BIGNONIA 



BILLBERGIA 



503 



capreolata, I. inn. (B. crncii/t r<i. Linn., in part. 

 Aiiixi'tsliclnis capreolata, Bur. Doxanllut capreolata, 

 \Ii< is i. TurMi'KT-Fi.owKR. CROSS-VINE. QUARTER- 

 VINE. Climbing to great heights (often 50 ft. or more), 

 glabrous, evergreen: Ivs. stifh'sh, ending in a branched 

 tendril that clings by small disks; Ifts. stalked, oblong- 

 acuminate, cordate, entire: fls. in many 2-5-fld. short- 

 peduneled cymes, yellow-red and lighter within, tubu- 

 lar (2 in. long), with a stout limb. Native from Md. 

 south and west, and often a pest in orchards, climbing 

 on the trees. B.M. 864. Gng. 1:370-1. Handsome 

 vine for outdoor use. Good for covering walls. Some- 

 times grown in conservatories. Not hardy N., but will 

 survive in Mass, as a creeping plant. 



Var. atrosangumea, Hook. f. (B. atrosanguinea, 

 Hort.). Lvs. longer and narrower: fls. dark purple, the 

 lobes short and triangular-ovate. B.M. 6501. F.R. 

 2:27. Handsome. 



AA. Lrs. simple, op/mtiti' (horticultural names, plants 

 idly not of this genus: perhaps Tabebuias). 



magnifica, Bull. Free-growing and floriferous, need- 

 ing warm treatment: Ivs. ovate-elliptic, stalked, entire: 

 fls. panicled, large (3^ in. across), ranging from mauve 

 to purple-red, the throat primrose, limb wide-spread- 

 ing. Colombia. G.C. II. 12:73. Requires hot sunny 

 position under tropical conditions. 



regalis, Hort. Lvs. elliptic-lanceolate: fls. large, yel- 

 low and red. Guiana. Requires warm treatment. 



argyreo-violfiscens, Hort. Lvs. ovate, cordate at 

 base, short-stalked, purple when young, but becoming 

 beautifully veined and blotched with white: fls. purple. 

 S. Amer.(?). I. H. 13:469. 



H. ' W:il!.= Hetcrophragma. B. yq, 



I.inn.=C'ydista. B. dlba, Hort.=Pithecoctenium. B. buccitiatb- 

 r' "i, Muir.=Phffidranthus. B. C'fierere, Lindl.=Phffidranthus. -B. 

 ' 'ia, Hort.=Tabebuia. B. grandifldra, Thunb.=Campsis. 

 B. jaxmiHoitlvs, A. Cunn.=Pandorea. B. Llndleyi, DC.=Clytos- 

 toma. B. liUoriilia, HBK. Hairy on branchlets: Ifts. roundish- 

 ovate, acuminate, hairy: fls. red, pubescent, funnel-shaped, in 

 axillary panicles. Mex. B. pdllida, Lindl.=Tabebuia. B. plcta, 

 Lindl.=Clytostoma. B. purpitrea, Hook.=Clytostoma. B. radi- 

 OT/I,, I.inn.^Campsis. B. rugbsa. Hook. Hairy: Ifts. 2, oblong- 

 acuminate: fls. axillary, 2-2 ^ in. long, primrose-color, limb short. 

 Venezuela. Probably a Mncrodiscus. B.M. 7124. B. sferiOsa, Grah. 

 = f'!ytostoma. B. suartolens, Thunb.=Stereospermum. B.Thiin- 

 bergii, Hort.=Campsis. B. venusta, Ker=Pyrostegia. T TT r> 



BILIMBI: Arerrhoa. 



BILLARDIERA (after J. J. Labillardiere, French 

 botanist and traveler). Pittosporacess. Six or eight spe- 

 cies of tender Australian undershrubs, with twining 

 branches, and terminal flowers suitable for outdoor 

 planting South and for growing under glass. 



Leaves entire or sinuate, alternate: fls. solitary or 

 2-3 together, sometimes as many as 15, yellow, purple 

 or rarely blue, showy in B. longiflora: fr. succulent or 

 fleshy, edible in some species. Prop, by cuttings under 

 a bell-jar or by seeds, which, at least in England, are 

 produced freely in some of the species. B. lonyiflnni. 

 and B. scandens are cult, abroad as greenhouse climb- 

 ers. B. cymosa is cult, outdoors at Santa Barbara. 

 Calif. 



scandens, Smith. Fig. 554. Sts. twining, often exten- 

 sively so: Ivs. variable, ovate-lanceolate to linear, 

 obtuse or with a recurved point, 1-2 in. long, entire or 

 undulate: fls. solitary, rarely 2 together, greenish yel- 

 low, violet or purple. Sweet. Fl. Aust., pi. 54. B.M. 801. 

 Offered bv Montarioso Nurseries, Santa Barbara, 

 Calif. 



cym&sa, F. Muell. Shrubby with the branches more 

 or less twining: Ivs. oblong or lanceolate, sessile or nearly 

 so, 1-2 in. long, obtuse or acute: corymbs several-fld.; 

 sepals usually lanceolate-subulate; petals 7-8 lines long, 

 bluish or violet-purple. 



longifl&ra, Labill. Lvs. lanceolate, entire: fls. greenish 

 yellow, often changing to purple, solitary; pedicels 

 glabrous: berries blue. jj TAYLOR 



554. BUlardiera 

 scandens. (XM) 



BILLBERGIA (for the Swedish botanist, J. G. Bill- 

 berg). Bronuiiacex. About forty tropical American 

 evergreen epiphytal herbs, now much cultivated by ama- 

 teurs and in fancy collections. A few kinds are well 

 known to florists. A 

 closely allied genus is 

 /Echmea, which see for 

 botanical differences. 



The fls. are in a spike 

 or spicate panicle, 

 which rises from the 

 center of the rosette of 

 long, spiny-edged, and 

 usually stiff, pineap- 

 ple-like Ivs., showy, 

 with 3 -parted calyx 

 and 3 long petals, 6 ex- 

 serted stamens, thread- 

 like style, and berry- 

 like fr. The colored 

 bracts of the fl. -clusters 

 are usually very showy. 

 Cf. Charles Mez, the 

 latest monographer, in 

 DC. Phaner. Monogr 

 9. Species confused: 

 but the artificial ar- 

 rangement given below may aid the gardener. 



Billbergias can be cultivated best in greenhouses, 

 planted in pans, pots, wooden cribs, or wire baskets, 

 with loose, light material about their roots, such as 

 pieces of charcoal, roots of very fibrous plants, or fern 

 roots and sphagnum moss, and such material. They 

 demand little water at the roots in winter, and nothing 

 but light sprinkling over the foliage is required to keep 

 them alive during that time. But in summer, when the 

 heat is great and they are making their growth, they 

 can withstand an abundance of moisture at the roots 

 as well as at the top, most of the time holding water in 

 the funnel-like center or body of the plant. They usu- 

 ally produce their conspicuous showy bloom in the 

 spring, when moisture overhead or sprinkling should be 

 withheld in order to prolong the beauty of the flowers. 

 They require at night a temperature of 50 to 75, 

 but, of course, can stand any amount of heat in summer. 

 Billbergias, like all other bromeliads, make very good 

 house plants, and they will thrive exceedingly well in a 

 living-room temperature. They love plenty of light and 

 sun. All first-class private garden establishments should 

 have at least a few of this class of plants. They are 

 propagated best from suckers or sprouts, which arise 

 from the base of the old plant, usually after it has 

 bloomed and performed its functions. The old plant 

 then gradually deteriorates, sending out two to five 

 young plants from its base. These can be taken off as 

 soon as they are hardy and substantial enough, and can 

 be mounted or potted into the same kind of material. 

 Then, suspended in the greenhouse, conservatory, or 

 window for an exhibition, they thrive best. Besides 

 their beautiful and attractive flowers, billbergias have 

 very handsome foliage, which is of a tough and leathery 

 texture. Billbergias, icchmeas, and the like, are na- 

 tives of the tropics, and, therefore, require a warm tem- 

 perature. jEchmeas are usually larger than billbergias 

 and tillandsias. (H. A. Siebrecht.) 



A. Petals curling spirally after fl. expands. (Helicodea.) 

 zebrina, Lindl. (Bromelia zebrina, Herb. jEchmea 

 zebrina, Hort.). St. very short, or none: Ivs. sheathing, 

 deep green, with blotches and zones of gray-white, 

 strong!}' spine-margined: fl. -cluster loose, long and 

 drooping; fls. green or yellow-green, the stamens be- 

 coming long-exserted; bracts salmon or rose, long-lan- 

 ceolate. S Amer. L.B.C. 20:1912. B.M. 2686. 



decora, Poepp. & Endl. (Helicddea Baraquinidna, 

 Lem.). Differs from the last in having longer petals, 



