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BRUGMANSIA BRUSSELS SPROUTS. 



ner, commits very great ravages in certain seasons in 

 North America, so that the growing of pulse has even 

 been occasionally abandoned as useless. Schonhcrr 

 describes three genera, and upwards of one hundred 

 and sixty species belonging to this family ; of these 

 seven only are inhabitants of our country. 



BRUGMANSIA (Persoon). Named in honour 

 of Professor Brugmans, a botanical author. It is a 

 Pcntandrious genus, and belongs to the natural order 

 Solanece. Generic character: capsule spineless; 

 calyx bursting at the side, persistent ; corolla 

 funnel-shaped, large ; anthers glued together; stigma 

 is a line running down each side of the style. 



B. arborea. 



B. arborea is one of the most ornamental hot-house 

 plants, and withal one of the most fragrant. The 

 flowers issue from the divisions of the branches, and 

 burst from a loose tubular calyx, nearly four inches 

 long. The corolla is large and trumpet-shaped ; the 

 lower part of the tube narrow, but spreading widely 

 out at the mouth, where it is divided into five angles, 

 terminating in long points. The flower is yellowish 

 without, and pure white within ; and ils fragrance so 

 powerful as to scent a whole conservatory. Being 

 natives of Peru, the plants require stove treatment in 

 this country, and in moist heat flower readily. 



BRUN1A (Linnaeus). A genus of twenty-four 

 species of ornamental shrubs from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, named in memory of C. Brun, a celebrated 

 traveller. They belong to Pentandria Monogynia, 

 of the sexual system, and give a title to the sixty-first 

 order of Jussieu, viz. Bruniacece. The foliage of these 

 plants being remarkably soft and attenuated, resem- 

 bling some of the heaths, have always an elegant 

 look, and are a fine contrast to plants of more ample 

 and coarser foliage. Generic character: flowers 



B. lanuginosa. 



aggregate ; calyx superior, five-parted ; filaments 

 inserted into the claws of the petals ; stigma 

 cloven ; capsule small, and two-celled There is 



nothing reported relative to the virtues or uses of 

 this tribe of plants: the previous cut represents a 

 small twig of the Brunia lanuginosa. 



BRUNIACE.E. A natural order of dicotyle- 

 donous plants, containing nine or ten genera, and 

 upwards of thirty species. Decandolle considers this 

 order as nearly allied to the Rhamnece, while other 

 botanists think it approaches the HammaelidcaE. 



The essential characters of the bruniaceae are, 

 calyx adherent with the ovary five-cleft, the seg- 

 ments often callous at the point ; petals five, arising 

 from the throat of the calyx, and alternate with its 

 segments ; stamens five, alternate with the petals ; 

 anthers turned outwards, two-celled, bursting longi- 

 tudinally ; ovary half adnate, one to three-celled ; 

 cells one to two-seeded ; style simple or bifid ; stigma 

 simple ; fruit dicoccous or indehisccnt ; seeds soli- 

 tary, or in pairs, suspended, with a sm.Jl embryo at 

 the apex of a fleshy albumen. 



The plants belonging to this order are branched 

 shrubs, resembling the heaths and proteas in habit. 

 Their foliage and flowers are very ornamental. They 

 are furnished with small linear stiff' leaves, generally 

 in whorls. The flowers are small, and grow in heads, 

 panicles, or spikes. 



They are natives of the southern parts of Africa, 

 and are found at the Cape of Good Hope and in the 

 island of Madagascar. They are propagated chiefly 

 by cuttings. Their properties are as yet quite 

 unknown. 



The genera are : Brunia, whence the order derives 

 its name, Staavia, Linconia, Raspalia, Bcrzelia, 

 Berardia, Audounia, and Brunia, so called in honour 

 of Cornelius Brun, a traveller in the Levant and 

 Russia towards the end of last century, is a pretty 

 Cape genus, which thrives well in sandy peaty soil 

 with a moderate supply of water. Raspalia is re- 

 markable as being an instance in which the stamens 

 arise from the top of a superior germen. 



BRUNSFELSIA (Linnaeus). A genus containing 

 four species of hot-house evergreen shrubs, named 

 after Otho Brunsfels, a Carthusian monk. The flowers 

 are didynamous, and the plants belong to the natural 

 order Solanece. They have showy white or purple 

 flowers, and are easilv cultivated. 



BRUNSVIGIA (Heister). A beautiful family 

 of bulbous plants, introduced from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and named in honour of the royal family of 

 Brunswick. Like other liliaceous plants, they are 

 hexandrious, and belong to the order Amaryllidece. 

 They are a magnificent genus, 'with ample foliage 

 and flowers. Their bulbs grow to a large size, and 

 consequently require large pots. When in a growing 

 state they should be well supplied with water ; but 

 when dormant, like all the Cape Amaryllidcce, they 

 must be kept perfectly dry. 



BRUSSELS SPROUTS. A useful sub-variety 

 of the Savoy cabbage, called Brassica oleracea: gem- 

 mifcra. The principal head is inconsiderable, and 

 inferior. The plant rises to the height of three feet 

 or more. The leaves are quickly deciduous ; but 

 from the axils of each, little compact heads are pro- 

 duced from the top to the bottom of the stem. These 

 little heads continue long in season, and are always 

 admired at table for their tenderness and flavour. 

 Although Brussels sprouts may be had all the sum- 

 mer by timely sowing and culture, yet as they are 

 not equal to other delicacies of summer, and as they 



