149 



Ci)£ Crotfurg of SSntang, 



[blig 



natural history of India, especially of the 



fishes of that country. The genus is one 

 • of the apocynaceous family, characterised 

 I by a calyx without glands, a salver-shaped 

 ; corolla with a slightly distended tube, and 



no scales at its throat. Filaments adherent 

 ! to the tube of the corolla for some 

 i distance, hairy; anthers linear, slender, 

 ! -with the connective prolonged for a short 



distance beyond the lobes. Ovaries two, 



small, roundish, each containing two 

 i ovules, placed one over the other; style 



short; stigma almost globular below, taper- 

 : ing above and hairy, slightly two-lobed at 

 j the point. Fruit of two fleshy purple 



drupes, or one by abortion, with a hard 

 ! woody inner shell [M. T. M.] 



I BLE^TSOSPORA. B.Drummondi is the 

 ! name given to a little West Australian 

 I plant which belongs to the cudweed sec- 

 | tion of the composite family. It is seldom 

 i taller than three inches, and is altogether 

 j covered with loose woolly hairs. Its 

 ! leaves are alternate, and linear in form. 

 , The flower heads, of a brown colour, are 

 ! arranged in dense terminal clusters, each 

 of the heads containing but two florets. 

 The generic name refers to the cellular 

 I coating of the achene becoming gelati- 

 nous when moistened. [A. A. B.] 



' BLEPHAJLE. The teeth or fringes 

 belonging to the peristome of an urn- 

 ■ moss. 



j BLEPHARIS, A genus of Acanthacece, 

 I natives of Asia and Africa. They are 

 I creeping herbaceous plants, with verticel- 

 1 late unequal leaves, and axillary spikes in 

 which the lower bracts are sterile and 

 1 closely imbricated, while the two terminal 

 i bracteoles contain a single flower. The 

 ! calyx is four-parted, of which the upper and 

 I lower divisions are broadest, and the lower 

 1 bidentate. The corolla is one-lipped, its an- 

 terior portion being trifid, and the pos- 

 terior tridenticulate. The four stamens are 

 sub-didynamous, the anthers on the longer 

 pair of filaments one-celled, while the 

 shorter filaments bear two-celled anthers. 

 The two-celled ovary has two ovules in each 

 cell; but the carpellary fruit contains 

 sometimes only two seeds, from the abor- 

 tion of two of the ovules. [W. G] 



BLEPHAROCHLAMYS. A name sy- 

 nonymous with Mystropetalo* (which 

 see;. [M. T. M.] 



BLEPHILIA. A genus of the mint 

 family, Labiates, peculiar to the United 

 States, and nearly related to horse-mints 

 QIorrMrda), but the calyx tube has thirteen 

 instead of fifteen nerves, and is naked in 

 the throat, while the throat of the corollas, 

 which are much smaller than in Monarda, 

 are more markedly dilated. There are two 

 species, B. hirsuta and B. ciliata, the 

 former with long stalks to the leaves, the 

 latter with nearly sessile leaves ; and both 

 with the habit, appearance, and odour of 

 our own mints (Mentha). The purplish 

 flowers are disposed in axillary or terminal 

 globular whorls, surrounded with coloured 



bracteas, which, like the calyx-teeth, are 

 fringed with hairs. To this fringe the 

 generic name, derived from the Greek, 

 signifying eyelash, refers. [A. A. BJ 



BLETIA. A large genus of terrestrial 

 orchids chiefly from tropical America, 

 where they inhabit swampy places. They 

 have narrow grass-like leaves, and purple 

 or whitish flowers in long terminal ra- 

 cemes, in almost all cases handsome enough 

 to claim the notice of gardeners. Very 

 few species occur in the Old World, among 

 which is B. hyacinthina, cultivated in 

 China for the sake of its fragrance. In 

 their manner of growth they are much 

 like Cymbidiums. 



BLETTIXG. That kind of change in 



tissue which results in the formation of a 



! brown colour, without putrefaction, as in 



i the fruit of the medlar. The term Eyposa- 



| thria is applied to this change. 



j BLEWITS. The popular name in some 

 parts of England for Agar icus personatus, a 

 species which is frequent in rich meadows 

 in autumn, and is known by its pale bistre- 

 coloured or purplish convex fleshy pileus, 

 pallid gills, and thick stem, tinged more or 

 less with violet. It is sometimes exposed for 

 sale, but is a fungus of inferior quality for 

 the table. It is in general believed to be 

 wholesome; but in a case of poisoning from 

 the use of fungi at Cambridge, some years 

 since, the principal part of the stew con- 

 sisted of this species. Dr. Badham, how- 

 ever, speaks highly of it, when not sodden 

 with water, and suggests that the name is 

 a corruption of Blue Hats. [M. J. B.] 



BLIGHIA. A genus of Sapindacece, 

 named in honour of Captain William 

 I Bligh, of H.M.S. Bounty, who, in the year 

 i 1787, was appointed to convey the bread- 

 i fruit and other trees from Tahiti to the 

 ! West Indies. It consists of only one 

 I species, B. sapida, which produces the Akee 

 | fruit. This plant is a native of Guinea; 

 j but it has been introduced into and is now 

 common in the West Indies and South 

 \ America. It forms a small tree about 

 thirty feet in height, having compound 

 leaves consisting of three or four pairs of 

 broadly lance-shaped downy leaflets. Its 

 flowers are produced in racemes from the 

 axils of the leaves. They have a calyx 

 consisting of five pieces ; five white petals 

 bearing a large two-lobed scale near the 

 base on their inside ; eight stamens ; and a 

 short style bearing three stigmas. The 

 fruit is fleshy, and of a red colour tinged 

 with yellow, about three inches long by 

 two in width, and of a three-sided form ; 

 i when ripe it splits open down the middle 

 1 of each side, disclosing three shining jet- 

 black seeds, seated upon and partly im- 

 mersed in a white spongy substance called 

 the aril. This aril is the eatable part of 

 the fruit, and in tropical countries, where 

 it comes to perfection, it is said to possess 

 an agreeable sub-acid taste, very grateful 

 to the palate; but fruits ripened in the 

 hothouses of this country have not been 

 found to possess such good qualities, their 



