164 



BISMARCKIA 



BISMARCKIA (in honor of Prince Bismarck). Pul- 

 m&cere, tribe Bordssece. A genus nearly related to La- 

 tania and Borassus. distiaguished 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, IM in. in diam., with a thin outer 

 shell and a fibrous inner one enclosing a rounded, 

 wrinkled seed 1 in. in diam., reticulated like a walnut 

 and ruminated, as in the nutmeg. Cult, as for Latania. 



n6bilis, Hildeb. & Wendl. Young plants : petiole con- 

 Tex on the back, channelled above, finely serrate on the 

 ridges above, thinly clothed with tufts of fibrous scales, 

 half as long as the blade ; blade blue-green, rigid, 3 ft. 

 in diam. ; segments 20, 2 in. wide, 1 ft. long, apex blunt, 

 obtuse, with a long curved filament from the base of 

 each sinus. Madagascar. G.F. 6:246. F.R. 2:257. 

 <5t. 1221. Jared G. Smith. 



BITTEK-SWEET. See Celastrus and Sotaimm. 



BlXA (South American name). Bixclcem. 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. 



BLACKBEEKY. A 



of Rubus. of which t 

 drupelets when fruit i 

 ■ ' " Iv in A 



BLACKBERRY 



wild fruit from the earliest times, the Blackberry has 



only r titlv iii'i'l.- iti- rippparance among the more 



onl.'i ..,,1 -,r,, ,,,,,!, . Li'liii fruits. The type species 

 is /." ' I urh it has long been known 



unMi I // '.MIS (see Bubus). It is a 



must \.inii.!. -[M . ;,^ , ;in,| I lu* niuuber of foHus which 

 may be n-i'(,giiizi-d di-pends only upon the judgment of 

 the botanist who is reviewing them. There are several 

 distinct types or groups in cultivation. (1) The Long- 

 Cluster Blackberries. Ruhnx niiimhnreus. The plants 

 growtall and upright, tl). ]■ ill. i - .m l..ii';-stalked. rather 

 flnely serrate and t:i|i. i I' i- tlower cluster is 



long, leafless and oiM-t I. liual flowers stand- 



ing almost at right ; 

 is normally ol)]( 

 in color, with il 

 Taylor is on.- - 

 (2) The Whit.- 

 Similar to th.- 

 green canes :ni 

 Many varieti.-^ 

 none have att:.i 

 Blackberries. 1 

 commonest fori 

 such varieties s 



- I-. il - . . ii,r,,lstem. The fruit 

 iii.i.l- -,,;.|.. -I. -«-.-.-t, r;ither dull 

 -1,1^,11 :,n.l .L.-Iv ,,-,.-k.-d. The 

 -t 1-. |. ]■-•-. -ni;in\ i~ i.r iliis class. 

 r\. I,\ ,1. .jr. ■!■'!• •, IS, wu-.albinus. 

 tit H iih ii.-;irly r..iiii.l, yellowish 

 I rT-.aiu-or amber-colored fruit. 

 1 . |M have been introduced, but 

 .ui,.-ii.-e. (3) The Short-Cluster 

 ... . i,.s-. var. sativus. This is the 

 iv;ited Blackberry, and includes 

 vder, Lawton and Agawam (Fig. 

 237). In this type the clusters are shorter, but leafless, 

 the pedicels more oblique, the fruits shorter and rounder, 

 glossy black, the drupelets large and irregularly set. 

 The leaflets are broader, coarsely and unevenly serrate, 

 or jagged and less tapering at the point. (4) The Leafy- 

 Cluster Blackberries, -ffi. argutus. This is a lower and 

 more bushy form, with narrow, coarsely toothed, light- 

 colored leaflets and short cluster, having simple leaves 

 intermingled with the flowers. Its best common repre- 

 sentative is the Early Harvest. (5) The Loose-Cluster 

 Blackberries, B. nigrobaccus xvillostis . This is a group 

 of hybrid origin, being intermediate between the Black- 

 berry and dewberry (see Dewberry). The plants have 

 a low, spreading habit of growth, broad jagged and 

 notched leaves, short dewberry-like clusters, with large, 

 roundish fruits, made up of very large, loosely set drupe- 

 lets. The Early Wilson and Wilson Junior are its best 

 known representatives (Pig. 238). (6) The Sand Black- 

 berry, B. ciineifoliiis (Fig. 239). A sturdy 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 

 good Known m cultivation only as the Topsy, or Tree 

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

 berry, known as the Thomless cr Mountain Blackberry 

 { li Canadensis), but it is not in cultivation. This is 

 ( haratterized by smooth, unarmed canes, narrow, sharp- 

 jiiinttd leaflets, the upper ones borne on long, slender 

 I if stilks an open flower-cluster, a short, roundish, 

 _1 ss^ I I K k fruit, with large drupelets. It ripens later 

 tl in the I- Mnraon Blackberry, and is not so good in 

 lu^lltJ lor further account of the Blackberry tribes, 

 sit, Bailej, Evolution of Our Native Fruits. 



The first Blackberry introduced into cultivation was 

 the Dorchester, which was exhibited before the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society in 1841. This was fol- 

 lowed by the Lawton a few years later, which became 

 much more prominent. The Kittatinny soon divided hon- 

 ors with this, and both now largely have given place to 

 the Snyder, which is undoubtedly the most widely 

 grown variety of the present day. This, like many com- 

 mercial fruits, is a variety of poor quality, but extremely 

 hardy and productive. The rapid strides made by the 

 Blackberry in cultivation prove that a place was ready 

 ;. ti.l waiting for it in the pomological world, a place which 

 t lias proved itself eminently fitted to fill, owing both to 

 ' - ilesirable qualities in general and to its ability to 

 i;i].id!y vary and develop new types. At the present 

 I line it is one of the most important, most generally liked 

 and most profitable bush-fmits grown. 



The Blackberry thrives on almost all soils, but to reach 

 perfection demands a strontr l..am. retentive of moisture 

 and tending toward clay rather than sand. Soil must 

 be well drained at all times. If too rich in humus and 

 nitrogen, a tendency toward a rank growth of plant, 

 with diminished fruitfulness, appears, while a light, 

 sandy soil wiU fail to carry the fruit through periods of 



