BRACHYCOME 



BRASSAVOLA 



539 



bracts, naked pitted receptacle, very short pappus 

 bristles, and diffuse leafy growth, one of which is cult. 

 us a garden annual; of very simple cult. 



iberidifolia, Benth. SWAN RIVER DAIST. Figs. 621, 

 622. A very graceful little annual (6-16 in. high), 

 suited to borders, and also 

 attractive in pots; seeds may 

 be sown in the open or under 

 glass: fls. blue, rose or white, 

 an inch across: Ivs. small, pin- 

 nate, with narrow divisions. 

 H.F. 4:96. J.H. III. 54:461. 

 V. 3:170. A good winter- 

 bloomer 4 or 5 mos. after 



sowing. 



L. H. B. 



622. Brachycome iberidifolia. 



(Natural size.) 



BRACHYSEMA (short 

 standard, referring to the 

 flower). Leguminbsx. Shrubs 

 or undershrubs, Australian, 

 making good pillar or climbing 

 plants for greenhouse; allied 

 to Baptisia and Thermopsis. 



Evergreen: Ivs. opposite 

 or alternate, simple, some- 

 times reduced to scales: fls. 

 red or yellowish or almost 

 black, solitary or several to- 

 gether or sometimes crowded 

 on short radical scapes, the 

 keel turned upward by the 

 curving of the pedicels; sta- 

 mens not united with each 

 other: fr. ovoid or elongated, 

 turgid. About 14 species, 

 a few of which are known 

 in gardening literature. B. 

 acuminatum, Truff. (B. speci- 

 o.s>//, *.un./,itiiiow ottereuas 

 a good red-fid, pillar plant: 

 siib-fruteseent: Ivs. opposite, 

 oval-elliptic, entire, more or 

 less narrowed to base and 

 short-petioled, the older ones 

 long-acuminate: fls. deep car- 

 mine-red to nearly purple, in short axillary clusters, 

 the corolla much exceeding the yellow-green calyx, the 

 standard very small. R.H. 1866:413. An attractive 

 free-flowering species. L H. B. 



BRACHYSPATHA: AmorphophaUua variabilis. A. Titanum. 

 and others. 



BRADLfelA: Phyllanthus and Wisteria. 



BRAHEA (Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer). 

 !'iili,-<}(r;i'. tribe Corijphex. Medium-sized, usually 

 spineless palms except on the leaf-stalks, with ringed 

 trunks, the upper part of which is usually clothed with 

 the persistent leaf-bases. 



Leaves usually numerous, nearly round and some- 

 what peltate, the many Ifts. plicate and deeply 2- 

 parted, sometimes slightly spiny on the margin, more 

 often filamentous; petioles flattened, dentate or rarely 

 spiny along the margins, very fibrous at the sheathing 

 base: spathos usually linear, firm, almost woody, fre- 

 qucnily perfectly glabrous; spadix much branched, 

 sometimes twice or thrice paniculate and bearing 

 among the dense white wool 1 or many sessile fls. in 

 each cluster; fls. hermaphrodite, sometimes with incon- 

 spicuous hrarts, 3 nearly round sepals, 3 valvate petals 

 and (i stamens: fr. small, ovoid, sometimes pubescent. 

 Beccari admits only 4 species, all Mexican except B. 

 tatondarmris From its nearest horticultural relative, 

 Sahul, Hr;i' is distinguished by the purely technical 

 character , ving 3 free carpels. 



In a in 11 c]> warm house, the cultivated braheas 



will thrive very well. A mixture of sand, rich loam 

 and well-rotted horse- or cow-manure is best. They 

 require plenty of water. They are not very common 

 in the trade but two species are grown outdoors in 

 southern California. Propagation is by seeds, which are 

 rare. 



A. Fls. solitary on the spadix. 



dulcis, Mart. PALMA DULCE. Sts. several in a clus- 

 ter, 10-20 ft., 6-8 in. thick, cylindrical: Ivs. 4-5 ft. long; 

 petiole plano-convex, green, with pale margins; ligule 

 short, nearly triangular, green, the scarious villous 

 margin at length deciduous; Ifts. 36-50, linear, acumi- 

 nate: spadix 6-8 ft., pendulous from among the lowest 

 Ivs., much branched: fr. edible. Mex. I.H. 10:379. 



calcarea, Liebm. (B. nitida, Andr6). Trunk 8-15 ft. 

 high, covered with the woody persistent If .-bases: Ivs. 

 usually 20-30 in a dense bushy crown, unarmed, mem- 

 branaceous, covered below with a brownish powder: 

 spadix long, more or less erect and considerably longer 

 than the Ivs., after flowering more or less pendulous; fls. 

 solitary, with a single bract : fr. ovoid. Mex. R.H. 1887, 

 p. 344. Gn. 35, p. 285. Offered by Montarioso Nursery. 



AA. Fls. in more or less dense, though small, clusters on 



the spadix. 



Plmo, Becc. St. 8-12 ft. : much the same as the 

 last in general appearance and vegetative characters: 

 spadix 3-4-branched, the finer ramifications very slen- 

 der and bearing small clusters of whitish yellow fls.; 

 stamens 6, forming by unition a 6-lobed ring: fr. un- 

 known. A rare Mexican species, known in the trade 

 only at Santa Barbara, Calif. 



B. editlia, Wendl., sometimes offered in Amer., is Erythea edulis, 

 Wats. B. filamenldsa, Hort.=Washingtonia filifera, Wendl. B. 

 fllfera, Hort.=W. filifera. B. glauca, Hort. =Erythea arraata, 

 Wats. B. robiista, Hort.=Washingtonia. B. Roezlii, Lindl.= 

 Erythea armata, Wats. jg- TAYLOR 



BRAINEA (C. J. Braine, Hongkong). PolypodiAcese. 

 One species related to Wopdwardia. Lvs. in a crown, 1- 

 pinnate, the venation as in Woodwardia, consisting of 

 a single row of areples along each midvein with free 

 simple veins extending to the margins: sporangia along 

 the free veins, not reaching the margin, without 

 indusium. 



insignis, J. Smith. A beautiful small tree fern from 

 S. E. Asia. Requires rich soil, moisture and shade. 



R. C. BENEDICT. 



BRAKE. A name applied to various coarse ferns, 

 particularly to Pteris aquilina. 



BRAMBLE. Thorny plants of the genus Rubus, 

 raspberries, blackberries, dewberries. 



ERASE NIA (meaning unexplained). Nymphxacex. 

 WATER-SHIELD or -TARGET. One species of aquatic plant 

 widely distributed (in N. Amer., Asia, Afr., Austral.). 

 Lvs. oval, entire, floating, centrally peltate; submerged 

 parts coated with thick transparent jelly: fls. axillary 

 near the summit of the st., small (J^in.), purple; sepals 

 3 or 4; petals 3 or 4, linear; stamens 12-18, on filiform 

 filaments; carpels 4-18, separate, forming indehiscent 

 1-2-aeeded pods. B. Schreberi, Gmel. (B. peli&ta, 

 Pursh. B. purpiirea, Gasp.), is not a showy plant but 

 is interesting and suitable for edgings of small aquatic 

 gardens. Grows in 1-6 ft. of water. Easily prop, by 

 division of roots or by seed. jj_ g_ CONAHD. 



BRASSAVOLA (A. M. Brassavola, Venetian botan- 

 ist). Orchidacex. About twenty tropical American 

 epiphytes, closely allied to Laelia, and demanding simi- 

 lar treatment. 



The fls. are large, solitary or racemose, the sepals and 

 petals narrow and greenish, the lip white: Ivs. thick, 

 solitary. For the cultivator, the treatment of Bras- 

 savola is identical with that of the Mexican laelias. 

 Plenty of sun to mature the young growths, and water 



