50 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS 



Binding Plants. A name that may be given to 

 such plants, the roots of which are useful for 

 binding the soil on the banks of reservoirs, 

 aqueducts, etc., as well as the loose sand- 

 banks on exposed shores or wastes. Various 

 species of Willows, Raspberries, Blackberries, 

 Vacciniums, and with strong spreading roots, 

 are useful for the former. Alsike Clover is 

 also well suited for this purpose, its long, 

 fibrous roots holding the soil well together. 

 The Bermuda Grass, Cynodon Dactylon, is 

 also exceedingly valuable anywhere south of 

 Virginia, and with Ammophila or Catomagrostis 

 arenaria, is invaluable for binding loose sand 

 on exposed sea-shores and water-courses. (See 

 Ammophila). Ampelopsis Veitchii, the Japan 

 or Boston Ivy, has also been found useful for 

 planting on railroad cuttings and embank- 

 ments to prevent loose rocks from falling on 

 the tracks.. 



Bindweed. A popular name for Convolvulus 

 arvensis. 



Birch. See Betula. 



Bird Cherry. See Cerasus Padua. 



Bird of Paradise. A name applied to the flowers 

 of the Strelitzia Regince, from their supposed 

 resemblance. 



Bird Pepper. Capsicum baccatum. 



Bird's Bill. Trigonella ornithorrhynchus. 



Bird's Foot, or Bird's Foot Trefoil. Lotus corn- 

 iculatus. 



Bird's-nest. Daucus Carota, or Wild Carrot. 



Bird's-nest Pern. Asplenium Nidus. 



Birth-root. Trillium erectum. 



Birth-wort. The genus Aristolochia. 



Bishop's Cap, or Mitre- wort. The genus 

 Mitella. 



Bishop's- wort. Stachys Betonica. 



Bishop-weed. See ^Jgopodium podograria. 



Bismarkia. In honor of the German statesman. 

 An imperfectly-known genus of Palmacece, of 

 which B. nobilis is the only species. It is a 

 very ornamental plant, with the appearance 

 and habit of a Pritchardia. Introduced from 

 Madagascar in 1886. 



Bitter Almond. Amygdalus communis. 



Bitter Apple. Cucumis Colocynthis. 



Bitter Cress. The genus Cardamine. 



Bitter Nut, or Swamp Hickory. Carya amara. 



Bitter Root. Lewisia rediviva. 



Bitter Sweet. A popular name for Celastrus 

 scandens; also applied to Solanum Dulcamara. 



Bitter Vetch. The genus Orobus. 



Bitter Weed. Ambrosia artemisicefolia. 



Bi'xa. Arnatto. Its native South American 

 name. Nat. Ord. Flacourtiacece. 



South American trees, or shrubs, B. Orel- 

 lina, commonly known as the Arnatto tree, 

 is a native of tropical America, the West 

 Indies, Sumatra, and Java, and is much valued 

 because of the coloring matter which is pro- 

 cured from the pulp that surrounds the seeds, 

 and which is an important article of com- 

 merce. It seldom attains to more than twelve 

 feet in height. The leaves are of a deeper 

 green on one side than on the other, and are 

 divided by fibres of a reddish-brown color; 

 they are four inches long, broad at the base, 



BLA 



and tend to a sharp point. The stem has 

 likewise fibres, which, in Jamacia, are con- 

 verted into serviceable ropes. The tree pro- 

 duces oblong, bristled pods, somewhat re- 

 sembling those of a chestnut. These, at first, 

 are of a beautiful rose-color; but, as they 

 ripen, change to a dark-brown, and bursting 

 open, display a splendid crimson farina, or 

 pulp, in which are contained thirty or forty 

 seeds, in shape similar to raisin stones. This 

 pulp is separated by throwing the freshly- 

 gathered seeds into a tub of water, and stir- 

 ring them until the red matter is detached, 

 when it is strained off and evaporated to the 

 consistency of putty. In this state it is made 

 up into rolls, and is ready for market. This 

 drug is used in coloring cheese, butter, and for 

 inferior chocolates. It is also used by silk- 

 dyers ; and by varnish-makers, for imparting 

 a rich orange tint to some kinds of varnish. 



Bixi'iieae, or Bixa'ceae. A name sometimes 



given to the order Flacourtiacece, which see. 

 Black Alder, or Winter-berry. Prinos Verti- 



cillata. 



Black-berry. See Rubus. 

 Black -berry Lily . See Pardanthus. 

 Black Biad-weed. Polygonum Convolvulus. 

 Black Bryony. See Tamus. 

 Black Gum, or Sour Gum. Nyssa multiftora. 

 Black Haw. Viburnum prunifolium. 

 Black Horehound. Balotta nigra. 

 Black Jack, or Barren Oak. Quercus nigra. 

 Black Moss, or Florida Moss. Tillandsia 



uaneoides. 



Black Mustard. See Sinapis nigra. 

 Black Oat Grass. Stipa avenacea. 

 Black Oyster Plant. See Scorzonera His- 



panica. 



Black Pepper. See Piper nigrum. 

 Black Snake Root. Sanicula Marilandica. 

 Black Thorn. Prunus spinosa, also Cratcegus 



tomentosa. 



Black Varnish Tree. Melanorrh&a usitatissima. 

 Bladder-wort. The genus Utricularia. 

 Bladder Catch-fly. Silene inflata. 

 Bladder Nut. Staphylea trifoliata, and S. pin- 

 nata. 



Bladder Senna. Colutea herbacea, and C. ar- 

 borescens. 



Blanching. This process is effected for the 

 purpose of obtaining crispness, and for con- 

 verting what would, under ordinary circum- 

 stances, be a dangerous plant in the case of 

 Celery especially so into a highly popular deli- 

 cacy. Blanching can only be accomplished by 

 entirely excluding the light from the plants, 

 thus depriving the coloring matters of their 

 power to decompose water and carbonic acid 

 gas. 



Blandfo'rdia. Named in honor of George, Mar- 

 quis of Blandford. Nat. Ord. Liliacece. 



Beautiful green-house bulbs from New South 

 Wales. They should be grown in large pots 

 filled with leaf mould, loam and sand, placed 

 in the green-house, and, if properly attended 

 to with water, will flower freely. The flowers 

 are crimson or orange. Introduced In 1812. 

 Propagated by seeds and offsets. 



