babe] 



€§z Crea^urg at 3Bntang. 



114 



an Vtgst which are situated, principally in 

 the axils of the leaves, the organs of fruc- 

 tification. These are twofold:— 1. Thin 

 membranous sacs hearing on a short cylin- 

 drical axis, springing from the base, sti- 

 pitate globose cysts, filled with angular 

 bodies, which are furnished either with 

 curious arrow-headed or root-like appen- 

 dages. These armed granules are doubtless 

 theantheridia, though their spermatozoids 

 have not yet been discovered. 2. Ovate 

 sporangia, divided within by a transverse 

 partition, which incloses below, agrumous 

 or at length pulverulent mass, and gives 

 off from its centre above a column fringed 

 at the apex with a tuft of hair, and having 

 attached to it from three to nine dependent 

 spores, which are at length exposed by the 

 separation of the upper half of the sporan- 

 gium at the above-mentioned partition. 

 The species occur from Australia and New 

 Zealand as far as New York. One has been 

 found in Western Africa by Vogel. It has 

 been supposed that the differences in the 

 antheridia and the number of spores, 

 accord with the geographical distribution 

 of the species, which may accordingly be 

 separated into two genera ; but this is at 

 present more than doubtful. [M. J. B.] 



BABEER. A Syrian name for Papyrus. 



BABIANA. A genus of bulbous-tu- 

 berous Iridacew, found in South Africa, 

 and having two-ranked sword-shaped pli- 

 cately-nerved leaves, and flower-stems ter- 

 minated by a loose subsecund or two 

 ranked spike of flowers, which consist of a 

 funnel-shaped tube, with a dilated throat, 

 and a six-parted regular or somewhat 

 two-lipped limb of nearly equal segments ; 

 they are furnished with three stamens, 

 and the three-celled many-ovuled ovary is 

 terminated by a filiform style, dividing at 

 top into three conduplicate wedge-tongue- 

 shaped undivided stigmas. The flowers 

 are large and showy, and in some of the 

 species sweet-scented. There are upwards 

 of thirty species, many of which have been 

 in cultivation in this country, and some are 

 still occasionally met with, but, like many 

 others, they have been undeservedly ne- 

 glected in the rage for novelties which 

 distinguishes the present age, so that they 

 are less frequently seen than they deserve 

 to be among the ornaments of our green- 

 houses. B. plicata, which may be taken as 

 an illustration of the genus, is a slender 

 plant, of six inches to a foot high, every- 

 where pubescent, with oblong lanceo- 

 late leaves, and pale violet-coloured flowers, 

 the lower segments of which are streaked 

 with yellow in the middle, and spotted 

 with brown at the base; these flowers 

 have the odour of cloves. [T. M.] 



BABINGTONIA. This genus of Myrta- 

 cea> was named after Professor Babington, 

 a well-known English botanist. It is al- 

 lied to the genus Bceckea, but differs from 

 it in the stamens being collected in groups 

 of three, opposite the petals. The anthers 

 also are placed directly on the top of the 

 filaments, and open by pores. The style 



seems to be a direct prolongation of the 

 placenta; it protrudes through a hole in the 

 top of the ovary, and does not even touch 

 the carpels. B. camplwrosma is a graceful 

 greenhouse shrub, with white or pinkish 

 flowers, and has been introduced from New 

 Holland. [M. T. MJ 



BABOOL. The Indian name for the 

 gum-bearing Acacia arabica. 



BABOUNY. A name used in Egypt for 

 the flower-heads of Santolina fragrantis- 

 sima, a substitute for chamomiles. 



BACCA. A berry ; that is to say, a suc- 

 culent seed-vessel, filled with pulp, in 

 which the seeds nestle, as in Solanum. — 

 COR.TICATA. A berry having a rind ; as 

 an Orange. — SICCA. A fruit which is a 

 berry when unripe, but becomes a dry body 

 when ripened. — SPURIA. Any fleshy 

 fruit, which is not a true bacca or berry ; as 

 the juniper, strawberry, raspberry, &c. 



BACCATE. Having a pulpy texture ; a 

 term only applied to the parts of a flower or 

 fruit. 



BACCATE SEEDS. Seeds with a pulpy 

 skin. 



BACCAULARIUS. Such a fruit as that 

 of the mallow ; viz. several one or two- 

 seeded dry carpels cohering round an 



axis. 



B ACCH ARTS. A large and natural genus 

 of the composite family, distinguished 

 from its allies by having male flowers only 

 on one plant, and the females on another. 

 Upwards of 200 species are known. They 

 are herbs, shrubs, or sometimes small 

 trees, many of them smooth and covered 

 with a resinous substance, which gives to 

 the leaves a glossy appearance. The latter 

 are generally alternate, rarely opposite, and 

 vary much in form. In one section of the 

 genus they are three-nerved, and ovate or 

 lanceolate in form ; in another, one or 

 three-nerved, and wedge-shaped ; in a third 

 they are very small, or absent altogether ; 

 while in a fourth the stems are winged and 

 leaf-like, performing the functions of the 

 leaves, which are small or almost absent. 

 The flower-heads are arranged in various 

 ways, and the florets are generally white in 

 colour. The species are confined to the 

 New World, and are found, in greater or 

 less number, from the United States to the 

 extreme south of the continent. Many of 

 them are found at an elevation of 13,000 

 feet above the sea level in the Andes, and 

 a few of them reach the snow limit. Im- 

 mense tracts are covered on the plateaus of 

 the Cordillera with plants of this genus, 

 and shrubby groundsels, taking the same 

 place there that the heaths do on our moors 

 In Peruand Bolivia, the shrubby species are 

 known by the names of Tola, or Chilca, 

 and by the latter name in N. Grenada and 

 Chili. The resinous species are almost 

 universally used as firewood for ovens. 

 An infusion of the winged stems of B. 

 trimera is used by the Brazilians as a su- 

 dorific and tonic ; while another, also with 



