BACTRIS 



BB. Ijf.- segments acute at tip. 



Gasipies, HBK. (GuilUlma speclosa, Mart.). St. 



about CO ft high single or csespitose, with rings of subu- 



SALSAM 



^"tB^ 



-i^i.- 



178. 



late-compressed blacls spines, 1 in. long, the rings about 

 as far apart as the diani. of the st. : Ivs. 6 ft. long, curv- 

 ing; segments dark green above, pale green below, very 

 numerous, approximate, IXft. long, 1^ in. wide, linear- 

 laueeolate, long-acuminate, bristly or minutely prickly 

 along the margins. Lower Amazon. 



hdrrida, Oerst. Caespitose stems 6-8 ft. high, 8-9 in. 

 diam., very spiny, sheathed for most of its length with 

 bases of dead Ivs.; spines 3-4 in. long, 4-sided, whitish 

 tomentose, at length glabrous : lvs.2K-3ft. long; sheath 

 8 in., brown-tomeutose ; petiole IJ^ft., densely spiny, 

 subtetragonal, densely brown-tomentose beneath ; seg- 

 ments 7 in. long, Kin. wide, lanceolate, rigid, glaucous. 

 Nicaragua. j^ked G. Smith. 



BACULAKIA (Latin, baculum, a small walking-stick). 

 PalnuXcere, tribe Arh-ece. Low spineless palms, with an- 

 nular reed-like single or fasciculate sts: Ivs. terminal, 

 unequally pinuatiseot ; segments membranous, broad or 

 narrow, split or tciotlud at the apex, the broader ones 

 many-nervnl, ih.- narrow ,,ii,-s l-iiei-\-,-il, the terminal 

 confluent : iniilrili ami iier\a--; withour st.-ales below; 

 margins not tlnrkeinMl, reiurved at the iiase; petiole and 

 rachis sparsely scurfy, convex on the back, flat above or 

 concave toward the base : sheath short, open : spadices 

 numerous, longer than the Ivs., spreading, recurved : 

 peduncle very slender, scurfy, compressed at the base : 

 spathes 2, remote, the lower one at the base of the pe- 

 duncle tubular, the upper membranaceous, linear, ensi- 

 form : fls. green : fr. small, elongate-ovoid, subacute, 

 green, M-Kin. long. Species 2. Temperate and tropical 

 Australia. See Palms. 



125 



Ilia, Mart. 

 1 ft. high : 



DO.). Easily dis- 

 /■(.( bv its hairy sts. 

 ni iim.-l, branched: 

 i\ liiear-lanceolate: 

 (liiiirles : involucre 



monostS,chya, F. Muell. (Areea 

 Kintia „i„»nW,iW,7„, F. .Min !l, , 



Ivs. lK-1 ft. Ion:;:; the sl,,.,-,li, :■.. 



6 in. long, iiro,lnc.,l into _' -;;|, jnimtsvery 



irregular, a.'unnnate, very van ,oi. iva.ith and dis- 

 tance, adnate to the rachis. or taperi?ig at the base, the 

 longest about 1 ft. long, yueeusland, N. S.W. B.M. 6644. 

 Jabed 6. Smith. 



BA£:KIA (after the Russian zoologist, Karl Ernst von 

 Baer). Compdsitm. Californian annuals (or one peren- 

 nial species), with numerous showy, inch-wide yellow 

 tls. in early summer. 



gracilis, Gray (Biirrielia gr 

 tinguished from Actiii':/' /ix/v . 

 and foliage and uudi\i<io.| l\- 

 height 4-12 in.: Ivs.oppo-ir. , , 

 fls. solitary, on slender ternii 



leafier thai) inActinolepsis enronaria. the scales longer, 

 downy, in 2 series: rays 8-12. B.M. 3758. — This is likely 

 to be cult, as Lasthenia Californica, which, however, is 

 not hairy and has much longer Ivs. 



B. chrysostoina, Fiscli. & M,iy. Lvs. narrowly linear, 1 line 

 or less wide ; fls. Lirger than in B. gracilis : habit more erect. 

 —B. corondna= Actinolepsis coronaria. 



BALAKA (the Fijian vernacular name). Palm&cea, 

 tribe Areeeie. Differs from Ptychosperma in having 

 the seed not sukjate, and in the half-rhomboid seg- 

 ments of the lvs.; and from Drymophloeus in the form 

 of the leaf and the caducous spathes. Species 2. Fiji 

 Islands. 



Se^manni, Becc. (Ptychosperma Seemanni, H. 

 Wendl.). Fig. 178. Caudex slender, 8-12 ft. high, 

 straight, ringed, about 1 in. in diam.: lvs. pinnatisect, 

 4 ft. long ; segments erose-dentate at the apex, alter- 

 nate, 9 on each side, semi-rhomboid, obliquely truncate, 

 the upper margin longer, cuspidate at the apex, the 

 terminal one deeply bifid. Growing as underwood in 

 dense forests. Fiji. — Stems used for spears by natives, 

 because of their strength and straightuess. Fig. 178 is 

 adapted from Seeman's Flora Vitiensis. 



Jared G. Smith. 



BALLOON VINE. See Cardiospermum. 



BA-Lia {Melissa officinalis, hinu.). LabiAtce. Sweet 

 herb, the lvs. being used for seasoning, particularly in 

 liquors. It has a lemon-like flavor. It is a hardy peren- 

 nial from southern Eu. The plant grows 1-2 ft. high, 

 somewhat hairy, loosely branched, with ovate-crenate 

 lvs. and yellowish or whitish fls. in 

 loose axillary clusters. Thrives in 

 any warm position, and is easy to 

 grow. Prop, by seeds ; also by di- 



I 



3. Explosion 



^ 

 # 



