HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



BRE 



Exogens, to which the name of Cruciferce 

 is usually given. See Cruciferce. 

 Brexiacece. The genera Brexia, Ixerba, Ar- 

 gophyttum, and Rousscea, containing only 

 one or two species each, have been 

 proposed as a small family allied to Saxi- 

 fragacece. They are not, however, very 

 closely connected with each other, and do 

 not seem to have any well-marked 

 characters in common. See Escalloniece. 

 Brimstone, Vegetable. The inflammable 

 spores of Lycopodiufii clavatum and L. 

 Selago, sometimes employed in the man- 

 ufacture of fireworks. 

 Bristles. Rigid hairs. 

 Bristleworts. A name applied by Lindley 



to the Desueauxiacece. 

 Bristly. Covered with stiff, sharp hairs or 



bristles. 



Bristly-toothed. Having bristles like teeth, 

 or with the teeth ending each in a bris- 

 tle. 



Bromeliacece, (Bromelice, Bromeliads, Tilland- 

 sice, Bromehvorts, the Pine-apple family.) 

 A natural order of Epigynous Mono- 

 cotyledons included in Lindley's Narcis- 

 sal Alliance. The order consists of short- 

 stemmed plants, with rigid, channeled, 

 and often scurfy and spiny leaves and 

 showy flowers. The outer perianth or 

 calyx is three-parted and persistent; the 

 inner, or corolla, consists of three with- 

 ering petals; the stamens are six, in- 

 serted in the tube of the perianth, with 

 the anthers opening on the side next the 

 pistil; the style is single. The fruit is 

 either a dry capsule or succulent, three- 

 celled, and many-seeded; the embryo is 

 very small, at the base of mealy albu- 

 men. They are natives of the American 

 continent and islands, whence they have 

 been distributed to Africa and the East 

 Indies. Ananaiva aatiw, the Pine-apple or 



BRO 



Ananas, is one of the oest known and 

 most delicious of this or any other order. 

 The fruit is composed of the pistils and 

 bracts of several flowers united into a 

 succulent mass, and crowned by a se- 

 ries of green leaves. The fibers of the 

 plant are used in manufacture. The 

 Pine-apple is grown under glass very 

 successfully in Europe, but the fine con- 

 dition in which they are received here 

 from Jamaica and other places, makes 

 their culture under glass here unneces- 

 sary. Some of the Bromeliads grow at- 

 tached to the branches of trees, and are 

 called Air Plants, the best known here be- 

 ing Tillandsia usneoides, the Tree Beard of 

 South America. Under the name of Flori- 

 da Moss it is very largely used for deco- 

 rative purposes. It is also used for 

 stuffing cushions, etc., under the name of 

 Spanish Moss, Black Moss, or Long 

 Moss. There are twenty-eight known 

 genera, and one hundred and seventy -six 

 species of this order. Bromelia, Ananassa, 

 Bilbergia, JEchmea, Tillandsia, Bonaparlea, 

 are examples of the order. The bracts 

 of some of the species are exceedingly 

 beautiful. 



Bromeliads. The English term for Brome- 

 liacece. 



Broom. A name applied to Gytisus or 

 Sarothamnus scoparius, and also to Ly- 

 geum Spartum. African Broom is a com- 

 mon name for Aspalathus. Butcher's 

 Broom is Ruscus aculeatus, and is also a 

 common name for Ruscus. Dyer's Broom 

 is Genista tinctoria. New Zealand Broom 

 is Carmichaelis australis. Rush Broom is 

 a common name for Viminaria; it is also 

 applied to Spartium junceum. Spanish 

 Broom is Spartium junceum. Broom Corn 

 is Sorghum vulgare, the branched pani- 

 cles of which are made into carpet 



