BAL 



[109] 



BAN 



very bottom, and the drying completed 

 gradually in the shade. 



BALM OF GILEAD. Dracoce phalum 

 canarie'nse. 



BALSAM APPLE. Momo'rdica balsa- 

 mi'nea. 



BALSAMINA. See Impatiens. 



BALSAMS. By this name are usually 

 known the varieties of the common annual 

 Impatiens balsamina, by some needlessly 

 separated, with a few others, into a se- 

 parate genus, and called Balsamina hor- 



Culture. The chief object in cultiva- 

 ting these are their fine large double 

 flowers ; and, to secure this object, seed 

 should be saved only from the finest 

 plants, and, if the seed is several years 

 old, the plants will be less luxuriant and 

 the blooms will be more double. 



To have them very fine, the seed 

 should be sown in a sweet hot-bed, in 

 the middle of March ; the plants pricked 

 out into small pots when three inches in 

 height, using light rich soil, shifting 

 them again and successively, never al- 

 lowing them to be pot-bound, and plung- 

 ing the pots into a medium temperature 

 of 75, until some time after their last 

 shifting into eight, twelve, or sixteen- 

 inch pots, according as you aim at 

 moderate sized, or very large specimens. 

 Allow, all the time, a current of air, less 

 or more, according to the weather, to 

 keep the plants bushy, and using richer 

 materials every time of potting, until the 

 last soil used may consist of nearly as 

 much very rotten but sweet dung (cow- 

 dung is best), as turfy sandy loam. 



Successions may be sown in April and 

 May, and treated in a similar manner, 

 either for pots or to be turned into beds, 

 where they frequently do well until the 

 middle of October. ^ 



When you cannot accommodate any 

 but the best flowers in the greenhouse, 

 adopt the, following method: After 

 pricking out into three or four-inch pots 

 and plunging them in the bed, allow the 

 pots to get full of roots, keep them drier 

 and cooler, and give plenty of air, which 

 will soon cause flowers to appear ; then 

 select plants with best flowers, rub every 

 flower-bud off them, fresh pot, disen- 

 tangling the roots a little as you proceed, 

 and grow them on as advised above; and 



what you lose in time you will make up 

 in selectness. 



BALSAMODE'NDRON. (From balsamon, 

 balm or balsam, and fondron, a tree. 

 Nat. ord., Amyrids [Amyridacea?]. Linn., 

 S-Octandria \-Monogynia). According to 

 Capt. Harris, Myrrh is obtained on the 

 Abyssinian coast, from a species of this 

 genus, and the Balesson of Bruce, or 

 Balm of Mecca, is the produce of another 

 species of this Balsam-tree. It is a stove 

 tree. Sandy loam and a little rotten 

 dung; cuttings of ripe young wood in 

 April, under a glass and in heat. Sum- 

 mer temp., 60 to 80; winter, 55 to 60. 

 B. zeyla'nicum (Ceylon). 30. Ceylon. 



BALSAM OF CAPE'VI. Copaifera. 



BALSAM TREE. Clusia. 



BAMBU'SA. Bamboo Cane. (From 

 bambos, its Indian name. Nat. ord., 

 Grasses (Graminaceae]. Linn., 6-Hex- 

 andrm, \-monogynia}. The very young 

 shoots of the bamboo are eaten in India 

 as asparagus. Stove perennials. Suckers, 

 in spring or autumn ; rich loam. Sum- 

 mer temp., 60 to 85 ; winter, 55 to 65. 

 B. arista' ta (awned). 20. Apetal. East In- 

 dies. 1824. 



arundina' cea (reed-like). 40. Apetal. East 



Indies. 1730. 



alarfca (milky-green). 20. Apetal. East 



Indies. 1826. 



ni'gra (black). 20. Apetal. East Indies. 



1825. 



pubefscens (downy). 20. Apetal. East In- 



dies. 1826. 



spinoT sa (spiny). 20. Apetal. East Indies. 



1820. 



stri'cta (upright). 20. Apetal. East In- 



dies. 1824. 



verticilla'ta (whorl-flowered). 20. Apetal. 



India. 1803. 



BANA'NA, or Plantain. Mu'sa. 



BANE-BERRY. Actcea. 



BANISTE'RIA. (Named after the Rev, 

 J. Banister, a zealous botanist. Nat. ord., 

 Malpighiads [Malpighiaceae]. Linn., 10- 

 Decandria, 3-trigynia.) Stove plants. 

 Sandy loam and peat ; cuttings of half 

 ripened wood in heat under glass. Sum- 

 mer temp., 60 to 90 ; winter, 60 to 65. 



TWINERS. 

 B. chrysophy'lla (golden-leaved). 



cilia! ta (fringed). 10. Yellow. Brazil. 1796. 



dicMtoma (twin-branched). Yellow. June. 



South America. 1814 



emargina'ta (single-notched). Yellow. June 



West Indies. 1826. 



seri'cea (silky). 6. Yellow. July. Brazil. 



1810. 



