584 



BRYOPHYLLUM 



BUDDING 



simple or sometimes branching toward the base, of a 

 thick soft tissue over a woody cylindrical core: Ivs. 

 opposite, petioled, simple or pinnately compound, suc- 

 culent: inn. cymose or paniculate; fls. nodding; sepals 

 4, united into an inflated calyx which incloses the 

 lower half or more of the corolla; corolla cylindrical, 

 ending in 4 petal tips; stamens 8; ovaries 4, separate 

 or more or less united below. 



The members of this genus may readily be dis- 

 tinguished from related genera by the "sprouting" 

 habit of their leaves as indicated by the generic name. 

 If a leaf is removed from a plant and placed in a warm 

 moist place, young plants will very soon appear in the 

 notches around its border. This is the simplest method 

 of propagation and is usually accomplished by placing 

 the leaf flat on the wet sand of a growing-bench, in a 

 warm, sunny exposure. Tiny buds will soon appear 

 in the notches and these are followed by numerous fine 

 roots. See Fig. 673. When the small plants have 

 attained a size sufficiently large to be handled, they may 

 be removed from the parent leaf and potted. This 

 method may be employed in growing-houses at any 

 season. Plants are also readily produced from stem- 

 cuttings rooted in sand, or from seed. Seeds retain 

 their vitality more than a year when kept dry. The 

 best plants are to be grown by using rather rich loose, 

 well-drained soil, with plenty of light, heat and mois- 

 ture. However, they are very tenacious of life and will 

 survive with a minimum of water and a low, but not 

 freezing, temperature. They grow luxuriantly out-of- 

 doors during the summer months but must be housed 

 during the frost period. Useful in various botanical 

 demonstrations. 



pinnatum, Kurz (B. calydnum, Salisb.). Figs. 673-4. 

 Height 2-4 ft. : Ivs. opposite, fleshy, becoming leathery 

 with age, earlier ones simple, ovate, with cordate or 

 rounded base, later ones pinnate and then of 3-5 short- 

 stalked Ifts., the rachis and petiole with a narrow groove 

 on the upper side, margin crenately doubly-serrate, light 

 green becoming purplish along the veins toward matu- 

 rity, margin purple as are also the petioles and young 

 st.-growths: fls. pendulous, in terminal panicles; calyx 

 much inflated, purplish green with lighter dots, 1 Yi in. 

 long; corolla greenish white with purple-tinted, spread- 

 ing acute tips. Tropics of both hemispheres. B.M. 

 1409. L.B.C. 9:877. G.C. 111.41:422. J.H.III.46:205. 



sts. ; petioles not grooved on the upper side: fls. nodding, 

 in terminal, open, corymbose cymes; calyx membra- 

 naceous, inflated, iHiin. long, pink; corolla %in. long, 

 ending in 4 rounded segms., red. Madagascar. B.M. 

 7856. G.C. III. 33:59; 41:419. 

 G.W. 10, p. 396; 6, p. 495. R.H. 

 1900, pp. 175, 176, 362. 



B. proltferum, Bowie. Occasionally 

 met with, is much more robust in 

 growth, reaching 12 ft. in height: at. 

 4-angled in new growth, becoming 

 cylindrical later: Ivs. pinnatind to pin- 

 nate, the base of the pinnae very much 

 thickened, blade much contorted and 

 margin finely crenate, rachis and petiole 



rominently grooved on the upper side. 

 .Afr. B.M. 5147. F.S. 23:2446. Of 

 little value more than a novelty. 



C. H. THOMPSON. 



BUCKEYE: . 



673. Sprouting leaf of Bryophyllum. 



R.B. 24:125. R.H. 1900, p. 362. V. 3:117; 4:113; 

 7:340. Said to be used in India as a diuretic. 



crenatum, baker. Less robust in habit of growth than 

 the preceding: height 2-3 ft.: Ivs. very fleshy, simple, 

 1-3 in. long, becoming smaller upward on the St., ovate 

 with rounded or cordate base, in the latter case strongly 

 crested auriculate, margin coarsely crenate to dentate, 

 bright green with purplish pink margin and strongly 

 bluish glaucous when young as are also the petioles and 



BUCKLEtA (after S. B. Buck- 

 ley, American botanist, died in 674 

 1884 at Austin, Texas). Santa- Flowers of Bryophyllum 

 Idcex. Shrubs rarely introduced pinnatum. (XH) 

 in botanical collections, without 



particular ornamental qualities, but interesting as one 

 of the few parasitic shrubs successfully introduced into 

 cultivation. 



Leaves opposite, sessile, entire: fls. dioecious, apeta- 

 lous; staminate in umbels, with 4 short ovate sepals 

 and 4 short stamens; pistillate solitary, terminal, with 4 

 short deciduous sepals and below with 4 elongated 

 linear-lanceolate persistent bracts; calyx-tube clavate; 

 style short with 2-4-parted stigma; ovules 3-4: fr. a 

 furrowed drupe. Three species in China and Japan 

 and 2 in N. Amer. 



Only the American species, B. distichophylla, Torr., 

 is in cult. A slender-branched upright shrub, to 12 ft.: 

 Ivs. 2-ranked, ovate-lanceolate or ovate, 1-2}^ in. long, 

 acuminate, ciliate: fls. small, greenish: fr. an ovoid or 

 oblong-ovoid yellowish green drupe, about 1 in. long, 

 crowned by the 4 persistent bracts. N. C. and Tenn. 

 G.F. 3:237. Parasitic on the roots of Tsuga. Has 

 proved perfectly hardy in Mass. : there is a plant about 

 70 years old in the botanic garden at Cambridge. It 

 has also been successfully cult, at the Arnold Arboretum 

 and in a few European botanic gardens. Prop, by seeds; 

 best sown with a potted Tsuga in the 

 greenhouse and planted out with its host 

 when the young plants are strong enough, 

 preferably within the reach of the roots of 

 a large Tsuga, in order that the original 

 host may be removed later when it crowds 

 the young buckleya too much. 



ALFRED REHDEB. 



BUCKTHORN : Rhamnui, particularly K. 

 catharticus; also Bumdia. 



BUCKWHEAT (Fagopyrum esculenium, 

 Moench). Polygonacese. A tender annual 

 if' grain plant, flour being made of the large 

 3-cornered fr. It is much grown in the N. 

 U. S., usually being sown about the first of 

 July. It is also a favorite for bee forage. 

 Buckwheat is native to Cent. Siberia and 

 Manchuria, and is now widely cult., 

 although it is a grain of secondary im- 

 portance. The Tartarian buckwheat (F. 

 tatdricum, Gaertn.) is occasionally seen. It has smaller 

 and yellowish fls., and a smaller roughish, wavy- 

 angled fr. This species is often confounded with 

 forms of F. esculentum, from which it is really easily 

 distinguished. Buckwheat is a good cleaning crop for 

 weedy and hard lands. For general discussion of 

 buckwheat, consult Cyclo. Amer. Agric., Vol. II. See 

 Fagopyrum. 



BUDDING: Graftage. 



