AND GENEBAL HOETICULTURE. 



57 



BBO 



Brodiae'a. Named after J. J. Brodie, a Scotch 

 oiyptogamist. Nat. Ord. LiUacecB. 



very curious little bulbous-rooted plants. 

 B. Oalifomica, with blue and white flowers, Is 

 easily cultivated in sandy loam with the con- 

 venience of a green-house or cold frame. 

 Increase is sparingly effected by offsets. Intro- 

 duced in 1848. 



Brome Grrass. See Bromus. 



Bromelia'ceEB. The Pine-apple family. A 

 natural order, consisting of short-stemmed 

 plants, with rigid, channeled, and often scurfy 

 and spiny leaves and showy flowers. They 

 are natives of the American continent and 

 Islands, whence they have been distributed to 

 Africa and the East Indies. Ananaasa saliva, 

 the Pine-apple or Ananas, is one of the best 

 known and most delicious of this or any other 

 order. The fruit is composed of the pistils 

 and bracts of several flowers united into a 

 succulent mass, and crowned by a series of 

 green leaves. The fibers of the plant are 

 used in manufactures. The Pine-apple is 

 grown under glass very successfully in Europe, 

 but the fine condition in which they are 

 received here from Jamaica and other places, 

 makes their culture under glass here unneces- 

 sary. Some of the Bromeliads grow attached 

 to the branches of trees, and are called Air 

 Plants, the best known hero being Tillandaia 

 nsneoides, the Tree Beard of South America. 

 Under the name of Florida Moss it is very 

 largely used for decorative purposes. It is 

 also used for stuffing cushions, etc., under 

 the name of Spanish Moss, Black Moss, or 

 Long Moss. There are twenty-eight known 

 genera, and 176 species of this order. Brom- 

 elia, Anana88a, Bilbergia, JEchmea, and Til- 

 ~land8ia, are examples of the order. The 

 bracts of some of the species are exceedingly 

 beautiful. 



Bro'tnns. Brome Grass. So called from bro- 

 moa, the Greek name for a wild oat. Nat. Ord. 

 Qraminacem. 



A genus of poor, coarse-growing grasses, of 

 little use in agriculture, and of little beauty. 

 This is the pest of the farmer, to which he 

 applies a significant and a justly proper 

 name. Cheat or Chess. However much it may 

 cheat the farmer by crowding out Wheat and 

 Eye, we cannot excuse him for cheating him- 

 self with the absurd delusion, so widely preva- 

 lent, that his Wheat has turned into Chess, 

 from some cause which cannot be explained. 

 The species are annuals, and the seed will 

 remain a long time in the ground, and germi- 

 nate only when the conditions of growth are 

 favorable. It is a native of Europe, though 

 naturalized in many places in this country. 

 B. Schroederi, Rescue Grass, or Australian 

 Prairie Grass, is a valuable forage grass, 

 remarkable for the rapidity of its growth and 

 its productiveness. As soon as the first cut- 

 ting is made a new growth shoots up, and this 

 can be repeated sometimes four or five times 

 during the season, providing it is cut before 

 the seed matures. It thrives in almost any 

 soil, but is better adapted to that which is wet 

 or moist. 



Brongnia'rtia. Named in honor of Brongmmi, 

 a French botanist. Nat. Ord. Legvminoam. 



A valuable and rather scarce plant, having 

 flesh-colored flowers. It should be treated as 



BRO 



a green-house shrub, potting it in loam and 

 sand. A native of New Spain, introduced in 

 1827. 



Brook Iiimc. Veronica Becabunga. 

 American. Veronica Americana. 



Brook Mint. Mentha hirsuta. 



Brook Weed or Water Pimpernel. The popu- 

 lar name of Samolus, a common plant in wet 

 or marshy places. 



Broom. A name applied to Gytiaua or Saroth- 

 amnus acopa/rius, and also to Lygeum Spa/rtum, 

 African Broom is a common name for Aspa- 

 lathua. Butcher's Broom is Ruscaa avuleoiua, 

 and is also a common name for Rtiscus. Dyer's 

 Broom is Geniata tinctoria. New Zealand 

 Broom is Carmichaelia auslralis. Rush Broom 

 is a common name for Viminaria; it is also 

 applied to Spartiumjuncewn. Spanish Broom 

 is Spartiumjimcevm. Broom Corn is Sorghwm, 

 vulgare, the branched panicles of which are 

 made into carpet brooms and clothes brushes. 



Broom GrasB. Andropogon scopariua. 



Broom Rape. A popular name of the genus 

 OrobaTiche. 



Broom Weed. Oorchorus ailiquoaua. 



Bro'simum. Bread Nut. From brosimoa, good 

 to eat; the fruit being edible. Nat. Ord. 

 ArtocarpacecB. 



A small genus of tall-growing trees, natives 

 of the West Indies and South America, where 

 they are highly esteemed for the food obtained 

 from them, and for the valuable timber they 

 furnish. B. Alicastrum is the Bread-nut Tree 

 of Jamaica, the fruit of which is about an Inch 

 in diameter, and contains a single seed or nut, 

 which is said to form an agreeable and nour- 

 ishing article of food. When boUed or roasted 

 the nuts have the taste of hazel-nuts. Snake- 

 wood or Leopard-wood is the heart-wood of 

 one of the species, B. Aubktti, a native of 

 Trinidad and British Guiana. B. galacloden- 

 dron, which is the celebrated Cow Tree of 

 South America, yields a milk of as good qual- 

 ity as that from the cow. It forms large for- 

 ests on the seacoast of Venezuela, growing 100 

 or more feet high, with a smooth trunk six to 

 eight feet in diameter. Its milk, which is 

 obtained by making incisions in the trunk, so 

 closely resembles the milk of the cow, both in 

 appearance and quality, that it is commonly 

 used as an article of food by the inhabitants 

 of the localities where the tree abounds. 

 Unlike most other vegetable milks, it is per- 

 fectly wholesome, and very nourishing, pos- 

 sessing an agreeable taste, like that of sweet 

 cream, and a balsamic odor ; its only unpleas- 

 ant quality being a slight amount of stickiness. 

 Like 'animal milk, it quickly forms a yellow, 

 cheesy scum on the surface, and after a few 

 days turns sour and putrefies. 



Broughto'nia. Named after Mr. Broughton, an 

 English botanist. Nat. Ord. OrcMdacece. 



A small genus of very handsome West 

 Indian Orchids, somewhat resembling the 

 LceUa and Oattleya. They commonly grow on 

 bushes in Cuba and Jamaica. The flowers are 

 crimson and produced from the top of the 

 pseudo-bulb during the symmer, and are of 

 long duration. They are of easy culture, 

 growing best on blocks of wood, and should 

 have plenty of light and sun. Propagated by 

 division. Introduced in 1824. 



