BARNARDIA. A genus of Liliacece, 

 containing rather small bulbous plants, 

 resembling Scilla, natives of China and 

 Japan. They hare linear cuspidate radical 

 leaves,and scapes bearing small pink flowers 

 in racemes; filaments winged and ciliated at 

 the base; ovary three-celled, each cell with 

 one ovule erect from the base — which dis- 

 tinguishes it from its allies. B. sciUoides 

 is a pretty frame plant. [J. T. S.] 



BAROMETZ. Cibotium Barometz. 



BAROSMA. This name has been applied 

 to a genus of Butacece, on account of the 

 heavy powerful odour that the species 

 possess. The genus is botamcally charac- 

 terised by an equally five-parted calyx ; 

 five oblong petals; ten stamens, of which 

 five are sterile and petal-like, alternating 

 with the five shorter fertile stamens ; the 

 stvle of the same length as the petals ; 

 and the ovary five-lobed. The species are 

 small evergreen shrubs, with opposite or 

 alternate simple dotted leathery leaves, in 

 the axils of which the flowers are placed 

 on stalks. They are all natives of the Cape 

 of Good Hope, where the leaves, which 

 have a rue-like smell, are used by the 

 Hottentots to perfume themselves with ! 



Barosma crenulata. 



They also use a tincture of the leaves as an 

 | application to wounds, and in urinary dis- 

 eases. Several species are used by the 

 Hottentots under one common name of 

 I Bucku. The Bucku leaves of commerce 

 i are produced chiefly from B. crenulata, B. 

 i crenata, and B. serratifolia. Bucku leaves 

 | are much used in medicine as a stimulant 

 and tonic, and appear to have a specific 

 effect in chronic diseases of the bladder, 

 their action probably being dependent on 

 the powerfully-smelling volatile oil which 

 they contain. [M. T. M.] 



BARRALINGEE. (Fr.) A kind of olive. 



BARRAS. The French name of the resi- 

 nous exudation of Pinus maritima, the 

 basis of Burgundy Pitch. 



BARRENWORT. The common name 

 for Epimediwm. 



BARRINGTONIACE^E. (Barringtoniads.) 

 A small family consisting of about ttve-and- 

 twenty species, usually considered as form- 

 ing a tribe of Myrtacece, with which they 

 agree in the structure of their ovary and per- 

 ianth, and in the very numerous perigynous 

 stamens, turned inwards in the bud. They 

 differ chiefly in the presence of albumen 

 in the seed. Their leaves are also alternate, 

 not dotted, and often sen-ate ; but these 

 characters occur also occasionally in true 

 Myrtacece. They are all trees or shrubs, 

 inhabiting the tropics in the New and the 

 Old World, some of them bearing large 

 flowers of considerable beauty. The prin- 

 cipal genera are Barringtonia and Carey a 

 in the Old World, and Gustavia in the 

 New. 



BARRINGTONIA. This genus consists 

 of trees, some of them of large dimen- 

 sions, with alternate opposite or whorled 

 leaves, often of large size and generally 

 obovate in form, their margins toothed or 

 entire. The flowers are in spikes or ra- 

 cemes, generally large and handsome, and 

 in colour pink, scarlet, or white. The sta- 

 mens areverynumerous and form a conspic- 

 uous feature in the flower, from the great 

 abundance of yellow anthers; and their fila- I 

 ments, being slightly united at the base, 

 fall off in the form of a ring when the 

 flower fades, and have the appearance of a 

 painter's brush. Their fruits are one-seeded, 

 fleshy, more or less four angled, and in the 

 larger-flowered species about two inches in 

 length, tapering towards the base. They 

 are found in many parts of India, but in the 

 greatest numbers in the Malayan peninsula 

 and the islands of the Indian Ocean ; two 

 species are present in N. Australia, and one 

 grows on the banks of the Zambesi River 

 in East Africa. Without exception they 

 are beautiful objects when in flower. 



The bark of a number of the species has 

 narcotic qualities. B. acutangula, an Indian 

 species, grows to a large size, and bears 

 some resemblance to an oak in its branch- 

 ing. It furnishes a solid durablewood,useful 

 for ordinary purposes; and from the leaves 

 an extract or juice is obtained which, when 

 mixed with oil, is used in native practice 

 for eruptions of the skin. The kernels, pow- 

 dered and prepared with sago and butter, 

 are used in diarrhoea; mixed with milk 

 they promote vomiting. Young plants of 

 this species are shown in Plate 10, figure d, 



B. speciosa, a native of the Moluccas, and 

 one of the handsomest of the genus, attains 

 the height of forty or fifty feet, with a cir- 

 cumference of ten to fourteen feet ; it is 

 generally found near the sea. From its 

 seeds a lamp-oil is expressed ; mixed with 

 bait they are used to inebriate fish, in order 

 to facilitate their capture. 



The root of B. racemosa has a bitter taste, 

 and is used by Hindoo practitioners on 

 account of its aperient and cooling quali- 

 ties. The seeds and bark are also used in 

 native medicine, the latter is of a reddish 

 colour, and is said to possess properties 

 akin to those of quinine (Cinchona). Thfe 

 pulverised fruit is used as snuff, and, com- 



