HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



BRO 



brooms and clothes brushes; and also I 

 Sorghum saccharatum. 



Brownian Motion. A phenomenon some- ' 

 times called molecular motion, which oc- | 

 curs in minute particles both of vegetable i 

 and mineral origin, consisting, says the \ 

 Eev. Mr. Berkeley, in a rapid, whirling i 

 motion, the nature of which is obscure, 

 but is certainly independent of evapora- 

 tion, or other appreciable internal causes 

 which produce motion in minute bodies. 

 It may be seen admirably in a weak solu- 

 tion of gamboge with a power of 250 lin- ! 

 ears. It is frequently observed in the 

 minute anatomy of vegetables, especially 

 when the tissues are diseased. 



Bruniaceae. A small family, not differing 

 in any important character from Hama- 

 meliacece, though quite different in habit. 

 See Hamameliacece. 



Brunneus. Deep brown, not much differ- 

 ent from chestnut brown. 



Bryacece. A large group of Acrocarpous 

 Mosses, distinguished by the capsules 

 having a double row of teeth, the inner 

 of which are united at the base by a 

 common plicate membrane. Very rarely 

 there is only a single row, or the teeth 

 are obsolete. The capsule is almost 

 always pendulous. The stem is at 

 first simple, but at length becomes 

 branched by means of new shoots, called 

 innovations, given off near the tip, or the 

 base, sometimes from subterranean 

 creeping shoots. The leaves have a large 

 central nerve, and consist of large reticu- 

 lations, and are mostly serrated at the 

 margin and thickened. Very rarely the 

 fruit is lateral, as in Mielichofena. Many 

 of the species of Mnium, as M. puncta- 

 tum, M. rostrafum, M. undulatum, are 

 great ornaments to woods and rocks from 

 their lar^e leaves and handsome capsules, 



BUD 



while various species of Bryum attract 

 notice on walls, gravel walks, and marshes, 

 by their tufted habit and abundant pen- 

 dulous capsules. Sometimes the term 

 Bryacece is applied to the whole of the 

 true Mosses. 



Bryology. That part of botany which treats 

 of Urn Mosses. 



Buccce. The lateral sepals or wings of the 

 flower of an Aconite; now seldom used. 



Bud. The young undeveloped branch or 

 flower; as, a leaf bud, a flower bud. 



Budding. This is the practice in use of 

 placing a bud of one variety of plant on 

 another. The shoot or stock to be bud- 

 ded upon must always be in a thrifty, 

 growing state, so that the bark can be 

 raised freely from the wood, and the bud 

 to be inserted must be in such a state 

 that it shows prominently at the axil of 

 the leaf. Select a smooth portion of the 

 stem of the shoot to be budded upon, 

 strip it of leaves (or thorns, if any) suffi- 

 cient to allow room for the operation; 

 then make a cut through the bark to the 

 wood in length sufficient to admit the 

 bud, with a cross cut at the top. Above 

 this cross cut make a slight sloping cut 

 in the bark, about a quarter of an inch 

 in length, so as to admit the easy inser- 

 tion of the bud. This custom is not gen- 

 eral, but it will be found to be easier, and, 

 we think, safer. Next take the shoot 

 from which the bud to be inserted is to be 

 cut, and selecting such as have the prop- 

 erly developed condition of bud, cut it 

 from the shoot about half an inch on each 

 side of the bud, just deep enough to get 

 about as mucli thickness of the wood as 

 the bark. If the portion of the shoot 

 from which the bud is taken is well ri- 

 pened, it is best to separate the wood 

 from the bark; but if not, it will do quite 



