442 



BAERIA 



BALSAM 



BAERIA (after the Russian zoologist, Karl Ernst von 

 Baer). Compdsilse. Small plants, one of which is some- 

 times grown as a garden annual. 



Heads usually many-fld., radiate, the rays 5-15; bracts 

 of the involucre as many as rays; 

 pappus often wanting. Twenty 

 species of Californian annuals 

 (or one or two perennial species), 

 with numerous showy, inch-wide 

 yellow fls. in early summer. 



gracilis, Gray (Burrielia grdci- 

 lis, DC.). Easily distinguished 

 from Actinolepsis coronaria by 

 its hairy sts. and foliage and 

 undivided lys. : plant much 

 branched: height 4^12 in.: Ivs. 

 opposite, connate, linear-lanceo- 

 late: fls. solitary, on slender 

 terminal peduncles; involucre 

 leafier than in Actinolepsis coro- 

 naria, the scales longer, downy, 

 in 2 series; rays 8-12. B.M. 

 3758. This is likely to be cult, 

 as Lasthenia californica, which, 

 however, is not hairy and has much longer Ivs. 



B. chrysdstoma, Fisch. & Mey. Lvs. narrowly linear, 1 line 

 or less wide: fls. larger than in B. gracilis, the heads 3-4 lines 

 s 3-4 lines long: habit more erect. B. carandria= 



high; ligules I 

 Actinolepsis coronaria. 



N. TAYLOR, t 



BAHIA (probably from the port of Bahia, or 

 San Salvador, South America). Compdsitse. A little- 

 known group of herbaceous perennials or some- 

 times subshrubs grown for their yellow flowers and 

 canescent leaves. 



Leaves mostly opposite, rarely alternate, the 

 rather small . pedunculate heads 

 terminating the branches; invo- 

 lucre hemispheric or obovate; 

 receptacle mostly flat: achenes 

 narrow, 4-sided; pappus of sev- 

 eral scarious scales. There are 12 

 species, all American. They thrive 

 on borders of light and well- 

 drained soil, and may be increased 

 by seeds or by division in spring. 



lanata, DC. One to 2 ft. high, slender: Ivs. pinnately 

 cleft or divided into 3-7 linear or linear-lanceolate lobes: 

 rays mostly 8-9, oblong, showy: achenes glabrous or mi- 

 nutely hairy. Calif. B.R. 1167 (as Eriophyllum). Per- 

 haps not hardy in the N. E. Summer. N. TAYLOR. 



BAIKLEA (Wm. B. Baikie, African traveler). 

 Leguminbsse. Great-flowered Trop. African trees of 2 

 species, one of which has been cult, 

 in Eu. Trees unarmed: Ivs. abruptly 

 pinnate, coriaceous: fls. few in each 

 raceme, not papilionaceous; petals 5, 

 much exceeding the turbinate calyx, 

 broadly oblanceolate or obovate, long- 

 clawed ; stamens 10. B. inslgnis, Benth., 

 is an erect evergreen, to 40 ft., with 

 short-lined fls. 10 in. across, snow-white 

 with lower petal or Up lemon-yellow. 

 Upper Guinea. Said to be the largest 

 flower in the Leguminosse. 



BALAKA (the Fijian vernacular 

 name). Palmacese, tribe Arecese. Palms, 

 differing, if at all, from Ptychosperma, 

 to which they are with equal propriety 

 referred, in having the seed not sulcate, 

 and in the half-rhomboid segms. of the 

 Ivs.; and from Drymophteus in the 

 450. Pod of gar- form of the If. and the caducous spathes. 

 den balsam. Species 2. Fiji Isls. 



449. Balaka Seemannii. 



Seemannii, Becc. (Ptychosperma Seemannii, H. 

 Wendl.). BALAKA. Fig. 449. Caudex slender, 8-12 ft! 

 high, straight, ringed, about 1 in. diam.: Ivs. pinnatisect, 

 4 ft. long; segms. erose-dentate at the apex, alternate, 

 9 on each side, semi-rhom- 

 boid, obliquely truncate, the 

 upper margin longer, cuspi- 

 date at the apex, the terminal 

 one deeply bifid. Growing 

 as underwood in dense for- 

 ests. Fiji. Sts. used for 

 spears by natives, because of 

 their strength and straight- 

 ness. Fig. 449 is adapted from See- 

 man's Flora Vitiensis. N. TAYLOR.! 

 BALLOON VINE: Cardiospermum. 



BALM (Melissa officinalis, Linn.). 

 Labialse. LEMON BALM and BEE BALM. 

 Sweet herb, the Ivs. being used for 

 seasoning, particularly in liquors, and 

 also in medicine. It has a lemon-like 

 flavor. It is a hardy perennial from 

 S. Eu. The plant grows 1-2 ft. high, somewhat 

 hairy, loosely branched, with ovate-petipled, some- 

 times cordate, Ivs. and yellowish or whitish fls. in 

 loose axillary clusters. Thrives in any warm posi- 

 tion, and is easy to grow. Prop, by seeds; also by 

 division. Becoming wild in E. U. S. 



BALSAM, ImpAtiens Balsdmina, Linn. (Balsdm- 

 ina hortensis, DC. Balsdmina Impaliens, Hort. 7m- 

 patiens cocclnea, Sims, B.M. 1256). Balsaminaceg. 

 An erect, much-branched, half-succulent annual, 

 long ago introduced from India, and now widely 

 cultivated for its showy flowers. 



Plant !K-2Ji ft.: Ivs. lanceo- 

 late, toothed, the lower ones being 

 mostly in pairs: fls. clustered in 

 the axils of the Ivs., on very short 

 stalks; sepals and petals similarly 

 colored and not easily distin- 

 guished, oneof the sepals (of which 

 there seem to be 3) long-spurred; 

 petals apparently 3, but 2 of them 

 probably represent 2 united petals, 



thus making 5; stamens 5. The pod, shown in Figs. 

 450 and 451, is explosive. It has 5 carpels and very 

 thin partitions, and seeds borne on axile placenta. 

 When the caps, are ripe, a pinch or concussion will cause 

 the valves to separate and contract, the seeds being 

 thrown with considerable force. The balsam has varied 

 immensely in the doubling, size and color of its fls. and 

 in the stature of the plant. It was known to Gerarde 

 in 1596. The balsam is sometimes called "lady slip- 

 per," although this name is properly confined to 

 Cypripedium, and used for Calceolaria. 



Practically all the garden balsams are now double or 

 semi-double. The full-double 

 forms are known as the camellia- 

 flowered varieties. Fig. 452. In 

 well-selected stock, the greater 



Eart of the flowers from any 

 atch of seedlings should come 

 very double. The colors range 

 from white to dark blood-red, 

 yellowish and spotted. Balsams 

 are of very easy culture. They 

 are tender, and should be started 

 in thumb-pots or boxes indoors, 

 or in the open when danger of 

 frost is past. The seeds are 

 large, and germinate quickly. 

 The plants prefer a rich, sandy 

 loam, and must not suffer for 

 moisture Transplanting, and 



451. Explosion of 

 balsam pod. 



