157 



€ty Creafttrg of %Qtmx& 



[bora 



found in Chili in the neighbourhood of [ 

 Valdivia, and there called Boquil-blanca, 

 whence the generic name. Its leaves are 

 alternate, with three entire or slightly- 

 toothed leaflets which are glossy above 

 and pea-green underneath. The flowers 

 are white and solitary, or sometimes two or 

 four, in the axils of the leaves ; the calyx 

 and corolla each of three membranous 

 leaves: the male flowers containing six 

 stamens and the females three or six 

 ovaries, which when ripe are berries about 

 the size of a pea, and with few seeds. 

 The few seeds and membranous floral 

 leaves distinguish the genus from Lardi- 

 zabala, to which it is allied. [A. A. B.] 



BORA. A common Indian pulse, Doli- 

 chos Cajan, or Cajanus Mcolor. 

 BORAGE. Borago officinalis. 



BORAGETTORTS. A name applied by 

 Lindley to the boraginaceous family. 



BORAGINACE^E. ( Borageivorts ; Aspe- 

 rifolice.) A natural order of Corollifloral 

 dicotyledons or Exogens belonging to 

 Lindley's echial alliance Herbs or shruba 

 with round stems, alternate rough leaves, 

 and spirally-coiled inflorescence; calyx 

 four to five divided, persistent; corolla 

 generally regular and five-cleft ; stamens 

 five, inserted in the corolla, and alternate 

 with its divisions : ovary four-lobed with a 

 style arising from the base of the lobes. The 

 fruit consists of distinct achenes without 

 albumen. The order was called formerly 

 Asperifolice from the rough leaves of the 

 plants. Natives of the northern temperate 

 regions principally. They abound in the 

 southern part of Europe, the Levant, and 

 middle of Asia. They are less frequent in 

 high northern latitudes, and they nearly 

 disappear within the tropics. Demulcent 

 mucilaginous qualities pervade the order. 

 Some yield dyes, as alkanet (Anchusa tinc- 

 toria) ; others are used for potherbs, as 

 comfrey (Symphytum officinale), which is 

 employed as a substitute for spinach. The 

 common borage (Borago officinalis), when 

 steeped in water, imparts coolness to it, 

 and is used in the beverage called cold- 

 tankard. The leaves of Mertensia mari- 

 tima have the taste of oysters, so that it is 

 called the oyster-plant. The species of 

 Myosotisreeeive the name of Forget-me-not. 

 There are fifty-eight known genera, and 

 688 species. Illustrative genera : — Cerinthe, 

 Echium, Bora/jo, Lithospermum, Cynoglos- 

 sum, Myosotis, Symphytum, Anchusa, Om- 

 phalodes. [J. H. B.] 



BORASSUS. There are only two species 

 of this magnificent genus of palms, both 

 having separate male and female flower- 

 spikes on distinct trees : the males in cylin- 

 drical branching catkins, composed of a 

 number of scales closely packed and over- 

 lapping each other, from amongst which 

 the flowers only partially emerge ; the fe- 

 male spikes seldom branched, and their 

 scales not so closely packed as those of 

 the male. 



B. flabelliformis is the Palmyra Palm. The 



parts of this tree are applied to such a mul- 

 titude of purposes that a poem in the 

 Tamil language, although enumerating sol 

 uses, does not exhaust the catalogue. It is 

 widely distributed throughout the tropical 

 parts of Asia, generally growing in low 

 sandy tracts of land near the sea-coast, 

 and forming lofty trees with straight and 

 almost cylindrical trunks from sixty to 

 eighty or even one hundred feet high, and 

 about two feet in diameter. Like all 

 endogenous trees, it has the hardest part 

 of its wood towards the outside of the 

 trunk, and the older the tree the harder 

 this wood becomes ; so that, while the wood 

 of young trees is almost worthless, that of 

 centenarians is very valuable on accnunt 

 of its hardness, weight, and durability. . 

 The leaves of the Palmyra are from eight 

 to ten feet long, including the stalk, and 

 of a nearly circular form, consisting of 

 seventy or eighty ribs, radiating from a 

 centre and plaited like a half-open paper 

 fan : in old trees they form a large round j 

 head at the summit of the trunk. These 

 leaves are employed by the natives for a 

 variety of ttseful purposes; houses are 

 thatched with them ; matting for floors and 

 ceilings is platted from strips of them, 

 also bags and baskets of all kinds, hats 

 and caps, umbrellas and fans, and a host of 

 minor articles ; they likewise, in common 



Borassus flabelliformis. 



with those of the Talipot palm, supply the 

 Hindoo with paper, which he writes upon 

 with a stylus. A most important product, 

 called toddy or palm-wine, is obtained from 

 the flower-spikes in the following manner: 

 as soon as a spike makes its appearance 

 among the leaves, a toddyman ascends the 

 tree, and securely binds it with thongs so 

 that it cannot expand ; he then for three 

 successive mornings beats the lower part 

 of the spike with a short baton, and on 

 the four following mornings, in addition 

 to the beating, he cuts a thin slice off the 

 end; on the eighth day the sap or toddy 

 begins to flow, and is collected in an 



