B 



BABIANA (said to come from Dutch for baboon, be- 

 cause those animals eat the bulbs). Iridacex. About 

 fifty cormous plants of South Africa (and one Socotran), 

 sometimes growp for spring bloom under glass, or in the 

 open in the South. 



Usually less than 1 ft. tall: fls. showy, red or pur- 

 plish, in a short spike-like cluster or raceme, tubular 

 at the base, the segms. with claws or narrow bases, 

 and the limb erect-spreading, in marked colors and 

 shades, often fragrant; ovary 3-loculed: Ivs. narrow, 

 hairy, plaited, standing edgewise to the st. 



Low plants, of easy culture if treated like freesias or 

 hyacinths. Three or four corms placed in a 4-inch pot, 

 in autumn, give attractive bloom in March or later. 

 Grown only indoors or under frames in the North. 

 Outdoors in mild climates 

 they may remain continu- 

 ously in the ground, al- 

 though it is better to take 

 up and replant every year 

 or. two. Propagation is by 

 cormels and seeds. They 

 are showy and useful plants. 

 Monograph by Baker in 

 Handbook of the Iridese, 

 1892. 



A. Perianth-limb regular or 



nearly so, and wide- 

 spreading. 



stricta, Ker (B. viUbsa 

 and B. purpiirea, Ker). 

 Fig. 447. Plant 1 ft. or less 

 high: Ivs. broad, oblong- 

 lanceolate or sword-shaped, 

 barely reaching the spikes: 

 fls. scattered, showy, usu- 

 ally red or purple, with a 

 prominent tube, the segms. 

 oblong - lanceolate. B. M. 

 583. 621. Babianas are not 

 sold under species-names in 

 this country, but as mixed 

 varieties. These varieties 

 are chiefly, if not wholly, 

 of this species. There are 

 many forms and colors. Var. angustifolia, Sweet. Lvs. 

 linear: fls. blue, pinkish inside. B.M. 637. Var. rtbro- 

 cyanea, Ker. Limb lilac, throat red. B.M. 410 (as 

 Ixia). Var. sulphurea, Ker. Yellow or whitish. B.M. 

 1053. Two other long-cult, types are described below. 



AA. Perianth-limb distinctly ringent or gaping. 



plicata, Ker. Low: Ivs. lanceolate, hairy, usually 

 overtopping the spikes: fls. lilac or red, long-tubed, the 

 segms. oblong and unequal; odor pink-like. B.M. 576. 



disticha, Ker. Differs from the last in having the 



Eerianth-tube distinctly exserted from the spathe; odor 

 yacinth-like. B.M. 626. 



B. flabellifdlia, Hary. Fls. 2-5, in erect spike, long-tubed, lower 

 lobes blotched: lys. Min. broad, toothed at apex. B. rlngens, Ker. 

 6-10 in.: fls. gaping and ringent, scarlet: Ivs. narrow and pointed. 



B. sambucina, Ker. 6-10 in. : fls. purplish, with spreading divisions, 

 elder-scented. B.M. 1019. B. aocotrana, Hook. f. 3-4 in.: fl. 

 single, the tube very slender, pale blue, 2-lipped: Ivs. narrow- 



Babiana stricta. (XX) 



lanceolate. Isl. of Socotra. B.M. 6585. 



L. H. B. 



BABY'S BREATH: Gypsopkila; also Galium and Androstephium. 



BACCAUREA (Greek, bacca, berry, and aureus, gol- 

 den, from the yellow fruit). Euphorbiacex. Trees, rarely 



cult., some with edible fr.: Ivs. large, alternate, simple: 

 infl. racemose; calyx imbricate; petals absent; 2 ovules 

 in each of the 2-5 cells. About 50 species in the Old 

 World tropics: related to Antidesma. B. bracteata, 

 Muell. Arg. (Pierardia diilcis, Wall.), is mentioned as 

 once intro. to England. Malaya. Seed of B. Motley- 

 ana, Muell. Arg., of Malaya where the fr. is used, has 

 been intro. by the U. S. Dept. Agric. 



J. B. S. NORTON. 



BACCHARIS (bakkharis, an ancient Greek name 

 for different shrubs). Compdsitx. GROUNDSEL TREK. 

 Ornamental plants, chiefly grown for the showy white 

 pappus of the fruit; some species also for their ever- 

 green foliage. 



Shrubby or suffruticose: Ivs. alternate, usually ser- 

 rate, glabrous, deciduous or evergreen: heads of fls. 

 small, white or yellowish, dioecious, in panicles or 

 corymbs; involucre with many imbricate scales; recep- 

 tacle flat, naked; pistillate fls. with filiform corolla: 

 achenes compressed, ribbed, with pappus. More than 

 250 species in Amer., chiefly in S. Amer. 



Baccharis Mlimifolia and B. salicina are hardy 

 North, while the evergreen species are more tender. 

 They grow in almost any well-drained soil in a sunny 

 position, and are well adapted for dry and rocky slopes, 

 and valuable for seashore planting. Propagation is by 

 seeds, or by cuttings under glass. 



halimifolia, Linn. Shrub, 3-12 ft.: branches angular: 

 Ivs. cuneate, oblong or obovate, coarsely toothed, the 

 uppermost entire, glabrous, 1-2 in. long: fls. in large 

 panicles: pappus white, about }^in. long. Sept. Sea- 

 coast, from New England southward. Gng. 7:113.- 

 The hardiest species; in fr. resembling a shrub with 

 abundant snow-white fls. 



B. glomerulifttira, Pers. Allied to B. halimifolia: heads axillary, 

 solitary or clustered, sessile or nearly so: pappus somewhat shorter. 

 N. C. to Fla. B. patagdnica, Hook. & Arn. Low evergreen shrub: 

 Ivs. M-Hin. long: heads mostly axillary. Patagonia. B. pilularii, 

 DC. Height 6 ft.; evergreen: Ivs. 1 in. long: heads in racemose pani- 

 cles. Pacific coast. B. salicina, Torr. & Gray (B. salicifolia, Xutt.). 

 Allied to B. halimifolia. Lvs. narrow-oblong, or linear-lanceolate. 

 Colo, to W. Texas. ALFRED REHDER. 



BACHELOR'S BUTTONS: Centaurea Cyanus, Gomphrena olo- 

 bosa, Ranunculus acris and Ageratum conyzoides. 



BACKHOUSIA (James Backhouse, botanical trav- 

 eler). Myrtacex. Evergreen greenhouse plants, bloom- 

 ing in spring. 



Shrubs or trees, with opposite Ivs. and blossoms in 

 cymes or umbels: calyx-tube turbinate, or broadly 

 campanulate, adhering to base of ovary, with 4 persist- 

 ent segms.; petals 4, short; stamens many; ovary 2 

 celled, bearing a filiform style: fr. a caps., more or less 

 inclosed in calyx, indehiscent or separating into 2 parts. 

 Five species in Austral. Requires the general treat- 

 ment of myrtaceous coolhouse plants. Prop, by harden- 

 ing cuttings under glass. 



myrtifolia, Hook. & Harv. Large slender-branched 

 shrub, or small tree: Ivs. ovate-acuminate, stiff, pel- 

 lucid-punctate: fls. white, in pedunculate corymbs, the 

 younger ones partly concealed by the petaloid bracts 

 petals small, round-ovate, concave, acute; calyx hairy. 

 Queensland and New S. Wales. B.M. 4133. 



L. H. B. 



BACTRIS (Greek, baklron, cane; the young stems 

 used for walking-sticks). Pabnacex, tribe Bactrblex. 

 Usually low palms, very rarely entirely spiiiclc-ss. 



Stems solitary or fasciculate, ringed, spiny or smooth, 

 sprouting from the roots: Ivs. terminal or scattering, 



(440) 



