samina, sometimes called Balsamina hor- 

 tensis. — , HUNGARIAN. An oleo-resinous 

 product of Finns Pumilio. — of ACOUCHI. 

 A product of Icica Aracouchini. — of 

 CAPAIVA. An acrid product of various 

 species of Copaifera. — of MARIA. A 

 product of YerticiUaria acuminata. — of 

 PERU. A product of Myrospermum perui- 

 ferum. — QUINQUINO. .A product of 

 Myrospermum pubescens, sold as White 

 Balsam. — of TOLU. A product of My- 

 rospermum toluiferunu — of UMIRI. A 

 product of Eumirium floribundum. — , 

 TAMACOARF. A product of a Brazilian 

 species of Caraipa. —, WHITE. The Bal- 

 sam of Quinquino. 



BALSAM HERB. A garden name for 

 Justicia comata. 



BALSAM SEED. A garden name for 

 Myrospermum. 



BALSAM TREE. A common name for 

 Clusia, and Balsamodendron. 



BALSAM WEED. An American name 

 for Gnaphalium polycephalum, a plant used 

 in the manufacture of paper. 



BALSAM WOOD. A garden name for 

 Myroxylum. 



BALSAMINACE.E. (Eydrocerece ; the 

 family of Balsams.) The large genus Im- 

 patiens (Balsam), and a single species 

 separated from it under the name of Ey- 

 drocera. included byJussieuin the Geranium 

 family, haA'e been raised to the rank of a 

 distinct order, on account of the remark- 

 able irregularities in the flowers, -which 

 have been variously explained by different 

 botanists. The sepals and petals, all co- 

 loured, consist usually of six pieces, two 

 outer ones, small, flat and oblique, the next 

 large, hood-shaped, ending below in a 

 conical spur; the fourth opposite to it, 

 small, but yet very broad and concave, 

 the two innermost very oblique, and more 

 or less divided into two unequal lobes. 

 It has been a matter of much dispute 

 which of them should be considered as 

 sepals and which as petals. It has now, 

 however, been proved by the examination 

 of some Asiatic species, where there are 

 two additional small sepals, and especially 

 of the Eydrocera, where the flowers are 

 less irregular, that the two outer pieces, 

 and the large spurred one, with the two 

 occasional additional ones, are the sepals, 

 thatthe two innermost lobed pieces consist 

 each of two united petals, and that the 

 broad concave one is the fifth petal, thus 

 bringing the structure more in conformity 

 with that of true Geraniacece, with which 

 Balsams agree also in their ovary, and in 

 the fruit which, in bursting open, leaves 

 the attachment of the seeds adhering to 

 the persistent axis. The Balsaminacece may 

 therefore" be again considered as a tribe 

 only of Geraniacece. 



BALSAMINA. Aname sometimes given 

 to the garden Balsam, and some few species 

 resembling it in habit, but which are, how 



ever, more usually and correctly referred 

 to Impatiens. [T. M.] 



BALSAMLNE. (Fr.) Impatiens Balsa- 

 ! mina. 



BALSAMITA. A genus belonging to 

 the natural order Compositce, belonging to 

 that group in which the florets are all her- 

 maphrodite, and distinguished by having 

 a naked receptacle, no pappus, and an 

 imbricated involucre, &c. One species of 

 j this genus, grown for culinary purposes, 

 I the common Costmary or Alecost (Balsa- 

 \ mita vulgaris), is a native of Italy, from 

 j whence it was introduced in 1568. It is a 

 creeping-rooted hardy perennial, from two 

 to three feet high, remarkable for the 

 i strong balsamic odour of its leaves, which 

 I are roundish, oblong, and toothed, and 

 : were formerly put into ale and negus, 

 j hence its old English name of Alecost ; 

 I whilst that of Costmary indicates that it 

 ! is the Costus or aromatic plant of the 

 j Virgin. Although common in every cot- 

 ! tage garden, it is almost entirely discarded 

 from the plants that are grown for culinary 

 : purposes ; and even in France it is only 

 used occasionally to mix in salads. The 

 plant is the Pyrethrum Tanacetum of 

 , Linnaeus. [W. B. B.] 



I BALSAMOCARPON belongs to the pea 

 family (Leguminosce), and is a native of the 

 province of Coquimbo, in Chili, where it is 

 common in dry hilly places. There is but 

 one species, B. brevifolium, the Algarrobo 

 of the Chilians. It is a shrub with undi- 

 vided elongated branches, having many 

 tubercules ; from these the leaves proceed, 

 and are accompanied with two or three 



. short spines. The leaves are simply pin- 

 nate, and are not more than half an inch 

 long, the leaflets six in number and A T ery 

 small. The flowers are large, yellow, and 

 arranged in few-flowered clusters at the 

 ends of the branches, their calyces covered 

 with long glandular hairs. The pods are 

 thick, short and sessile, and are remarkable 

 for being almost entirely transformed into 

 a cracked resinous substance, which is 

 astringent, and used commercially for dye- 

 ing black and making ink. [A. A. B.] 



| BALSAMODENDRON. A word, as the 



name implies, applied to certain balsam- 

 bearing trees, of the natural order Amyri- 

 dacece. Their foliage is generally scanty.pin- 

 nated, and the branches frequently spiny. 

 The flowers are small, green, axillary, often 

 unisexual, with a four-toothed persistent 

 calyx, four narrow petals bent inwards, 

 and eight stamens, inserted with the petals 

 beneath a circular cup-shaped disc, from 

 which arise eight small lobes, which alter- 

 nate with the stamens. The fruits are 

 small, oval and drupe-like, with four 

 sutures. The nut is thick and hard, two- 

 celled or sometimes one-celled by abortion ; 

 each cell contains one seed. 



B. Myrrha, a plant growing wild in 



Arabia Felix, is supposed to yield some of 



the gum resin known as Myrrh. B. gilea- 



' dense and B. Opobalsamum are stated to 



