bise] 



(£t)e Ereagurg of 3$0tattg. 



146 



BISERIAL. Arranged in two rows not 

 on opposite sides of an axis ; as on a flat 

 surface. 



serratures are 



BISERRATE. When 

 themselves serrate. 



BISEPTATE. Having two partitions. 



BISH or BISHMA. The poisonous root 

 of Aconitum ferox. 



BISHOP'S CAP. An American name for 



Mitella. 



BISHOPWEED. JEgopodiv.m Podagraria ; 

 also applied to the Sison Ammi of Linnteus ; 

 and as a common name to the genus 

 Ammi. —, MOCK. An American name 

 for Discopleura. 



BISTORT. Polygonum Bistorta. 



BITCHWOOD. The timber of Piscidia 

 carthaginensis; much esteemed in Jamaica 

 for making the naves of wheels. 



BITERNATE. When the principal divi- 

 sions of a leaf are three, each of which 

 bears three leaflets. 



BITTEN. Terminated irregularly and 

 abruptly ; applied to leaves and roots. 



BITTER-BLAIN. A name given by the 

 Dutch Creoles in Guiana to Vandcllia diffusa. 



BITTER KING. Soulamea amara. 



BITTER-SWEET. Solanum Duloamara; 

 also an American name for Celastrus scan- 

 dens. 



BITTER WOOD. Xylopia glabra; also 

 used in gardens for the genus Xylopia. 



BITTERWORT. An old name for Gen- 

 tiana lutea. 



BIVITTATE. Having two TittEB. 



BIXACE^E, BIXINEiE. A name some- 

 times given to the order of bixads, more 

 generally called FLACOtruTiACE^E (which 



see). 



BIX A. A name applied by the Indians of 

 Darien to the plant producing the Arnotta 

 of commerce, and adopted by botanists for 

 the genus of Flacourtiacea, to which it 

 belongs. There are four species known, 

 all of them natives of tropical America, 

 and forming small trees, with entire leaves 

 marked with numerous pellucid dots. 

 Their flowers are produced in large bunches 

 at the ends of the young branches ; and 

 have a calyx consisting of five sepals, 

 which alternate with five wart-like swell- 

 ings on the stalk, and likewise with the 

 five petals; numerous long free sta- 

 mens, and a long style terminating in a 

 two-lobed stigma. Their fruit has a dry 

 prickly husk, which splits into two pieces, 

 each bearing numerous seeds attached in a 

 perpendicular row on their inside. 



B. Orellana is a small tree growing about 

 twenty or thirty feet high, having broad 

 heart-shaped pointed leaves, and bunches 

 of rose-coloured flowers. Its fruit is 

 heart-shaped, rather more than an inch 

 long, of a reddish-brown colour, and 



covered with stiff prickles. The seeds 

 have a thin coating of red waxy pulp, 

 which forms the s\ibstance called arnotta ; 

 it is separated by throwing the freshly- 

 gathered seeds into a tub of water, and 

 stirring them until the red matter is 

 detached, when it is strained off and 

 evaporated to the consistency of putty 



Bixa Orellana. 



In this state it is made up into rolls and 

 wrapped in leaves, and is then known as 

 flag or roll arnotta ; but when more 

 thoroughly dried, it is made into cakes and 

 called cake arnotta In South America 

 arnotta is greatly used by the Caribs and 

 other tribes of Indians for painting their 

 bodies: paint being almost their only 

 article of clothing. In this country it is 

 used for colouring cheese, inferior choco- 

 lates, &c. ; and by the Dutch for colouring 

 butter. It is also used by silk-dyers ; and by 

 varnish-makers for imparting a rich orange 

 tint to some kinds of varnish. [A. S.] 



BLACKBERRY. The Bramble, Eubus 

 fruticosus, and its numerous varieties. 



BLACKBURNIA. A genus of Xanthoxy- 

 lacecF, consisting of trees with alternate 

 pinnate leaves, and flowers in panicles. The 

 parts of the flower arranged in fours; ovary 

 solitary, on a short stalk, one-celled, one- 

 seeded, with a short style and simple 

 stigma ; capsule tough, partly two-valved. 

 These trees, inhabiting Norfolk Island and 

 the East Indies, resemble the species of 

 Ptelea, but are known by their simple 

 stigma and wingless fruit. B. pinnata is 

 occasionally cultivated. [M. T. M.] 



BLACK DRINK. A decoction of Ilex 

 vomitorid used by the Creek Indians. 



BLACK JACK. An American name for 

 Quercus nigra. 



BLACK NONESUCH. Medicago lupulina. 



BLACKTHORN. Primus spinosa. 



