HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



BOA 



Mould. On the other hand, many peo- 

 ple regard this Mould with suspicion. 

 Bread and meat affected with it have 

 been known to produce serious conse- 

 quences when eaten, though it is possi- 

 ble that the meat may have been dis- 

 eased before the Mould made its appear- 

 ance. It is stated, again, that persons 

 have collected the Mould, and eaten it 

 without serious results. The question 

 of its poisonous nature is one of so much 

 importance that farther and closer inves- 

 tigation would seem to be desirable. 



Boat-shaped. Having the figure of a boat 

 in miniature, with its keel. 



Boilers. See Heating. 



.Bofo.The trunk of a tree. 



BombacecK. The Silk -cotton family, a group 

 of Thalamifloral Dicotyledons or Exogens 

 belonging to Lindley's Malval Alliance, 

 and usually considered as a sub-order of 

 Sterculiacece, which see. 



Bombycine. Silky; feeling like silk. This 

 term is not applied to hairiness of any 

 sort. 



Bone Dust. One of the safest and best con- 

 centrated fertilizers. When used broad- 

 cast, it should be sown on the soil after 

 digging or plowing, just thick enough 

 to cover it with a thin layer, about as 

 thickly as sawdust or sand is used on a 

 floor. If used on dug ground, it should 

 be well chopped and mixed through the 

 soil, so as to mix it to a depth of five or 

 six inches. If on ground that has been 

 plowed, a thorough harrowing will mix it 

 to the required depth. This thickness 

 will require at the rate of from fifteen 

 hundred to twenty-five hundred pounds 

 per acre. If tobe used in drills or " hills," 

 or only where seed are to be sown or 

 plants planted, and not over the whole 

 ground, it will take only about from one 



BOR 



hundred and fifty to three hundred 

 pounds per acre, which should be mixed 

 in the soil in the same manner. 



Borageivorts. A name applied by Lindley 

 to the boraginaceous family. See Bora- 

 ginacew. 



Boraginacece, (Boragewort*, Asperifolice.} A 

 natural order of Corollifloral Dicotyle- 

 dons or Exogens belonging to Lindley's 

 Echial Alliance. They are herbs or 

 shrubs with round stems, alternate rough 

 leaves, and spirally coiled inflorescence. 

 The calyx is four to five divided, and per- 

 sistent; the corolla is generally regular 

 and five-cleft; the stamens are five, in- 

 serted in the corolla, and alternate with 

 its divisions ; the ovary is four-lobed, 

 with a style arising from the base of the 

 lobes. The fruit consists of distinct seeds 

 without albumen. This order was for- 

 merly called Asperifolwe, from the rough- 

 ness of its leaves. The plants are princi- 

 pally natives of northern temperate re- 

 gions. They are found in Southern Eu- 

 rope, the Levant, and Central Asia. In 

 high northern latitudes they are less fre- 

 quent, and nearly disappear within the 

 tropics. The plants abound in mucilagi- 

 nous and demulcent qualities. Some 

 yield dyes, as Alkanet, (Anchusa tincto- 

 ria.) The common Borage, (Borago offi- 

 cinalis,) when steeped in water, imparts 

 coolness to it, and is used in the beverage 

 called cold tankard. Mertensia maritima 

 is cultivated as a vegetable under the 

 common name of Oyster Plant. The 

 species of Myosotis are universally prized 

 under the name of Forget-me-not. There 

 are fifty-eight known genera of this order, 

 and 688 species. Myosotis, Borago, Gy- 

 noglossum, Lithospermum, Gerinthe, Sym- 

 phytum, Anchum, are examples of this 

 order. 



