B 



BABIANA (said to come from Dutch for baboon, be- 

 cause those animals cat the bulbs), [ridaces-. About 

 fifty cornious plants of South Africa (and one Socotran), 

 sometimes grown for spring bloom under glass, or in the 

 open in the South. 



Usually less than 1 ft. tall: fls. showy, red or pur- 

 plish, in a short, spike-like cluster or raceme, tubular 

 at the base, the segms. with claws or narrow bases, 

 and the limb erect-spreading, in marked colors and 

 shades, often fragrant; ovary 3-loculed: Ivs. narrow, 

 hairy, plaited, standing edgewise to the st. 



Low plants, of easy culture if treated hke freesias or 

 hyacinths. Three or four comis placed in a 4-inch pot, 

 in autumn, give attractive bloom in March or later. 

 Grown only indoors or under frames in the North. 

 Outdoors in mild climates 

 they may remain continu- 

 ously in the ground, al- 

 though it is better to tixke 

 up and replant even,- year 

 or two. Propagation is by 

 cormels and seeds. They 

 are showj- and useful plants. 

 Monograph by Baker in 

 Handbook of the Iridete, 

 1892. 



A. Perianth-limb regular or 



nearly so, and wide- 

 spreading. 

 stricta, Ker (B. villbsa 



and B. purpitrea, Ker). 



Fig. 447. Plant 1 ft. or less 



high: Ivs. broad, oblong- 

 lanceolate or sword-shaped, 



barely reaching the spikes: 



fls. scattered, showy, usu- 



aOy red or piuple, with a 



prominent tube, the segms. 



oblong - lanceolate. B. M. 



583, 621. — Babianas are not 



sold under species-names in 



this country, but a-s mixed 



varieties. These varieties 



are chiefly, if not wholly, 



of this species. There are 



many forms aud colors. Var. angustifolia, Sweet. Lvs. 



linear: fls. blue, pinkish inside. B.M. 637. Var. rubro- 



cyinea, Ker. Limb lilac, throat red. B.M. 410 (as 



IxiaJ. Var. sulph&rea, Ker. Yellow or whitLsh. B.M. 



10.53. Two other long-cult, types are described below. 



AA. Perianth-limb distinctly ringent or gaping. 



plic&ta, Ker. Low: lvs. lanceolate, hairy, usually 

 overtopping the spikes: fls. lilac or red, long-tubed, the 

 .«gm8. oblong and unequal; odor pink-like. B.M. .576. 



disticha, Ker. Differs from the last in having the 



Eerianth-tube distinctly exserted from the spathe; odor 

 yacinth-like. B.M. 626. 



B. fiahdlifdlia, Harv'. Fls. 2-.5, in erect spike, long-tubed, lower 

 lobes blotched : lvs. Hin. broad, toothed at apex. — B. rinfienit, Ker. 

 6-10 in.: fls. Kaping and ringent, searlet: Ivs. narrow and pointed. — 



B. eamhMnn/i, Ker. 0-10 in.: fls. purplish, with spreading diviwions, 

 elder.«cented. B.M. 1019. — B. eocolrana, Hook. f. 3-4 in.: fl. 

 single, the tube very slender, pale blue, 2-lipped: lvs. narrow- 

 laneeolatc. Isl. of Socotra. B.M. G.5S5. T H R 



BABY'S BREATH: Gvpaophila; &\fioGalium and Androstephium. 



BACCAUREA (Greek, bacr.a, berry, and aureus, gol- 

 den, from the yellow fruitj. Euphorlnacex. Trees, rarely 



447. Babiana stricta. ( X H) 



cult., some with edible fr. : lvs. large, alternate, simple: 

 infl. racemose; calyx imbricate; petals absent; 2 ovules 

 in each of the 2-5 cells. — .4bout 50 species in the Old 

 World tropics: related to Antidesma. B. bracteata, 

 Muell. Arg. (Pierardia dulcis. Wall.), is mentioned as 

 once intro. to England. Malaya. Seed of B. Motley- 

 ana, Muell. Arg., of Malaya where the fr. is u.sed, has 

 been intro. by the U. S. Dept. Agric. 



J. B. S. Norton. 



BACCHARIS (bakkharis, an ancient Greek name 

 for different shrubs). CompOsitse. Groundsel Tree. 

 Ornamental plants, chiefly grown for the showy white 

 pappus of the fruit; some species also for their ever- 

 green foliage. 



Shrubby or suffruticose: lvs. alternate, usually ser- 

 rate, glabrous, deciduous or evergreen: heads of fls. 

 small, white or yellowish, dioecious, in panicles or 

 corymbs; involucre with many imbricate scales; recep- 

 tacle flat, naked; pistillate fls. with fihform corolla: 

 achenes compressed, ribbed, with pappus. — More than 

 250 species in Amer., chiefly in S. Amer. 



Baccharis halimifolia and B. salicina are hardy 

 North, while the evergreen species are more tender. 

 They grow in almost any well-drained soil in a sunny 

 position, and are well adapted for dry and rocky slopes, 

 and valuable for seashore planting. Propagation is by 

 seeds, or by cuttings under glass. 



halimifolia, Linn. Shrub, 3-12 ft.: branches angular: 

 lvs. cvmeate, oblong or obovate, coarsely toothed, the 

 uppermost entire, glabrous, 1-2 in. long: fls. in large 

 panicles: pappus white, about J sin. long, Sept. Sea- 

 coast, from New England southward. Gng. 7:113. — 

 The hardiest species; in fr. resembling a shrub with 

 abundant snow-white fls. 



B. glomcrulifldra, Pers. Allied to B. halimifolia: heads axillary, 

 solitary or clustered, sessile or nearly so: pappus somewhat shorter. 

 N. C. to Fia. — B. patagdnica, Hook. & Arn. Low evergreen shrub: 

 lvs. !-3-'2in. long: heads mostly axillary. Patagonia. — B. piluldriSt 

 DC. Height 6 ft.; evergreen: lvs. 1 in. long; he.ids in racemose pani- 

 cles. Pacific coast. — B. salicina, Torr. & Gray (B. salicifolia, Nutt.). 

 Allied to B. halimifolia. Lvs. narrow-oblong, or linear-lanceolate. 

 Colo, to W. Texas. ALFRED ReHDER. 



BACHELOR'S BUTTONS: Centaurca Cyanus, Gomphrena olo- 

 bosa, Hanunculus acris and Ageratum conyzoides. 



BACKHOUSIA (James Backhouse, botanical trav- 

 eler). Myrtacea-. Evergreen greenhouse plants, bloom- 

 ing in spring. 



Shrubs or trees, with opposite lvs. and blossoms in 

 cymes or lunbels: calyx-tube turbinate, or broadly 

 campanulate, adhering to base of ovary, with 4 persist- 

 ent segms.; petals 4, short; stamens many; ovary 2- 

 celled, bearing a filiform style: fr. a caps., more or less 

 inclosed in calyx, indehiscent or separating into 2 parts. 

 — Five species in Austral. Requires the general treat- 

 ment of myrtaceous coolhouse plants. Prop, by harden- 

 ing cuttings under glass. 



myrtifolia, Hook. & Harv. Large slender-branched 

 shrub, or small tree: lvs. ovate-acuminate, stiff', pel- 

 lucid-punctate: fls. white, in iiedunculate corymbs, the 

 younger ones partly concealed by the petaloid bracts; 

 petals small, round-ovate, concave, acute; calyx hairy. 

 Queensland and New S. Wales. B.M. 4133. 



L. H. B. 



BACTRIS (Greek, haklron, cane; the young stems 

 u.sed for walking-sticks). Palnmcese, tribe Baclridex. 

 Usually low palms, very rarely entirely spineless. 



Stems solitary or fasciculate, ringed, spiny or smooth, 

 sprouting from the roots: lvs. terminal or scattering, 



(440) 



