beod] 



STije Crea^ttrg of SSfltanjn 



170 I 



young inflorescence is condensed into a 

 depressed fleshy edible head. 



BRODLEA. A small genus of Liliacece, 

 consisting of bulbous plants from Western 

 North America, with linear leaves and 

 naked scapes terminated by an umbel of 

 rather large blue flowers. The base of the 

 umbel is surrounded by an involucre of 

 small scarious bracts ; perianth funnel 

 shaped, six-cleft ; stamens three, attached 

 to the perianth, alternating with three 

 scales (abortive stamens). The ovary is sur- 

 rounded by a fleshy three-lobed hypogynous 

 disk. The bulbs are small, enveloped in a 

 dark rough coat. [J. T. S.] 



BR.OKEN, when applied to a whorl, 

 signifies that the parts thereof are not all 

 on the same plane. In fact, they form a 

 part of an extremely short spiral, as may 

 be seen in the calyx of any species of 

 Hypericum. 



BROME, FALSE. A common name for 

 Erachypodivm. 



BROMELIACE^I t Bromelia?, Tillandsice, 

 Bra me Hods, lir-o mutworts, the Pine-Apple fa- 

 mily). A natural order of epigynous mono- 

 cotyledons included in Lindley's narcissal 

 alliance. Short-stemmed plants with rigid 

 channelled often scurfy and spiny leaves, 

 and showy flowers. Outer perianth (calyx) 

 three-parted, persistent; inner (corolla) of 

 three withering petals ; stamens six, in- 

 serted in the tube of the perianth ; anthers 

 opening on the side next the pistil ; style 

 single. Fruit either a dry capsule or succu- 

 lent, three-celled, many-seeded; embryo 

 very small, at the base of mealy albumen. 

 Natives of the American continent and 

 islands, whence they have been distributed 

 I to Africa and the East Indies. Ananassa 

 sativa, the Pine-apple or Ananas, is one of 

 the most important plants of the order. 

 Its fruit is composed of the pistils and 

 bracts of several flowers united into a 

 succulent mass and crowned by a series of 

 green leaves. It is par excellence the fruit 

 of the Eastern islands. The fibres of the 

 plant are used in manufacture. Bromelia 

 Ping it in is a remedy for worms in the 

 West Indies. Some of the Bromeliads 

 grow attached to the branches of trees, 

 and are called Air-plants. One of these is 

 Tillandsia usneoides, the Tree-beard of 

 South America, which consists of a mass 

 of black fibres. These are employed for 

 stuffing cushions, under the name of 

 Spanish Moss, Black Moss, or Long Moss. 

 There are twenty-eight known genera and I 

 176 species. Illustrative genera : A nanassa, i 

 Bromelia, jEclimea, Bilbergia, Tillandsia, 

 Bonapartea. [J. H. B.] I 



BROMELIA. The natural order Brome- 

 liacea; takes its name from this genus, 

 which consists of plants with short stems, 

 and densely-packed rigid leaves, generally 

 lance-shaped, with spiny margins, and 

 channelled on the upper surface. The calyx 

 is three-parted, much shorter than the 

 corolla, which consists of three petals, 

 convolute, erect or spreading at the top. j 



The stigmas are three — short, fleshy, and 

 erect. The fruit is succulent. The fruit 

 of B. Pinguin yields in the West Indies a 

 cooling juice, much used in fevers, etc. 

 Many of them supply valuable fibre for tex- 

 tile purposes, and which might also be 

 employed in the- manufacture of paper, 

 Several species are cultivated in stoves for 

 their ornamental flowers. [M. T. M.] 



BROMHEADIA palustris. In the Malay 

 Archipelago there grows in hogs the or- 

 chidaceous plant to which this name has 

 been given. It has the habit of such New 

 World species as Epidendrum elongatum, 

 the stems being erect, and clothed with 

 leathery distichous leaves. The flowers, 

 which are large and white, with a purple 

 and yellow lip, are placed close together on 

 a stiff zigzag rachis, which is in some cases 

 branched. The lip, which is cucullate, and 

 firmly fixed so as to he parallel with the 

 column, has the unusual character of bear- 

 ing a long woolly ridge in the middle. 

 Mr. Finlayson first detected it near Singa- 

 pore. 



BROMTJS. A genus of grasses, belonging 

 to the tribe Festucece, distinguished chiefly 

 by the inflorescence being in lax pani- 

 cles, very rarely crowded ; glumes unequal, 

 containing from three to many flowers, 

 the spikelets lanceolate and compressed ; 

 ovules two, the lower with a long awn at- 

 tached nearly at the tip ; styles below the 

 top of the fruit. Steudel describes 141 

 species in his Synopsis. They have a very 

 extensive geographical range. The greater 

 number are, however, natives of temperate 

 climates, and those that approach tropical 

 limits generally grow at considerable ele- 

 vations on mountains. About eight species 

 are natives of Britain, along with some 

 which have been introduced, and are now 

 enumerated in British floras. They are 

 not considered first-class agricultural gras- 

 ses, though the Soft Brome Grass, B. mollis, 

 constitutes a large portion frequently of 

 good meadows, hut being of annual dura- 

 tion only, it is not so common on good 

 permanent pastures. B. erectus is a strong 

 growing perennial species, which is rather 

 abundant in some districts, and scarce in 

 others. The Tall Brome Grass, B. asper, is 

 one of the most beautiful of grasses, al- 

 though a coarse kind, of little agricultural 

 importance. [D. MJ 



BRONGNIARTIA. A genus of the pea- 

 flowered tribe of the leguminous family, 

 numbering eight species, all of them na- 

 tives of Mexico or Texas. They are shrubs, 

 with unequally pinnate leaves, and many 

 pairs of ovate or elliptical leaflets, which 

 are generally about half-an-inch in length. 

 The flower-stalks are twin, in the axils of 

 the upper leaves, and the flowers flesh- 

 coloured, or violet, the keeled petal yellow. 

 The pods are stalked, thin, and in form like 

 the blade of a table knife, but pointed, and 

 contain six to eight seeds. None of the 

 species are in cultivation. The genus is 

 named in honour of Adolphe Brongniart, 

 a famous French botanist. [A. A. BJ 



