round a slightly convex surface, 

 scarcely shorter than the petals, subulate ; antherse oblong, 

 two-celled. Pistil: a rudiment; germen none ; style trifid, 

 caducous, or none. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Herma- 

 phrodite. Calix: three-leaved. Corolla: three-petalled ; 

 Capsule: fleshy, three-valved, one-seeded. Male. Calix: 



five-toothed. Corolla: five-petalled. Stamina: ten. 



The species are, 



1. Bursera Gummifera; Jamaica Birch-tree. This is a 

 very lofty tree, with an upright, round, smooth trunk, covered 

 with a livid shining hark, peeling off in round pieces, like the 

 European Birch; branches terminating, smooth, horizontal ; 

 twigs ferruginous and villose ; leaves pinnate ; petioles round, 

 villose ; petioluks compressed, channelled, vjllose beneath ; 



flowers small and white ; capsule red, resembling a drupe. 

 On the male trees the flowers are more copious and crowded 

 in the racemes, but are scarcely larger. According to Sir 

 Hans Sloane, the roots run very superficially ; the trunk is 

 as thick as a hogshead or pipe ; there are four or eight pairs 

 of leaflets, an inch and half long, and half as broad near the 

 round base where broadest ; the petals are five in number, 

 thick, yellowish, and short ; the berries three-sided, the size 

 of a small pea, with a reddish-brown skin, very gummy, and 

 smelling like turpentine, under which lies a white very hard 

 triangular stone, containing a kernel. The tree having stood 

 naked some time, has first its flowers come out, and its leaves 

 begin to bud a little after. This tree is common in all the 

 sugar islands of the West Indies ; the bark is very thick, and 

 exudes a clear transparent resin, which soon hardens in the 

 air, and looks like the mastic of the shops ; but by incision, 

 it yields a considerable quantity of a more fluid substance, 

 which has much of the smell and appearance of turpentine, 

 and may be used for the same purposes. The bark of the 

 root is thought to be the sima-rouba of the shops, which is 

 an effectual remedy in bloody fluxes ; it is administered in 

 decoctions, and one or two drachms is sufficient for a quart 

 of water; for, if it be strong, it purges or vomits. In the 

 French islands it is called gontmier blanc ; and an infusion of 

 the buds and young leaves is recommended there in disorders 

 of the breast : it flowers from May to July. 



2. Bursera Paniculata. Racemes panicled, terminal ; 

 flowers purple, small, numerous, in panicled terminal ra- 

 cemes, about six inches long. It produces a resinous juice 

 like the preceding. Native of the isle of France. 

 3. Bursera Obtusifolia. Racemes panicled, subterminal ; 

 leaflets obtuse. This is a large tree, very resinous ; flowers 

 small, very numerous, whitish; fruit a drupaceous coriaceous 

 berry, the size of a hazel-nut. Native of the Isle of France. 



Butcher's Broom'. See Ruscus Andatus. 



Butomuss a genus of the class Enneandria, order Hexagy- 

 nia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: involucre simple, 

 three-leaved, short. Corolla : petals six, roundish, concave, 

 withering ; three outer, alternate, smaller, more acute. Sta- 

 mina : filamenta nine, subulate ; antherse bilamellate. Pis- 

 til : germina six, oblong, acuminate, ending in styles ; stigmas 

 simple. Pericarp : capsules six, oblong, gradually attenuated, 

 erect, one-valved, gaping on the inside. Seeds : very many, 

 oblong-cylindric, obtuse at both ends, fixed to the wall, of 

 the capsules. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: none. Pe- 

 tals: six. Capsule : six, many-seeded. The only species 



hitherto discovered is, 



1. Butomus Umbellatus ; Flowering Rush, or Water Gla- 

 diole. Root perennial; leaves ensiform, long, triangular, 

 smooth, quite entire, spongy, at bottom sheathing, at top 

 flat and twisted ; scape upright, round, smooth, from one to 

 three or five and six feet high; corolla handsome, nearly an 

 inch in breadth, commonly of a bright or pale flesh-colour. 

 It is found in and by the sides of watery ditches, moats, 

 lakes, ponds, and brooks, in most parts of Europe, from 

 Lapland to Italy. It flowers with us from July to September : 

 the corolla varies in different shades of red or purple, mixed 

 with white, and is sometimes entirely white. This is the only 

 plant of the Enneandria class, which grows wild in Britain. 

 This plant may be propagated in boggy places ; or by plant- 

 ing it in cisterns kept filled with water, and having about a 

 foot thickness of earth in the bottom, in which the roots 

 should be planted, or the seeds sown as soon as they are 

 ripe ; or on the sides of ponds, or slow-flowing streams ; 

 where it will have a good effect in diversifying the scene. 



Butterbur. See Tussilago. 



