1G4 



BISMARCKIA 



BISMAECKIA (in honor of Prince Bismarck). Pal- 

 vidceie, tribe Bordssece. A penus nearly related to La- 

 tania and Borassus, distinguished by fruit characters. 

 Forms a tree 200 ft. high, with a gigantic crown of pal- 

 mate Ivs. with white streaked petioles and blades 10 

 ft. in diam. : fr. borne in large, drooping clusters, dark 

 brown, plum-like, IJ^in. in diara., with a thin outer 

 one enclosing a rounded, 

 ., n-tiiniliited likf a walnut 

 (nil- L'. Cult. :i ■ fnr [.atania. 



shell and a fibroui 

 wrinkled seed 1 in. in <1 

 and ruminated, as in thr 

 ndbUis.Hildeb. &W.n 

 vex on the back, chaniu 1 

 ridges above, thinly clni i 

 half as long as the blade 

 segments 20, 2 



BLACKBERRY 



wild fruit from the earliest times, the Blackberry has 

 only recently made its appearance among the more 

 orderly and promising garden fruits. The type species 

 is liitbiis nigrobaccii.1, although it has long been known 



under the name J,;ih„.s r,ll.:<„.s (see Ji'iihiis). It is a 



i.nthe 



indii 



ele l,lue-f,M,-.-i.. rr^id, 3 ft. 



ide, 1 ft. long, apex blunt, 

 obtuse, with a long curved filament from the base of 

 each sinus. Madagascar. G.F. 6:2-16. F.K. 2:257. 

 Gt. 1221. j^KED G. Smith. 



BITTEE-SWEET. See Celaatrus and Solauum. 



BtXA (South American name). BixAcem. A genus 

 of two species of tropical trees with large, entire Ivs. 

 and showy fls. in terminal panicles. B. Orellana is cult. 

 in the E. and W. Indies for the Annatto dye which is 

 prepared from the orange-red pulp that covers the seeds. 

 It is the coloring matter chiefly used in butter and 

 cheese. It is also used in dyeing silks, and preparing 

 chocolate. 



Orell&na, Linn. Height 30 ft. : Ivs. cordate : fls. pink- 

 ish. B.M. 1456.— It is rarely grown in northern green- 

 houses as an ornamental. Cuttings taken from a flower- 

 ing plant will produce flowering plants of a convenient 

 size. Plants from seed usually flower less freely, and 

 must attain a greater size before flowering. 



BLACKBEEET. A name applied to various species 

 of Rubufs, of which the receptacle remains with the 

 drupelets when fruit is picked. As a commercial fruit. 

 It is known only in America. Although a well-known 



grow tall aud upright, the le; 

 finely serrate and taper po 

 long, leafless and open, with 

 ing almost at riL'lit anL'les ti 



fruit 

 r (lull 

 The 



in color, ■. ! : ; 



Taylor is i li,.' i.. -i ,. .... • i, ■ 



(2) The\Vl,:i> l:r,~'\i. ,r.. /,■ „ ,,,,„,,,., .xar.albitius. 

 Similar to the al)..ve, hut witli nearly round, yellowish 

 green canes and pinkish cream- or amber-colored fruit. 

 Many varieties of this type have been introduced, but 

 none have attained prnmineneo. (3) The Short-Cluster 



Blackberrii , /,', r " - - ' -ir. -•'■r.,,. This is the 



commoie . , , 1 |;i I I ,.■,-, ;ni,i includes 



such vail I : vL-awam (Fig. 



2.^7). Ill • , ,: :, hut leafless, 



the peiiii i , ._ , .:;■. it _.__- -iiait r aud rounder, 



L'l' I- ilniiM.-lets large and irregularly set. 



'I": i riiader, coarsely and unevenly serrate, 

 <" I ' - tapering at the point. (4) The Leafy- 

 (i I riiKS, S. argulus. This is a lower and 

 1" I I I I I Ml, with narrow, coarsely toothed, light- 

 ■ mil short cluster, having simple leaves 

 iiii i ;ili the flowers. Its best common repre- 

 Miiiiii' I- 111' lOarly Harvest. (5) The Loose-Cluster 

 Blaiklieiries.ii'. „ir/ro6acr».9xiw7?r.,s»,<. This is a prroup 

 of hybrid origin, being interiinili.iie lietw. n the Biaek- 

 berry and dewberry (see v. m'" //■/ 1. I'le- |i|aiits liave 

 a low, spreading habit of l'1"\viIi. IumhI jair^'ed and 

 notched leaves, slmrt dewh. ri\ lii.e .lii-it r>, ^\ ith lart;e, 

 roundish fruii -. di i.|. m. d ■ . ■ , 1 m ■. . I elv set drupe- 

 lets. The I. .. w , , . ; \ - ,. J . ,,■ are its best 

 known repi. i',: > I _' , '. in. Sand Black- 

 berry, ^i'. . ■.!;.. -/■■.' ■ i I'll-. _':::i . .\ ~i ir.lv little shrub, 

 armed with vicious recurved thorns, with thickish, 

 wedge-shaped leaflets, whitened woolly beneath. The 

 clusters are few-flowered, opening from the center out- 

 ward, the fruit roundish, loose-grained, very black and 

 Known in cultivation only as the Topsy, or Tree 

 Blackberry. (7) There is still another type of Black- 

 berry, known as the Thomless cr Mountain Blackberry 

 (M. Canadensis), but it is not in cultivation. This is 

 characterized by smooth, unarmed canes, narrow, sharp- 

 pointed leaflets, the upper ones borne on long, slender 

 leaf-stalks, an open flower-cluster, a short, roundish, 

 glossy black fruit, with large drupelets. It ripens later 

 than the common Blackberry, and is not so good in 

 quality. For further account of the Blackberry tribes, 

 see Bailey, Evolution of Our Native Fruits. 



The llrst Blackberry introduced into cultivation was 

 the Dorchester, which was exhiliited before the Massa- 



ih.uoleilly tlie most widely 

 it day. This, like many com- 

 if poor quality, but extremely 

 IP rapid strides made by the 

 .nive that a place was ready 

 M. I ,.. h;il world, a place which 



1 to fill, owing both to 

 - I I and to its ability to 



pes. At the present 

 ! '" 1 1 : 1 1 1 1 . most generally liked 



II iiliii"st all soils, but to reach 

 _■ I .am. retentive of moisture 

 ■aihir than sand. Soil must 

 s. if too rich in humus and 

 rd a rank growth of plant, 

 ess, appears, while a light, 

 • the fruit through periods of 



