BRUSSELS SPROUTS 



BRYOPHYLLUM 



583 



672. Brussels Sprouts. 



always grown in conditions similar to those chosen for 

 late cauliHower or late cabbage, and its range of adapta- 

 tion is much the same as that of autumn cabbage. The 

 fertilizing of the crop should be the same, in general, as 

 for autumn cabbage. The plants should be sot so as to 

 allow them sufficient room for full development, pref- 

 erabl}' in check- 

 rows 30 to 36 inches 

 apart each way. 

 Young seedhngs 

 should be ready 

 for planting in the 

 latitude of New- 

 York from Jime 20 

 to July 10. The 

 cultivation of the crop, up to 

 the time the sprouts begin to 

 develop, is practical!}' the 

 same as that for cabbage. 



The enemies and diseases 

 to which brussels sprouts is 

 subject are the same as those 

 of the fall crops of other 

 cabbage-like plants. Aphis, 

 green-worm, the harlequin- 

 bug and the cutworm are 

 probably the most annoy- 

 ing of the insect pests, while the rots, damping-off 

 fungus and the mildew are more or less troublesome. 



Before the sprouts are ready for hari^est, the lower 

 leaves of the plants are broken away in order to facili- 

 tate the cutting of the miniature heads or sprouts; this 

 is done by means of a sharp short-bladed knife, used to 

 separate them from the stalk of the plant. In sections 

 in which the plant can remain in the open during the 

 winter, two or three cuttings are made. The first 

 sprouts develop in the axils of the leaves nearest the 

 ground, and as the stalk of the plant elongates and more 

 leaves are added, a succession of sprouts develop. The 

 first cutting is confined, therefore, to the older and 

 more fully developed sprouts. When the miniature 

 heads have attained the size of '2 to 1 inch in diameter, 

 the cutting begins and is repeated at intervals depend- 

 ing upon the development of the sprouts. In regions 

 in which it is not safe to allow the plants to remain in 

 the open during the winter, a small supply for home use 

 or for local market may be stored in a vegetable-cellar 

 or storage-pit, the plants being lifted with earth adher- 

 ing to the roots and planted in sand that is kept some- 

 what moist during the storage period. Under these 

 conditions, the sprouts will remain in good condition 

 for several weeks and successive harvests can be made 

 the same as when the plants are standing in the open. 



The hand labor involved in gathering the sprouts and 

 preparing them for market is the chief deterrent to the 

 extensive cultivation of this crop. It is only in regions 

 in which mild winter conditions prevail and in which 

 labor is available to harvest and assort the sprouts 

 that the industry thrives on a commercial scale. After 

 the sprouts have been cut and placed in suitable recep- 

 tacles, they are carried in a packing-house where each 

 head is trimmed by romo\ing the outer leaves. The 

 trimmed heads are then placed in berry boxes holding 

 one quart, tho.se for the top layer being selected for 

 uniformity in size and arranged so as to give a finished 

 appearance to the receptacle. 



.Several varieties of brusxels sprouts are offered by 

 the trade, but there is only one general type, the chief 

 difference being in the length of the stalk of the plant 

 itself and the manner in which the sprouts are distribu- 

 ted along the stalk. This plant, although a popular 

 vegetable in England and on the Continent, is sparingly 

 cultivated in the United States, a few centers only giv- 

 ing attention to it as a commercial crop. Parts of Ixjng 

 Island, in New York, are well known for bru.ssels 

 sprouts production. L. C. Corbett. 



BRYANTHUS (Cireek, bryon, moss, and anihos, 

 flower: growing among mosses). Ericdcex. Heath-like 

 low shrub with pretty pink flowers, suitable for rock- 

 eries, but not yet in cultivation. 



Leaves evergreen, linear, remotely denticulate: calyx 

 4-parted; corolla rotate, 4-parted; stamens 8: caps. 

 subglobose, 4-valved. — One species on Kamtchatka and 

 Behrings Isls. The genus Phyllodoce has been referred 

 by several botanists to Bryanthus, but it differs con- 

 siderably in its urceolate or campanulate .5-lobed 

 corolla, 10 stamens, 5-valved caps, and solitary or 

 umbellate fls. 



This prostrate evergreen shrub has small needle- 

 shaped leaves and small rosy pink flowers in peduncled, 

 slender, 3-10-flowered racemes. Bryanthus will proba- 

 bly require the same treatment as Chiogenes, Loisel- 

 euria and Phyllodoce. The only species is B. Gmelinii, 

 Don. For illustration, see Pallas, Fl. Ross. 2:74 (as 

 Andromeda Bryanthus). 



B. Breweri, Gray^Phyllodoce Breweri. — S. empctrifdrmis. Gray 

 =Phyllodoceempetriformis. — B. erec/us. Lindl.^Pliyllodoceerecta. 

 — B.' glnndulifldrus. Gray^Phyltodoce glanduliflorus. — B. taxi- 

 /dhus. Gray=Phyllodoce taxitolia. ALFRED RehDER. 



BRYONIA (Greek, to sprout, referring to the annual ■ 

 growih from the tuber). Ciwurbitacese. Herbaceous 

 perennial climbers. 



A genus of 12 species of perennial cucurbits, native 

 of Eu. and W. Asia. They are herbaceous from a tuber- 

 ous root, with staminate fls. in racemes, while Bryon- 

 opsis is an annual plant, with the staminate fls. in 

 fascicles. All species of Bryonia are dioecious except 

 B. albn. Bryonopsis is monoecious. See Cogniaux, in 

 DC. Mon. Phan. 2:469. 



A. Fls. dicecious; stigmas rough: fr. red. 

 dioica, Jacq. Bryony. Height 6-12 ft.: root long, 

 fleshy, branching, white, a finger's thickness: Ivs. ovate 

 or roundish in outline, 5-lobed, margin wavy-toothed, 

 rough with callous points, paler beneath: pistillate fls. 

 greenish white, corymbose, short-peduncled. — Common 

 in England and in Cent, and S. Eu., rarer in W. Asia 

 and N. Afr. Not usually sold in Amor., but a common 

 plant along English highways and cult, in American 

 botanic gardens. It grow's rapidly over hedges and 

 fences. Root of this and of B. alba are employed princi- 

 pally as a hydragogue-cathartic. The fresh, bruised 

 root apphed to the skin causes vesication. 



AA. Fls. moncecious; stigmas smooth: fr. black. 



alba, Linn. Height 6-12 ft.: roots thick, tuberculate, 

 yellowish outside, white within: Ivs. long-petioled: 

 pistillate fls. in long-peduncled racemose corymbs. Eu., 

 Caucasus, Persia. 



B. lacinidsa, Linn.=Bryonop3i3 laciniosa. 



WiLHELM Miller. 



BRYONOPSIS (Greek, Bryony-like) . Cucurbitdccie. 

 A genus of two species of annual climbers. Consult 

 Bryonia for generic differences. 



lacinidsa, Naudin {Bryonia lacinidsa, Linn.). Lvs. 

 deeply .5-lobed, rough, light green above, paler beneath; 

 segms. oblong-lanceolate, acmninate. serrate: fls. nio- 

 ncEcious, fa-scicled or solitary, yellow: fr. about the size 

 of a cherry, spherical, green, with pretty white markings. 

 Asia, .Vfr., Au.stral. F.S. 12:1202. Var. erythrocarpa, 

 Naudin {B- erythrocarpa, Naudin). Has red fr. with 

 white marks. 1.11.12:431. F.S. 21:2237. Gn. 6, p. 

 193. — .\ warmhouse plant, rarely grown in pots and 

 trained to rafters. Prop, by seeds. 



WiLHELM Miller. 



BRYOPHYLLUM (Greek, sjrrouting leaf). Cras- 

 sulace.T. .\ small genus of succulent plants in the same 

 order with stonecrops, hen-an<l-chickens, cotyledon 

 and echeveria, grown to some extent as flowering 

 plants but more especially as a foliage novelty. 



Root-system fibrous and very abundant : sts. upright. 



