165 



Ctje ^reasurp of 23atany. 



[bras 



among the Eilices. In its arborescent 

 caudex it reminds one of some of the 

 pyatheaceous group of tree ferns, though 

 not of one of the loftiest character ; in its 

 foliage it resembles several species of 

 Lomaria; in its venation a Woodwardia, 

 and in the more fully developed fructifica- 

 tion an Acrostichum.' [T. M.] 



BRAKES. A common English name of 

 Pteris aquilina and the related species or 

 varieties. — , ROCK. Allosorus crlspus. 



BRAMBLE. The common name for 

 Eubus fruticosus and the allied plants. — , 

 DOG. Ribes Cynosbati. — , MOUNTAIN. 

 Rubus Cliamwmorus, the Cloudberry. 



BRAMIA. The title of a section of the 

 genus Herpestes {Scrophulariacece) charac- 

 terised by having the upper lip of the 

 corolla deeply bifid. [W. C] 



BRANC-CRSINE. (Fr.) Acanthus mollis ; 

 also Heracleum Sphondylium. 



BRANDESIA. A section of the Ama- 

 ranthaceous genus Teleianthera, which 

 consists of tropical plants (.chiefly Ameri- 

 can) allied to the globe amaranth of the 

 gardens. Brandesia is distinguished from 

 the other sections by not having the calyx 

 distinctly jointed to the extremely short 

 pedicel, and its segments being nearly 

 equal. The flowers are each accompanied 

 by three bracts, and are in long-stalked 

 globular or ovoid heads ; the stamens are 

 united into a tube by the adherence of the 

 filaments. B. porrigens has the heads of 

 flowers deep purple, resembling those of 

 Sanguisorba officinalis, but dry like those 

 of the ' everlasting ' flowers. [J. T. S.] 



BRANDY BOTTLES. A local English 

 name for the flowers of Nupliar lutea. 



BRANK. Fagopyrum esculentum. 



BRASAYOLA. In the tropics of Ame- 

 rica, and in no other part of the world, 

 occur many species of orchids with slender 

 fleshy stems, solitary succulent usually 

 pugioniform leaves, and large greenish 

 flowers, with narrow acuminate or long- 

 tailed petals, and a similar entire some- 

 times very broad lip. They have also a 

 I column with a pair of great falcate ears on 

 each side of the front, and eight pollen 

 masses. To these the name of Brasavola 

 has been given. A few species have been 

 added, in which the appendages or ears of 

 the column are small and toothed. The 

 most remarkable are B. glauca, with glau- 

 cous flat fleshy leaves, and very' large 

 flowers, from Mexico ; and B. Bigbyana, 

 which differs in little, except having the 

 margin of the lip broken up into long hair- 

 like fringes. 



BRASSICACE.E. The Cabbage family, a 

 natural order of Thalarnifloral Exogens, to 

 which the name of Ceucifek^: (which see) 

 is usually given. 



BRASSIA. An extensive genus of tropi- 

 cal American orchids, very nearly related 

 to Oncidium, from which they are easily 

 known in most cases by the lateral sepals 



being very much longer than the other 

 parts of the flower. Since, however, this 

 isalso the case in Oncidium jilnimatvchihim 

 and some others, the distinction fails, and 

 botanists are obliged to combine with long 

 tail-like sepals, a short earless column, 

 and a pair of vertical plates on the lip. In 

 attempting to define what a Brassia is. 

 Lindley enumerates seventeen species and 

 many varieties, all pseudobulbous and 

 . bearing flowers more or less yellow, in 

 ! simple racemes. They are chiefly hand- 

 some enough to deserve the gardener's 

 . care. 



BRASSICA. A remarkable group of 

 ! plants, of the order Cruciferce. As consti- 

 tuted by Bentham, and characterised by 

 j its conduplicate cotyledons, and its sili- ! 

 quose beaked pods, this genus is made to | 

 include the mustards (Sinapis), an alloca- 

 tion to which we incline, both from ex- i 

 periment and observation. We shall, how- 

 ever, confine our remarks to the genus as I 

 constituted by Linnaeus, of which the | 

 following are species:— B. oleracea, Wild 

 Cabbage ; B. campestris, Wild Navew, in- 

 cluding B. Rapa, the Turnip; B. Napus, 

 Rape or Coleseed. Of these, the first is in 

 all probability the initiative. It occurs 

 wild on rocks and cliffs by the sea shore ; 

 and we have now in cultivation some 

 curious examples, derived from seed 

 gathered from the rocky coast of Llan- 

 dudno, North Wales, which already give 

 indications of sports in several directions. 

 Some have the short petioles and the close 

 hearting condition of cabbages, of which 

 form we have both green and red varieties, 

 the tendency being much increased by re- 

 peated transplantation. Others, with longer 

 petioles and lyrate leaves, seem to take on 

 that looser method of growth which con- 

 stitutes the ' Greens ' and Kale of the 

 garden ; whilst some present that peculiar 

 glaucous hue which belongs more particu- 

 larly to rape. We should not, therefore, 

 be surprised if experiment should ulti- 

 mately establish the position that the B. 

 oleracea is the only true species of the 

 three above enumerated, and that the B. 

 campestris and B. Napus are but agrarian 

 forms derived from the cultivated varieties 

 of this. This opinion is countenanced by 

 the fact that nowhere are the two latter 

 truly wild, but both track cultivation 

 throughout Europe, Asia, and America, 

 The protean forms induced from the B. 

 oleracea are well known, such as many 

 varieties— which are yearly increasing — of 

 Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, and 

 Kohl-rabi; whilst the no less numerous 

 varieties of the common Turnip are all re- 

 ferred to B. campestris, with which, in- 

 deed, Bentham classes B, Napus. 



As regards the Swedish Turnip, we are 

 in the position to state that the seeding of 

 rape and common turnips in mixed rows 

 has resulted in the production of a small 

 percentage of malformed Swedes, which, 

 however, improved very much by careful 

 cultivation ; and our field observations 

 have enabled us to detect in degenerate 



