BABIANA (said to come from Dutch for baboon, be- 

 cause those animals eat the bulbs). Iriddcece. About 

 50 cormous plants of S. Afr. Fls. showy, red or purplish, 

 in a short spike-like cluster or raceme, tubular at the 

 base, the segments with claws or narrow bases, and the 

 limb erect-spreading : ovary 3-loculed : Ivs. narrow, 

 hairy, plaited, standing edgewise to the stem. Low 

 plants, of e*asy culture if treated like freesias or hya- 

 cinths. Three or 4 corms in a 4-in. pot give attractive 

 bloom in March or later. Grown only indoors or under 

 frames in the N. They are showy and useful plants. 

 Monogr. by Baker in Handbook of the Iridese, 1892. 



A. Perianth limb regular or nearly so, and wide- 

 spreading. 



stricta, Ker. (S. villosa, and B. purpurea, Ker.). 

 Fig. 177. A foot or less high: Ivs. broad, oblong-lanceo- 

 late or sword-shaped, barely reaching the spikes : fls. 

 scattered, showy, usually red or purple, with a promi- 

 nent tube, the segments oblong-lanceolate. B.M. 583, 

 621. Babianas are not sold under species-names in this 



177. Babiana stricta (X %). 



country, but as mixed varieties.' These varieties are 

 chiefly, if not wholly, of this species. Many forms and 

 colors. Var. angustifdlia, Sweet. Lvs. linear. B.M. 

 637. Var. rubro-cyanea, Ker. Limb lilac, throat red. 

 B.M. 410. Var. sulphurea, Ker. Yellow or whitish. 

 B.M. 1053. Two other long-cultivated types are de- 

 scribed below. 



AA. Perianth limb distinctly ringent or gaping. 

 plicata, Ker. Low : Ivs. lanceolate, hairy, usually 

 overtopping the spikes : fls. lilac or red, long-tubed, the 

 segments oblong and unequal. B.M. 576. 



disticha, Ker. Differs from the last in having the 

 perianth-tube distinctly exserted from the spathe. 



L. H. B. 

 BABY'S BEEATH. See OypsopMla. 



BACCHAEIS (bakkaris, an ancient Greek name). 

 CompdsitcR. GROUNDSEL TREE. Shrubs or herbs : Ivs. 

 alternate, usually serrate, deciduous or persistent: heads 

 of fls. small, white or yellowish, dioecious ; involucre with 

 many imbricate scales: akenes with pappus. About 250 

 species in America, mostly in tropical regions. A few 

 species are cultivated particularly for the snow-white 

 pappus, which gives the fruiting plant a very showy 

 appearance. They grow in almost any well drained soil 

 in a sunny position, and are well adapted for dry and 

 rocky slopes, and valuable for seashore planting. Prop, 

 by seeds or by cuttings under glass. 



halimifdlia, Linn. Shrub, 3-12 ft.; branches angular: 

 Ivs. cuneate, oblong or obovate, coarsely toothed, the up- 

 permost entire, glabrous, 1-2 in. long: fls. in large pani- 

 cles : pappus white, about %in. long. Sept. Seacoast, 

 from N. Eng. southward. Gng. 7: 113. The hardiest 

 species ; in fruit resembling a shrub with abundant 

 snow-white fls. 



B. Patagonica, Hook. & Arn. Low evergreen shrub : Ivs. 

 %-%in. long: heads mostly axillary. Patag. B. piluldris, DC. 

 Height 6 ft.; evergreen: Ivs. 1 in. long: heads in racemose pani- 

 cles. Pacific coast. -B. salicifolia, Torr. & Gray. Allied to B. 

 halimifolia. Lvs. narrow-oblong or linear-lanceolate. Colo, to 



ALFRED REHDER. 



BACHELOR'S BUTTONS. See Centaurea Cyanus, 

 Gomphrena globosa and Ranunculus acris. 



B ACTRIS (Greek, baktron, cane ; the young stems used 

 for walking-sticks). Palmdcece, tribe Cocoinece. Usually 

 low palms, very rarely entirely spineless, with solitary or 

 fasciculate ringed, spiny or smooth caudices, sprouting 

 from the roots : Ivs. terminal or scattering, equally or 

 unequally pinnatisect, glabrous or pubescent; segments 

 sparse or aggregated, or more or less imperfectly con- 

 nate, forming a bifid blade, acute or rarely obtuse at the 

 apex, the ciliate margins recurved at the base ; petiole 

 short or long; sheath long, spiny ; spadices sessile or pe- 

 dunculate, perforating the leaf -sheaths ; spathes 2, the 

 lower short, open at the apex, the upper coriaceous 

 or woody, exceeding the spadix, or fusiform, ventrally 

 dehiscent, smooth, bristly or spiny ; bracts persistent : 

 fls. small or medium, pale yellow or greenish: fr. small, 

 green, ovoid or globose. Species, about 100. Tropical 

 America. Ornamental, but little grown on account of 

 the spines. See Palms. 



A. Spines yellow, tipped black. 



pallidispina, Mart. (B. flavisplna, Hort, ) . St. 10-18 ft. 

 high, 1-2 in. in diam., the internodes spiny: Ivs. showy, 

 5-9 ft. long, equally interruptedly pinnatisect ; petiole 

 4-6 ft., brown-scaly, thickly covered with very long 

 (%-2%in.), black-tipped yellow spines, either solitary or 

 in groups of 2-4 ; segments linear-lanceolate, caudate- 

 acuminate, prickly on the margins, the basal ones 2-8 In. 

 long, l%in. wide, the upper, 12 in. by l%in. Brazil. 



AA. Spines black. 

 B. Lf. -segments acute at both ends. 



major, Jacq-. St. 9-15 ft. high, 1-l^in. in diam., armed 

 with rows of black spines, 2 in. long: petiole armed with 

 very long black, terete spines ; Ivs. 4-6 ft. long, equally 

 pinnatisect nearly to the rachis ; sheath and rachis spiny 

 and white or brown tomentose ; segments linear, acute 

 at both ends, 25-35 on each side, 1-nerved, 8-12 in. long, 

 %-/<2vn. wide, glabrous on both sides, densely setose, 

 with black hairs along the margin. Brazil, 



(124) 



