5S4 



BRYOPHYLLUM 



BUDDING 



simple or sonietiiuos hrancliinc towurd the baso, of a 

 thioK stift tissue over. a wooily cyliiulrieal core: Ivs. 

 opixisite, petioletl. simple or pinnately coiMpouiui, suo- 

 oulent : inn. eymose or panioulate; fls. nodding; sepals 

 4, uniti\l into an inllated ealyx whieh incloses the 

 lower half or more of the corolla; corolla cylindrical, 

 ending in 4 petal tips: stamens S; ovaries 4, separate 

 or more or less united below. 



The members of this penus may readily be dis- 

 tinpiiishixl from relatetl neiiera by the "sprouting" 

 habit of their leaves as indicated by the generic name. 

 If a leiif is removed from a plant ami placed in a warm 

 moist place, young plants will very soon appear in the 

 notches around it^ border. This is the simi)lest method 

 of propagation and is usually accomplished by placing 

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

 Wiirm. sunny exposure. Tiny buds will soon api)ear 

 in the notches and these are followed by numerous fine 

 roots, i^tx- Fig. (573. 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 protluced from stem- 

 cuttings rooted in sand, or from seed. Seeds retain 

 their vitaUty more than a year when kept dry. The 

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

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

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

 Burviye 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. calyAnum, Salisb.). Figs. 673-4. 

 Height 2-1 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- 

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

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

 p-een becoming purplish along the veins toward matu- 

 rity, margin purple as are also the petioles and young 

 et.-grow'ths: fls. pendulous, in terminal panicles; calyx 

 much inflated, purplish green with lighter dots, lH 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. HI. 46:205. 



'- .*w ., 



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 a.s a diuretic. 



crenAtum, Jiaker. Less robust in habit of growth than 

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

 1-3 w. 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 purjjlish pink margin and strongly 

 bluish glaucous when young a.s are also the petioles and 



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

 in terminal, open, (corymbose cymes; calyx membra- 

 naceous, inflated, ^giu- long, pink; corolla 5^4in. long, 

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

 78,56. G.C. III. 33:59; 41:419. 

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

 1900, pp. 175, 176, 362. 



B. prolifcntm, Bowie. Occasionally 

 met with, is much more robust in 

 growth, reaching 12 ft. in height: .st. 

 4-angled in new growth, becominti 

 cyhndrical later: Ivs. pinnatifid to pin- 

 nate, the base of the pinnffi very much 

 thickened, blade much contorted and 

 margin finely crenate, rachis and petiole 

 prominently grooved on the upper side. 

 S. .\fr. B.M. 5147. F.S. 23:2446.— Of 

 little value more than a novelty, 



C. H. Thompson. 



BUCKEYE: JEsculus. 



BDCKLEtA (after S. B. Buck- 

 ley, American botanist, died in ^74 

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

 laccx. Shrubs rarely introduced pinnatum. (XJ2) 

 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, 1-23^2 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 Tcnn. 

 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 Rehder. 



( BDCKTHORN : Phamnus, particularly R. 



rnliiuTtirita; also Bumclia, 



BUCKWHEAT (Fagopyriim escuUntum, 

 ■■'',1' Moencli). Polyyonacesr: A tender annual 

 - i'i'v gr'i'n Jjlant, flour being made of the large 

 '~,S^ 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. esculenlum, from which it is really eiusily 

 distinguished. Buckwheat is a good cleaning crop for 

 weedy and hard lands. For general discussion of 

 biickwh(:it, consult Cyclo. Amer. Agric, Vol. II. See 

 Fagoj/yrum. • 



BUDDING: Gra/tage. 



