BLF 



[ 137 ] 



BLO 



B. Parkin so' ni (Parkinson's). 1. Rose. Ja- 

 nuary. Mexico. 1838. 



rcflc'j-a (bent-back-s^aterf). 2. Purple 



green. Mexico. 



sccrf nda (second). Green crimson. Mexico. 



1840. 



verccu'nda (modest). 3. Purple. March. 



West Indies. 1733. 



Shcphtfrdii (Shepherd's). 2. 



Purple and yellow. January. Ja- 

 maica. 1825. 



BLI'GHIA BA'PIDA. The Akec Tree, 

 the berry of which is so much esteemed 

 in the West Indies. It was named after 

 Captain Bligh, the introducer of the 

 bread-fruit from the Society Islands. 

 It is now united to Cupania. 



BLIND PLANTS frequently occur in the 

 cabbage and others of the brassica tribe. 

 They are plants which have failed to 

 produce central buds ; and as these are 

 produced from the central vessels, if the 

 top of their stems be cut away, they 

 usually emit lateral or side buds from 

 the edge of the wound. See Barren 

 Plants. 



BLISTERED LEAVES. See Peach. 



BLIGHT* See Blast. 



BLI'TUM. The Strawberry Blite, or 

 Spinach, is scarcely worth growing. B. 

 capita' turn, B. vir get turn, and -3. mari'tum, 

 are sometimes cultivated. 



BLOOD. See Animal Matters. 



BLOOD-FLOWER. Jfama'nthus. 



BLOOD-WORT. Sanguina 'ria. 



BLOOM, or BLOSSOM, is the popular 

 name for the flowers of fruit-bearing 

 plants. 



The organs of fruitfulness are abso- 

 lutely necessary for the production of 

 seeds, and are always producible by 

 garden plants properly cultivated. They 

 may bo deficient in leaves, or stems, or 

 roots, because other organs may sup- 

 ply their places; but plants are never 

 incapable of bearing flowers and seeds, 

 for without these they can never fully 

 attain the object of their creation, the 

 increase of their species. Of course, we 

 exclude the mushroom, and others of 

 which the seed-producing parts are ob- 

 scure. 



Most flowers are composed of the 

 following parts, viz. : The calyx, which 

 is usually green and enveloping the 

 flower whilst in the bud; the corolla, 

 or petals, leaves so beautifully coloured, 

 and so delicate in most flowers; the 



stamens, or male portion of tho flower, 

 secreting the pollen or impregnating 

 powder; the pistils or female portion, 

 impregnatable by the pollen, and render- 

 ing fertile the seeds; and, lastly, the 

 pericarp, or seed-vessel. 



The stamens can be removed without 

 preventing the formation of fertile seed, 

 but their loss must be supplied by the 

 application to the pistils of pollen from 

 some kindred flower. 



The calyx is not useless so soon as it 

 ceases to envelope and protect the flower, 

 for the flower stalk continues increasing 

 in size until the seed is perfected, but 

 ceases to do so in those plants whose 

 calyces remain long green if these be 

 removed; on the other hand, in the 

 poppy and other flowers, from which the 

 calyx falls early, the flower stalk does 

 not subsequently enlarge. 



The corolla or petals, with all their 

 varied tints and perfumes, have more 

 important offices to perform than thus to 

 delight the senses of mankind. Those 

 bright colours and their perfumed honey 

 serve to attract insects, which are the 

 chief and often essential assistants of 

 impregnation; and those petals, as ob- 

 served by Linnaeus, serve as wings, giv- 

 ing a motion assisting to effect the same 

 important process. But they have occa- 

 sionally a still more essential office, for 

 although they are sometimes absent, yet 

 if removed from some of those possessing 

 them, the subsequent processes are not 

 duly performed. 



The corolla is not always short lived, 

 as in the cistus, for some continue until 

 the fruit is perfected. The duration of 

 the petals, however, is in some way con- 

 nected with the impregnation of the seed, 

 for in most flowers they fade soon after 

 this is completed ; and double flowers, in 

 which it occurs not at all, are always 

 longer enduring than single flowers of 

 the same species. Then again, in some 

 flowers, they become green and perform 

 the function of leaves after impregnation 

 has been effected. A familiar example 

 occurs in the Christmas rose (Helleborus 

 niger,} the petals of which arc white, but 

 which become green so soon as the seeds 

 have somewhat increased in size, and 

 the stamens and other organs connected 

 with fertility have fallen off. 



