BIARTOI 



Calla palHsfris : spathe green outside, shining, velvety 

 purple within, shorter and broaderthan in B. tiibiflorum, 

 at length revolute ; tube swelling, connate only at the 

 very base : spadix thicker and shorter. Syria. B.M. 



Bdvei, Blume. Lvs. similar to B. Pijrami : spathe- 

 tube connate a fourth of its length ; blade of spathe 

 longer and more narrowly lanceolate, green outside, 

 dark purple within. Syria, Asia Minor. 



BiDENS (Latin, fifife-(oo?;ie(J, referring to the seed). 

 Compositie. Bur Marigold. Mostly American hardy 

 annual and perennial herbs, allied to Dahlia and Core- 

 opsis, and distinguished by the barbed awns of the seed, 

 which, in B. frondosu, our common Stick-Tight, or- 

 Devil's Bootjack, are very troublesome by clinging to 

 the clothiu!,'. B. grandiJIdra, Balb., from S. Amer., is a 

 yellow-fld. hardv annual, growing 2 ft. high, bearing 

 glabrous pinnatisect lvs.; occasionally cult. For B. 

 atrosanguinea, Hort., see Cosmos diversifolius. 



BIENNIAL. A plant living two years ; particularly 

 one which does not bear flowers niid fruit until the second 

 year from the seed. Plants vary irnufly in their dura- 

 tion, depending upon the cliniair in wliidi they grow 



and the treatment which tlnyy i \vr. ( 'i-niparatively 



fewplants are true biennials. Tin- <"iiiii]"n mullein and 

 bull thistle {Cuicus laiii-e;liifi(s) are examples. Most 

 cultivated bienui.-ils become annuals if grown in a warm 

 or long-season climate, as turnips, celery, cabbage, 

 onion. If the plants are crowded, or not allowed to attain 

 their full development, they tend to run to seed and com- 

 plete their growth the first year. Gardeners are familiar 

 with this fact in celery, carrots and beets. Plants which 

 are practically annuals under such conditions, but which 

 have the power of carrying themselves overwinter by 

 means of bulbs, corms, tubers, and other food-storage 

 parts, have been called 7).'ic»(7-(; »»»</?.'!. DeCandolle esti- 

 mates that true or natural biennials comprise 1 or 2 per 

 cent of the total number of species of seed-bearing 

 plants. L. H. B. 



BIFEENARIA (Latin for twice and strap, referring 

 to the connective of the pollinia). OrchidAcece, tribe 

 VuiuJiie. Very like Maxillaria, and distinguished by 

 technical characters of the pollinia. About 25 trop. 

 Amer. species, of which the two following are best 

 known to the horticulturist. These species do well at 

 the cool end of the Cattleya house, and, in general, 

 should be treated like Maxillaria and Lycaste. 



aurantiaca, Lindl. Pseudobulbs ovate or ovoid, mono- 

 phyllous ; leaf-blades about 6 in. long, oval or nearly 

 so : fls. about 1 in. across, yellow, dotted with deeper 

 yellow. British Guiana. B.M. 3597. 



vitelllna, Lindl. Fls. deeper yellow than in the above, 

 with a brown spot on the labellum. Brazil. 



Oakes Ames. 



BIGELdVIA (after Dr. Jacob Bigelow. author of 

 Florula Bostoniensis, Medical Botany of U. S., etc.). 

 C'oiiipositie. The only species in cult, is the original 

 one, which resembles a goldenrod. Prop, by cuttings 

 ami by s.i .1. Culture simple. 



graveolens, i nay (Bigelowia drarunctdoldes, DC). 

 Low slituli. l-f. IT. high, densely white-tomentose, much 

 braiu'bi'il, very leafv, malodorous only in drying: lvs. 

 linear. 1-2 in. long : tl. -heads, yellow, 5-8 lines high, 



rayiess. Alkal'iue soils Dak. to B.C. and S. to S. Calif! 

 and Ariz. Var. albicaulis is more permanently and 

 densely woolly, dwarfer, and recommended by D. M. 

 Andrews, Boulder, Colo., for low hedges and edgings. 



BIGELOW, JACOB. Botanist, physician, educator, 

 and founder of Mt. Auburn Cemetery, the prototype of 

 all garden and landscape cemeteries, was born at Sud- 

 bury, Mass., February 27, 1787, and died at Boston, Jan- 

 uary 10, 1879. He was graduated from Harvard in 1806, 

 and began the practice of medicine in 1810. His Florula 

 Bostoniensis, 18U (2d ed. 1824), was the first American 

 local flora of importance, and served for many vears as 

 the only popular manual of New England botany. He 

 was Professor of Materia Medica ia Harvard from 1815 



11 



BIGNONIA 



161 



to 1855. and for twenty years Physician to the Massachu- 

 setts General Hospital. His American Medical Botany, 

 1817-20, was the first work of its kind. Each of the three 

 volumes contained descriptions of 20 species, with a 

 colored pbate of each produced by the aqua-tinting pro- 

 cess, a method invented by Or. Bii^elow just before 

 lithographv. His essay on " Silf limited Diseases," an 

 attack on heroic remedies and a \i 

 processes of nature, njarked an t 

 Dr. O. W. Holmes said that it probably bad mo 

 ence on medical practice in Ameiica tiian ain- w 

 published in this country. He alsu.li.l imirh to ii 

 science into colleges that were too cxi-lu^ivt-ly c 

 The genus Bigelovia, named after liiin by li.( 

 was founded on a western plant r^ -■ inlilin,' l-.' 

 He was the one man without whom Mi. .\ul.ii: 

 tery -would never have existed. Tlii- irm, i. i v I 

 one of the most important factors in tlir .ir\ ,l,i| 

 landscape gardening in America, and without t 

 nues derived from it the Massachusetts Hort 



iiedical reform, 

 lad more influ- 



aiiy work ever 

 h-li to introduce 

 .ivi-l\- classical. 

 .y incandolle, 

 111,' L'.iMeurod. 

 .\nl.n:n Ceme- 

 i.Mrv lias been 



irvi'lopinentof 

 thout the reve- 

 Itural 



Society could never have played so important a part in 

 American horticulture. Dr. Bigelow was one of the most 

 versatile, useful and interesting men of his day. The 

 popular use of the word "technology" dates from his 

 "Elements of Technology." 1827. For a fuller account, 

 see the sketch by L. H. Bailev, in Botanical Gazette, 

 8:217 (1883), and Scientific Papers of A. Gray. 2: 413. 

 See, also. Dr. Bigelow's book on the history of Mt. Au- 

 burn, w. M. 



BIGNONIA (The Abbe Bignon, librarian to Louis 

 XIV.). Bignonidcece. Climbing American shrubs, mostly 

 tropical, of more than 100 species. Fls. mostly large and 

 showy, long-tubular, with a contracted base, 5-lobed or 

 -toothed, 2-lipped limb; perfect stamens 4: seeds winged, 

 in a linear, compressed capsule. 



Bignonias are strong and rapid-growing evergreen 

 greenhouse climbers, requiring considerable space for 

 their best development, such as the roof of a large con- 

 servatory, or the back wall of a lean-to greenhouse. If 

 convenient, they should be planted out under the plant 

 stage of the greenhouse, or otherwise in boxes placed on 

 the stage. A box 5 ft. x 1 li ft. and 1 ft. deep will be found 

 a convenient size for them. As with most greenhouse 

 climbing plants, the roots like considerable freedom; 

 but with Bignonias the roots must be somewhat re- 

 stricted (though not to the limitations of a flower-pot), 

 otherwise an immense growth and few flowers will be 

 the result. They are not very fastidious as to soil. A 

 good, fibrous loam, to which one-third well decomposed 

 cow or sheep manure has been added, suits them admi- 

 rably. A winter temperature of 45° to 50°. with a gradual 

 rise as the days lengthen, should be given them, admit- 

 ting air freely whenever the weather is favorable. They 

 like plenty of moisture at the roots — especially during 

 the spring and summer (the growing season) — but per- 

 fect drainage should be ensured, as the soil at no time 

 must become saturated or sour. Except when in flower, 

 a good syringing on all fine days will be very beneficial. 

 They should also be sprayed once or twice a week with 

 a moderately strong solution of kerosene emulsion, or 

 kerosene and water, to keep them free from mealy bug. 

 as they are very subject to I ],i - im-i. The vines should 

 be trained so as to allow :i I i on of air among 



the branches for the ]in: nig the wood, as 



upon this depends the a--in in. o , r il , ,i ,-rs. All super- 

 fluous branches and weak shooi^ ^honl-l be removed, 

 and before the growing season Im -m^ all iln- branches 

 should be shortened from 1 to ;; U'\. according to 

 their strength ; this will throw tin- em lyy ..I the plant 

 into the lateral buds, which will produce the llowering 

 branches, providing the wood has been properly ripened 

 the previous season. 



Propagation is efl°ected by cuttings taken in late 

 spring and inserted in sand under a bell glass, or in 

 a propagating box, in a warm temperature. Choose, if 

 possible, stout, short-jointed lateral growths for the pur- 

 pose. They must be carefully watered until rooted, 

 which usually takes from 6 to 10 weeks. 



Cult, by Edwakd J. Canning. 

 A. Lvs. simple, opposite. 



mairnliica, Bull. Free-growing and floriferous, need- 

 ing warm treatment : lvs. ovate-elliptic, stalked, entire: 



