53S 



BOWIEA 



RRACHYCOME 



voiabilis, Harv. Fig. 620. Poriantli G-cloft to the 

 bjws«'. porsistent, green »ir preoiiisli white, tlie segiiis. 

 ineiirvixi at the tips, ultimately reflexed. S. Afr. B.M. 

 5C19. — St)ld by dealers now and tlien, and cult.. 

 in botanie gardens with caetus-hke euphorbias and 

 otiier curiosit ies. ti. rolubiUs is a remarkable bulbous- 

 roottxl twining greenhouse elimber. The bulbs grow to 

 be very large, sometimes beeoming U) in. cireum. 

 and some li or 7 in. deep. Tlie slender, twining 

 vine seems out of pniportion to the size of bulb. It 

 does not produce Ivs., but the lower part of the vine 

 is furnishe<i with pendulous, abortive panieles which 

 seem to perform the function of l\s. The small insig- 

 nificant greenish wliite fls. are borne at the ujjper end of 

 the vine. This is a useful plant for twining on the 

 Bupports of a moderately warm greenhouse, and is of 

 the easiest possible cult. Prop, is effected by seeds, or 

 oecasionsilly by the natural division of the bulbs. The 

 season of growth usually begins about the first of Oct., 

 when the bulbs should be repotted in any light, rich 

 soil, and kept well watered until the sts. begin to 

 mature, which usually occurs in May, when water 

 should be gradually withheld, and the plants stored 

 away in some sha<^led part of the greenhouse and kept 

 quite dr>- until the season of growth begins again. 



WiLHELM Miller. 

 E. J. Canning. 



BOWKERIA (Henrj- Bowker and sister, botanists in 

 S. Afr.). Scrophulariacea'. South African shrubs of 5 

 species, one of which is rare in cult, in south of England, 

 and likely to be intro. into this country. Allied toSeroph- 

 ularia, differing in being ligneous and in technical floral 

 characters. B. Gerrardiana, fiarv. (B. triphylla, Hort.). 

 Erect-branched shrub, 8-10 ft., with gray hairs: Ivs. 

 in 3's, sessile, elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 4-6 in. long: 

 fls. in small axillary cymes, 1 in. across, satiny white, 

 calceolaria-like, red-dotted inside, the upper lip flat, 

 lower lip shorter and ventrieose and 3-lobed. B.M. 

 8021. G.C. III. 36, Suppl. Dec. 10.— Hardy in the 

 Isle of Wight. 



BOX: Buius. 



BOX ELDER (Acer Negundo, which see). A very 

 popular small native tree for planting on the prairies 

 and in trying climates. It propagates most readily from 

 seeds. It is an excellent nurse tree for other species. 

 The wood is of inferior quality. It grows with great 

 rapidity for a few years. 







621. Brachycome iberidifolia. 



BOYKfNIA fnamwl after Doctor Boykin, of Georgia). 

 Thhojim, Ilaf. Saxifrnyaces- . (Jlandular-pubescent 

 I»erennial herb.s, 7 species, of which one is .Japanese 

 and the others in the S. Alleghany region and Calif., 

 two of which have been offerwi for wild garrlens. Lvs. 

 alternate, but mostly ra^Iical, stalked, blade orbicular 



or very broad and lobed oi- cleft : fls. white, small, in 

 terminal clusters; petals 5, entire or nearly so; stamens 

 .'>; styles 2-3: fr. an urn-shaped or globose caps., erect 

 or pendulous. Mostlj- mountain plants. B. rotundi- 

 folia, I'arry. Villou-s-pubescent, 2-3 ft., leafy: lvs. 2-4 

 in. across, orbicular or broadly ovate, crenately cut 

 and toothed: fls. short-pedicelled, on one side of the 

 branches; petals little surpassing the acute calyx-lobes. 

 A\'ater-courses, San Bernardino Mts. B. aconitifolia, 

 Nutt. Erect, 1-3 ft.: lvs. 2-6 in. across, nearly orbicu- 

 lar or reniforni, pahuately .5-7-lobed: fls. in a glandular- 

 pubescent corymb; petals eroded; sepals triangular- 

 ovate. Mt. slopes, Va. to Ga. — A pretty foliage plant 

 for wild gardens and borders. l H. B. 



BRACHYCH.^TA (Greek, short bristle). Com- 

 pdsila: A monotypic genus, growing in open woods 

 from Ky. to N. C. and Ga. Closely allied to Solidago, 

 from which it differs in the very short pappus (the bris- 

 tles sliorter than the achene), and the lower lvs. cordate. 

 B. cordata, Torr. & Gray {B. sphacelata, Brit.), 

 which has been intro. by dealers in native plants, is 

 2-3 ft. high, soft-pubescent, with thin, serrate, ovate to 

 orbicular-ovate lvs.: fls. golden yellow, in small heads, 

 which are borne on the thyrsoid, secund branchlets; 

 disk-fls. perfect. — Recommended for the native border, 

 particularly in half shade. 



BRACHYCHILUS (short lip, the labellum being 

 suppressed). Spelled also Brachychilum, from the name 

 as a subgenus of Hedychium. Ziiigiheracese. Herbaceous 

 plants of two species, one or both of which have been 

 cultivated abroad, in warmhouses. Closely allied to 

 Hedychium. The species are B. H&rsfieldii, Peters 

 (Hedychium Hdrsfieldii, Wall.), from Java; and B. 

 tenellum, Schum., from Moluccas. The former has 

 been cultivated as Alpinia calcarata. 



BRACHYCHITON (name referring to the short 

 imbricated hairs and scales). Sterculiacese. Australian 

 trees (about eleven species), grown to some extent in 

 Florida and perhaps elsewhere South, often included 

 with Sterculia, from which they differ (when the genera 

 are distinguished) by bearing the radicle next the hilum 

 in the seed, having the seeds and inside of carpels 

 villous, and other technical characters. 



Leaves entire or rarely lobed: fls. unisexual or polyg- 

 amous, in panicles or racemes; calyx with 5 or 4 

 spreading lobes; petals wanting; stamens 10-15 in a 

 column united with the pistils; ovary with 5 nearly or 

 quite distinct carpels, the styles united under the pel- 

 tate or lobed stigma. — Two showy-fid. species are 

 reported in this country. B. acerifolium, Muell. (Ster- 

 ciilin acerifdUa, Cunn.). Large timber tree in its native 

 country: Ivs. long-stalked, .5- or 7-lobcd, 8-10 in. 

 across, the lobes oblong-lanceolate or ahnost rhom- 

 boid: fls. rich retl, in loose racemes or small panicles; 

 calyx 1^4 in. long, glabrous, broad-lobed; ovary borne on 

 a short stalk or colunm : fr. large follicles, long-stalked, 

 glabrous. B. diversifolium may be either B. diversi- 

 fdlium, R. lir. =Slerculia caudnta, Heward; or B. 

 populn'eum, R. Br.,=S. diversifolia, Don, probably the 

 latter and here described: tree, 20-60 ft., glabrous 

 except the blossoms: lvs. long-stalked, ovate to ovate- 

 lanceolate and entire, or more or less deeply 3- or 5- 

 lobed: fls. yellowish white, reddish within, in axillary 

 panicles that rarely exceed the lvs.; calyx broadly 

 campanulate, about ^i'm. diam., acutely lobed to mid- 

 dle: follicles nearly ovoid, .sometimes 3 in. long, on 

 stalks 1-2 in. long. Both .species are reported as grow- 

 ing vigorously in high pine-land garden in Fla. ; trunk 

 unusually thick near the ground; characteristic in the 

 open cone-like to|)s. l H. B. 



BRACHYCOME (short hair, from the Greek, allud- 

 ing to the pappus). Compdsitse. About 40 species of 

 Australian herbs, with membranaceous involucral 



