B 



BAB 



BABIANA, in Botany, an unexplamed name. Can it 

 allude to the Syrian Venus, Babia ? Or does it acknow- 

 ledge the baler etymology of Pap'w, a Baboon, becaufe 

 thole animals perhaps eat the roots ? ( See the 8th fpecies. ) 

 — Ker in Sims and Kon. Ann. of Bot. v. i. 253. Dryandr. 

 in Ait. Hort. Kew. v. i. 104. — Clafs and order, Trlandria 

 Monogynla. Nat. Ord. Enjate, Linn. Irldes, Jijfl". 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Spatha inferior, large, of two valves ; 

 the inner valve deeply cloven, with an intermediate pellucid 

 membrane. Cor. of one petal, fuperior ; tube funnel- 

 fliaped, longer than the fpatha ; limb fhorter than the tube, 

 in fix deep, ufually regular and nearly equal fegments, 

 fometimes very irregular. Stam. Filaments three, tliread- 

 fhaped, inferted into the mouth of the tube, ereft, much 

 fhorter than the limb ; anthers oblong, incumbent. P'ljl. 

 Germen roundifh ; ftyle thread-fhaped, rather longer than 

 the tube ; ftigmas three, fpreading, obtufe, undivided. 

 Perk. Capfule roundifti-ovate, coriaceous, unequally tumid, 

 of three cells and three valves. Seedj numerous, globofe, 

 pulpy, tapering at the bafe, at length corrugated, a;id 

 deformed by mutual preflure. 



Eff. Ch. Spatha of two valves ; the innermoft deeply 

 divided. Corolla tubular ; limb in fix deep fegments. 

 Stigmas three, fpreading. Seeds pulpy. 



1. B. Thimbergii. Many-fpiked Babiana. Ker n. 2. 

 Ait. n. I. (Antholyza plicata ; Thunb. Prodr. 7. Fl. 

 Cap. V. I. 169. Lmn. Suppl. 96. Willd. Sp. PI. v. i. 

 223.) — Leaves many -ribbed, finely dov/ny as well as tlie 

 ftalks and (heaths. Corolla ringent. — Native of fandy 

 plains neai- the fea, below Vcrlooren Valley, at the Cape of 

 Good Hope, flowering in Oftober. Thunberg. Mr. Maflbn 

 fent this fpecies, in 1774, to Kew, where it flowers in 

 April. Bulb deep in the ground. Leaves radical, equi- 

 tant, acute, with fome principal, yellow, and many inter- 

 mediate green ribs ; minutely downy on both fides, witli 

 foft prominent hairs. Stalk radical, taller than the leaves, 

 a foot high, zigzag, denfely clothed with fine foft hairs, 

 and divided into about half a dozen alternate, fpiked, 

 many-flowered branches. Floiuers crimfon, two inches 

 long, crowded, ereft. 



2. B. ringens. Gaping Babiana. Ker n. i. Ait. 

 n. 2. (Antholyza ripgens ; Linn. Sp. PI. 54. Willd. 

 Sp. PI. V. I. 223. Thunb. Prodr. 7. Fl. Cap. v. i. 167. 

 Gladiolo aethiopico fimilis ; Comm. Hort. v. i. 81. t. 41. 

 Rudb. Elyf. v. 2. 237.) — Leaves many -ribbed, fmooth. 

 Stalk downy. Corolla ringent. — Found in low fandy 

 fields, often by the way fide,- in many places about the 

 Cape of Good Hope, flowering from July to September. 

 I^ot at prefent in the gardens, as far as we could ever learn ; 



2 



BAB 



or at leafl: we never lieard of its flowering. Not fo 

 tall as the preceding, nor fo much branched, but the 

 Jlotxiers are larger and more handfome, remarkabl) widely 

 ringent, with one Jlamen far removed from the other two. 



3. B. nervofa. Four-ribbed Babiana. (Antholyza 

 nervofa ; Thunb. Prodr. 7. Fl. Cap. v. i. 164.) — Leaws 

 fmooth, with four ftrong, prominent ribs. Stalk fmooth. 

 Spike oblong, two-ranked. Corolla ringent. — Native of 

 the Cape of Good Hope. Leaves three or four, acute, 

 fmooth, with four yellowifh, elevated ribs, ereft, about a 

 foot high. Stalk 5s tall as the leaves. Floiuers flefh- 

 coloured, drooping, crowded into an ovate, rather abrupt, 

 fpike ; their lower lip rather the fhortefl:, reflexed. There 

 can furely be no doubt refpefting the genus of this 

 plant. 



4. B. lubiflora. Long-tubed Babiana. Ker n. 3. Ait. 

 n. 3. Ker in Curt. Mag. t. 847. (Gladiolus tubiflorus ; 

 Linn. Suppl. 96. Willd. Sp. Fl. v. i. 219. Thunb. 

 Difl". n. 23. t. 2. f. 2. Fl. Cap. V. I. 210. Jacq. Ic. 

 Rar. t. 266. G. inclinatus ; Redoubt. Liliac. t. 44.) 



/=. Ker in Curt. Mag. t. 680. (G. tubatus ; Jacq. 

 Ic. Rar. t. 264. Willd. Sp. PI. v. i. 219. Redout. 

 Liliac. t. 261. G. longifiorus ; Andr. Repof. t. 5. 



y. Keribid. (G. tubati varietas ; Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 265.) 

 Leaves ribbed, plaited, downy, taller than the downy 

 ftalk. Tube of the corolla flender-clubihaped, thrice as 

 long as the irregular nearly equal limb, whofe upper feg- 

 ment is divaricated. — Native of Svartland, at the Cape of 

 Good Hope, flowering from Auguft to Oftober. The 

 leaves vary greatly in length, but are more or lefs elliptic- 

 oblong, and taller than the oblique Jialk, whole height is 

 from one to ten inches. Spike folitary, fimple. Sheaths 

 lanceolate, downy. CoroUa white, with a crimfon fpot on 

 each of the three lower fegments ; its tube fometimes red- 

 difli, varying in thicknefs, but always about three inches 

 long. 



5. B. fpathacea. Stiff-leaved Babiana. Ker n. 4. Ait. 

 n. 4. Ker in Curt. Mag. t. 638. ( Gladiolus fpathaceus ; 

 Thunb. DifT. n. 25. Fl. Cap. v."i. 208. Linn. Suppl. 96. 

 Willd. Sp. PI. V. I. 221.) — Leaves plaited, rigid, pungent, 

 fomewhat downy. Tube of the corolla thread-ihaped, 

 twice as long as the regular limb. Sheaths tumid, pointed, 

 fmooth. — Found in dry fituations above the Cape of Good 

 Hope, in Bockland, and Hantum, flowering in Oftober 

 and afterwards. Thunberg. Leaves Imear-lanceolate ; thofe 

 of old plants often naked ; their bafe tapering into long 



footjlalks, dilated downward. Stalk varying in height, from 

 four inches to near three feet. Spike many-flov^'ered. 

 Spathas much mflated, with beaked points. Tube very 



flender. 



