456 



BASKET PLANTS 



BAUHINIA 



soil. In filling baskets, a few drooping or climbing 

 plants are disposed around the sides; then one or more 

 upright-growing or half-erect plants, according to the 

 size of the plants and basket, are planted in the center. 

 Immediate effects require plants which have already 

 made considerable growth. Florists usually carry a 

 stock of suitable plants. In case seedlings or cuttings 

 are grown for the purpose, it is usually best to start 

 them in seed-pans or cutting-boxes, and transfer them 

 later to the basket. Seeds may be sown or the cuttings 

 started in the basket, but it is so long before they fill 

 the basket that there is no advantage in it. 



A common mistake in arranging baskets is crowding, 

 or filling them too full. Fewer plants will appear more 

 graceful, growth will be more vigorous, and the basket 

 will retain its grace and beauty for a longer time. Exer- 

 cise vigilance and care .in watering. After the roots 

 have well filled the basket, watering is best done by 

 dipping the basket in a tub or barrel of water, and 

 allowing it to remain until it is well saturated. Dipping 

 the basket in weak liquid manure 

 once or twice a month will greatly 

 promote vigor when the plants 

 nave been long in the basket. 

 These remarks also apply in a 

 general way to vases and rustic 

 stands. 



Baskets of many patterns are 

 obtainable from florists and other 

 dealers. The baskets most exten- 

 sively used, are made of strong 

 wire, woven into hemispherical or 

 other forms. These are sometimes 

 plain, and again of ornamental 

 character. The better form has a 

 flat bottom, or a stand, formed of 

 wire, to support the basket in an 

 upright position when it is not 

 pendent. Another style is formed 

 of rustic work. Here the vessel or 

 plant basin is covered about the 

 sides with rough bark or knotted 

 roots. For this purpose the roots 

 of th laurel are much used. 

 Above the basket there is an arch 

 or handle by which it is suspended. 

 Again, earthenware vessels, to be 

 suspended by wires, are offered 

 for sale in a variety of shapes. 

 Some of these are molded and 

 painted in imitation of logs, and are known as "stick 

 baskets" and "log baskets." Such baskets are often 

 without provision for drainage. When this is the case, 

 holes should bedrillod at the lowest point in the bottom. 

 A special form of bt^ket is much used for orchids. It is 

 made of square cedar slats in raft- or log-fashion. Fern- 

 fiber and broken bits of brick, flower-pots or charcoal, 

 are used for filling them. See also the article Vases. 



ERNEST WALKER. 



BASSWOOD: Tilia. 

 BATATAS: Ipomta. 



BATEMANNIA, (James Bateman, a distinguished 

 collector and cultivator, and author f important 

 orchid works). Orchidacese. Epiphytic; greenhouse. 



Stems thickened into pseudobulbs, 1-3-lvd. : Ivs. pli- 

 cate-veined: racemes arising from base of pseudobulbs; 

 sepals and petals similar in shape; lip articulated to the 

 foot of the column, the lateral lobes inclosing the 

 column, the middle lobe short, entire; pollinia 2. A 

 single species, native of Guiana, rarely seen in cult. 



C611eyi, Lindl. Pseudobulbs 2-3 in. long: Ivs. up to 

 10 in. long: raceme pendulous, with 4 or more distant 

 fls. about 3 in. diam.; sepals and petals vinous, pur- 

 ple, the lateral sepals green-margined; lip white, red- 



476. Rustic basket (with Convolvulus). 



dish stained at the base of middle lobe. B.R. 1714 

 B.M. 3818. GEORGE V. NASH. 



BATODENDRON: Vaccinium. 



BAUERA (H. Gottfr. and Franz Bauer, German 

 professor and painter, respectively). Saxifragacex. 

 Choice little evergreen shrubs grown in greenhouses. 



Leaves 3-parted and opposite, looking like a whorl of 

 6: fls. white to purple, axillary and solitary, but some- 

 times aggregated at top of the st.; calyx 4-10-divided; 

 petals as many as the calyx-divisions; stamens few t<> 

 many, borne on a disk: fr. a 2-valved caps., the valves 

 again splitting. Three species in Austral, and Tas- 

 mania, one of which is in cult. 



These small shrubs make handsome specimen plants 

 for the cool greenhouse, and flower most of the year, 

 especially during the winter and spring months. Bau- 

 eras are easily propagated from cuttings of half-ripened 

 wood in spring; cut into lengths of about 2 inches, insert 

 in equal parts of finely sifted peat 

 and sharp sand in 3-inch pots, 

 pricking them round the rim of 

 the pot, and cover with a bell- 

 glass in a greenhouse with a tem- 

 perature from 55 to 60. Give 

 them a thorough watering at the 

 time of insertion, and they will 

 frequently root without further 

 watering. When the cuttings be- 

 gin to show signs of growing, they 

 should be potted singly in 2-inch 

 pots in the same mixture as above, 

 and should be kept in a tight case 

 for a few days. After they have 

 gripped the soil, they should be 

 cut back to about an inch above 

 the pot, which will encourage them 

 to branch. Baueras should never 

 be allowed to become pot-bound 

 until the desired size of plant is 

 reached. The plants at all times 

 should be kept in good shape by 

 cutting back the strong shoots. In 

 summer, baueras do better when 

 plunged in a bed of coal-ashes 

 out-of-doors, and strict attention 

 given to watering. A cool green- 

 house with a night temperature of 

 40 to 45 will be ideal all winter. 

 Water occasionally with soft-coal soot mixed in water, 

 a handful to an ordinary watering-pot : water with clean 

 water three times and the soot-water once. (Geo. F. 

 Stewart.) 



rubioides, Andr. Erect or prostrate, usually 1-2 ft. 

 in cult., but becoming 6 ft. or more: Ifts. oblong or 

 lanceolate, somewhat acute, J^-J-lzin. long, serrate: 

 fls. pink or white, slender-pedicelled, the very obtuse 

 petals exceeding the spreading or reflexed acute-toothed 

 calyx-divisions. Inhabits swampy places. B.M. 715. 

 L.B.C. 14:1313 (as B. rubxfolia).An old favorite, 

 blooming in spring. L. H. B. 



BAUHfNIA (after John and Caspar Bauhin, six- 

 teenth century herbalists, the twin leaflets suggest inn 

 two brothers). Leguminbsx. MOUNTAIN EBONY. 

 ORCHID TREE. Tropical trees and shrubs, sometimes 

 climbing, planted in southern Florida and southern 

 California to some extent for the flowers, odd foliage, 

 and general attractive appearance; distinguished by 

 the usually bifid or binate leaves; allied to Cereis. 



Trees, shrubs, or vines, with showy fls. ranging from 

 white to purple and yellow: Ivs. broad, entire or 2-lobed, 

 in some cases the Ifts. being entirely free; petiole pro- 

 longed into a short but characteristic awn between the 

 Ifts.: fls. in simple or panicled terminal or axillary 



