AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



59 



BRY 



that, after proceeding in one course for some 

 distance, the tendril suddenly changes to an 

 opposite direction. The male and female 

 flowers are in separate clusters ; sometimes, 

 though not always, they are on different 

 plants. The plant has a fetid odor, and pos- 

 sesses acrid, emetic and purgative properties, 

 and from its elegant appearance in autumn, 

 with its brilliant colored fruit, accidents not 

 unfrequently occur to children and others, 

 incautiously tasting the fruit, which is an 

 active poison. Singularly enough, the young 

 shoots may be cooked and eaten with impu- 

 nity. When served up in the same manner as 

 Asparagus, they are said to equal it in flavor. 

 Many of the species are not poisonous, and 

 are much valued for their medicinal prop- 

 erties. 



Bryono'psis laciniosa, is a beautiful cucurbi- 

 taceous annual climber with palmately, five- 

 cleft leaves, yellow flowers and very pretty 

 fruit about the size of a cherry, green marbled 

 with white. It was introduced from Ceylon 

 in 1710. It is now placed under Bryonia, by 

 some authors. 



Bry'ony. See Bryonia. 



Bryophy'llum. So named from bryo, to grow, 

 and phyllon, a leaf ; in reference to the circum- 

 stances of the leaf, when laid upon damp earth, 

 emitting roots, whence arise young plants. 

 Nat. Ord. CrassulacecB. 



B. calycinum, a species common in the 

 green-house, is a native of India. When in 

 flower it is quite handsome, producing loose 

 panicles of drooping, greenish-purple flowers. 

 It is very easily grown. 



Buchu, Bucha or Buka. A name applied in 

 South Africa to the leaves of several species 

 of Barosma. 



Buchne'ra. A syn. for Stephandra. 



Buckbean. The common name of a plant 

 belonging to the Gentian family, Menyanthes 

 trifoliata, common in wet places and of little 

 interest. 



Buckeye. See 



Bucklandia. Named after Dr. Buckland, a pro- 

 fessor of geology at Oxford. Nat. Ord. Ham- 

 amelidacece. 



B. Populnea, the only species in cul- 

 tivation, is one of the most beautiful trees 

 of the forests of the Sikkim Himalayas at an 

 elevation of 4,000 to 6,000 feet. It attains a 

 height of one hundred feet, with a cylindrical 

 trunk, and oblong crown of evergreen foliage. 

 The leaves are orbicular-cordate and may be 

 likened to those of a Dioscorea, being when 

 young of a rosy purple color with golden-green 

 veins. Introduced in 1875. 



Buckthorn. See Rhamnus. 



Buck-wheat. Fagopyrum esculentum. The com- 

 mon Buckwheat is a native of Central Asia, 

 and has long been under cultivation. It is 

 more extensively grown as an article of food 

 in this country than in any other, Buckwheat 

 cakes being purely an American institution. 

 It thrives on a poor soil that would not sustain 

 many other plants, and give a fair yield. Of 

 the improvement in the quality of this grain 

 from its native wild state we have no record. 

 There are several varieties grown, but the 

 quality depends largely upon soil and climate. 

 The Japanese Buckwheat lately introduced has 



proved to be a great improvement 011 the 

 ordinary sorts, tha kernels being at least 

 twice the size of any other variety, peculiar in 

 shape, and of a rich dark shade of brown in 

 color. Flour made from it is equal in quality, 

 if not superior to any other sort. It is 

 enormously productive, yielding two or three 

 times as much as any other sort, both in grain 

 and straw. 



Buckwheat Tree. Cliftonia (Mylocaryum) ligus- 

 trina. 



Budding. This is the practice in use of placing 

 a bud of one variety of plant on another. The 

 shoot or stock to be budded upon must always 

 be in a thrifty, growing state, so that the bark 

 can be raised freely from the wood, and the 

 bud to be inserted must be in such a sta.te 

 that it shows prominently at the axil of the 

 leaf. Select a smooth portion of the stem of 

 the shoot to be budded upon, strip it of leaves 

 (or thorns, if any) sufficient to allow room for 

 the operation ; then make a cut through the 

 bark to the wood in length sufficient to admit 

 the bud, with a cross cut at the top. Above 

 this cross cut make a slight sloping cut in the 

 bark, about a quarter of an inch in length, 

 so as to admit the easy insertion of the bud. 

 This custom is not general, but it will be 

 found to be easier, and, we think, safer. Next 

 take the shoot from which the bud to be 

 inserted is to be cut, and selecting such as 

 have the properly developed condition of bud, 

 cut it from the shoot about half an inch on 

 each side of the bud, just deep enough to get 

 about as much thickness of the wood as the 

 bark. If the portion of the shoot from which 

 the bud is taken is well ripened, it is best to 

 separate the wood from the bark ; but if not, 

 it will do quite as well not to remove it, but 

 insert the bud in the stock just as it is cut. 

 The edges of the cut in the stock are lifted 

 and slightly pressed outward by the point of 

 the buuding-knfte, the bud inserted, and 

 pushed down by the ivory handle. To keep 

 the bud in place it is wrapped neatly round 

 with any soft tying material, the fiber known 

 as Raphia being the best. In two or three 

 weeks after the bud has been put in it will be 

 safe to remove the tying. All shoots starting 

 below the bud must be rubbed off as soon as 

 they start, and when the bud begins to grow, 

 the portion of the stock above the graft must 

 be cut off, so that the inserted bud may get 

 the full benefit of growth. 



Buddle'ia. Named after A. Buddie, an English 

 botanist. Nat. Ord. ScrophulariacecB. 



An extensive genus of herbaceous plants, 

 shrubs, and low-growing trees. Leaves oppo- 

 site and thickly covered with hairs. The 

 flowers of some of the species are very beauti- 

 ful and fragrant; they are mostly small, bright 

 orange, purplish or lilac, and arranged in 

 small globular heads, on long peduncles. 

 They are natives of South America, Mexico, 

 Africa, and tropical Asia. Some of the species 

 are half-hardy, and would be likely to succeed 

 well, south of Washington. 



Buffalo Berry. Missouri. Shepherdia argentea. 



Buffalo Grass, or Buffalo Clover. See ZVt- 



folium. 



Buffalo Nut. Pyrularia oleifera. 

 Bugle. See Ajuga reptans. 



