510 



BIRDS 



BLACKBERRY 



berries in some communities bocomos at times so marl^ed that 

 mjui)* fruit-grower? complain, while others plant more fniit to pro- 

 vv\e enouch for both man ahd bird. Besides fruit and berries, its 

 foo^l includes the s^hhIs of doKwooii, holly, red cetiar, and pokcberry. 

 It eats a prx'at many noxious insect*, including grasshoppers, beetles, 

 cotton-worms and ooll-wtwils. 



The hirvl pictures herewith are adapted from Farmers' Bulletin 

 54. I'. ."^. Ocpt. -\gric. on "Some Common Birds in Their UelatioD 

 to .Agriculture,- by F. E. U Beai. q^^ j^ Smith. 



BIRD'S-NESTFERN: T)utmnopleru. 



BrcD'S-TONGUE FLOWER: Strelit^. 



BIRTHWORT: .Irisfo/ocAm; also Trillium. 



BISCHOFU (for G. ^^". Bisehoff, Professor at 

 HeidelborK early in nineteenth century). Euphor- 

 binccr. Ornamental tropical tree. 



Lvs. alternate, trifoliate: calyx imbricate; ovules 2 

 in each cell. The one species is being used to some 

 extent in recent years in the warmer parts of the U. S. 

 It is said to grow freely in sandy soil. 



trifoliata, Hook. (li. javdnicn, Blume). Toog. A fine 

 tree, with bronze-green lvs.; Ifts. .stalked: sepals 5; 

 petals none: fr. berry-like. Trop. .Asia and Pacific Isls. 

 Hook. Ic. PI. II. 5:S44. j. b. S. Norton. 



BISMARCKIA (in honor of Prince Bismarck). Pal- 

 maces, tribe Bordssese. Sometimes referred to ^1/e- 

 demia. A genus nearly related to Latania and distin- 

 guished by having only 6 stamens instead of many. 

 Forms a tree 200 ft. high, with a gigantic crown of pal- 

 mate lvs. ^vith white-streaked petioles and blades 10 ft. 

 in diam.: fr. borne in large, droo()ing clusters, dark 

 brown, plum-hke, 1)2 in- diam., with a thin outer shell 

 and a fibrous inner one inclosing a rounded, wrinkled 

 seed 1 in. diam., reticulated like a walnut and rumi- 

 nated as in the nutmeg. Cult, as for Latania, but the 

 winter temperatures should be from 6.5-70° and sum- 

 mer temperature from 80-90°. G.C. II. 22:590. 



ndbilis, Hildeb. & AA'endl. In young plants petiole 

 convex on the back, channelled above, finely serrate on 

 the ridges above, thinly clothed with tufts of fibrous 

 scales, naif as long as the blade; blade blue-green, 

 rigid, 3 ft. in diam.; segms. 20, 2 in. wide, 1 ft. long, 

 apex blunt, obtuse, with a long curved filament from 

 the base of each sinus. Madagascar. G.F. 6:246. F. 

 R. 2:257. Gt. 1221. Jared G. Smith. 



N. TATLOR.t 

 BITTER-SWEET: Solanum; also Cela.itru.1. 



BIXA (S. American name). Bixacex. A monotypic 



§enus of tropical trees with large, entire lvs. and showy 

 s. in terminal panicles: lvs. entire, long-petioled, 

 dotted: sepals 5, di.stinct, imbricate, deciduous, alter- 

 nating with exterior glands; petals 5. B. Oreltana is 

 cult, in the E. and W. Indies for the annatto dye pre- 



fared from the orange-red pulp that covers the seeds, 

 t is the coloring matter chiefly used in butter and 

 cheese. It is also used in dyeing silks, and preparing 

 chocolate. 



Oreliana, Linn. .A.v.\-atto-Tree. Height 30 ft. : lvs. 

 cordate: fis. pinkish or ro.se-color. B.M. 14.56. — It is 

 rarely grown in northern greenhouses as an ornamental. 

 Cuttings taken from a flowering plant will produce 

 flowering plants of a convenient size. Plants from seed 

 usually flower less freely, and must attain a greater 

 size before flowering. jj Taylor t 



BLACKBERRY. Cultivated blackberries are the 

 progeny of wveral species of the genus Rubus. The 

 common garden blaekberri(« are all natives of Ainerica, 

 while two little-known but quite distinct forms, the 

 Oregon Kyergreen, much grown on the Pacific coast 

 for it."! fruit and as an ornamental, and the Himalaya, 

 comparatively recf;ntly introduced in commercial 

 plantations, come from the Old World. Blackberries 

 are erect-growing perennial plants, bearing black or 

 occasionally whitLsh fruits which do not separate from 



578. Wild Blackberry— Rubus 

 allegheoiensis. ( X H) 



the juicy recept.acle. Dewberries are distinguished 

 from blackberries only in being procumbent plants, 

 while raspberries differ chiefly in bearing variously 

 colored fruits that fall from a dryish receptacle when 

 ripe. Blackberries are now largely grown only in North 

 America but they tire being introduced in gardens in 



other parts of the 

 world , from some 

 of which, notably 

 in New Zealand, 

 they have escaped 

 and have become 

 troublesome field 

 and roadside plants. 



The kinds. 



There are many 

 forms of black- 

 berries, species, sub- 

 species and varie- 

 ties with many 

 hybrids and inter- 

 gradients abound- 

 ing. At present 

 it is impossible to 

 ;j;roup the forms 

 with the expecta- 

 tion of a permanent 

 classification. (For 

 a botanical classifi- 

 cation .see Rubus.) 

 The following is the 

 common arrange- 

 ment of the horti- 

 cultural varieties 

 (Bailey): (1) The 

 Long-Cluster varie- 

 ties arc probably 

 best known. These belong to Rubus allegheniensis 

 (Fig. 578). The plants in this group are tall and 

 shrubby with purple canes armed with stout, straight 

 prickles. The fruits are sub-cylindric or thimble- 

 shaped, sweet, dull-colored, with many small closely 

 packed drupelets, and are borne, as the name implies, 

 in long clusters. The White blackberry, having amber- 

 colored fruit and rounder lighter-colored canes, is an 

 albino form of the Long-Cluster blackberry. Taylor and 

 Ancient Briton are the most prominent representatives 

 of the Long-Cluster group, while Iceberg best represents 

 the albino form. (2) Var. salivus furnishes a number of 

 varieties roughly grouped by horticulturists as the 

 Short-Clu.ster blackberries (Fig. 579). These are char- 

 acterized by smaller and weaker plants than the pre- 

 ceding, with green and nearly unarmed canes, short, 

 leafless clusters, composed of globose glossy berries of 

 few, large, juicy, irregularly set drupelets. The varie- 

 ties most commonly grown are Agawam, Kittatinny, 

 Lawton and Snyder. (3) The Leafy-Cluster black- 

 berries belong to a species doubtfully known as R. 

 argutufi, Link, and are characterized by low bushy 

 plants bearing short clusters with leaves intermingled 

 with the flowers. Here belong the old Dorchester, one 

 of the fir.st varieties cultivated, and Early Harvest, a 

 valuable commercial sort. (4) The Loose-Cluster black- 

 berries are probably hybrids (Fig. 580) between the 

 first group named and the dewberry (R. villosu.'i, Ait.). 

 The iilants are low and spreading, with broad, jagged 

 notched leaves, short clusters of large, roundish berries 

 with juicy, glossy, loosely set drupelets. Early Wilson 

 and Wihson Junior are the best known varieties of 

 this group. (5) The Sand blackberry {R. cuneifolius, 

 Pursh) is the parent of a few unimportant sorts, of 

 which Top.sy or the Tree blackberry is the best known. 

 The plants of this group are low and shrubby, with 

 stout recurved prickles; the clusters bear from one to 

 four roundish berries of loosely set drupelets (Fig. 581). 



