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&f>t Kvcuiuvg of Matmw. 



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BUTEA. The three or four species 

 constituting this genus of leguminous 

 plants (Fabacece Papilionacece) form either 

 small trees or large climbing shrubs, and 

 are ail natives of India. Their flowers are 

 produced in racemes consisting of numer- 

 ous nowers arranged in threes. The calyx 

 has two small bracts near its base, and 

 is usually covered with black velvety 

 down ; it is bell-shaped and two-lipped, the 

 1 upper lip being nearly whole, and the 

 ; lower one three cut ; the corolla is papilio- 

 j naceous ; the stamens are ten in number, 

 ! nine of them being united into a tube, 

 1 and the tenth separate. The fruit is a 

 ! stalked flattened thin and membrana- 

 j ceous pod, containing one seed placed 

 near the apex. 



B. frondosa, the Dhak or Pulas of India, 

 is a flue tree growing to about thirty 

 or forty feet high, common in the jungles 

 ] of Bengal. Its leaves are composed of 

 j three roundish leaflets, covered with silky 

 I hairs, somewhat resembling the pile of 

 I velvet ; the young branches likewise are 

 | hairy. The racemes of flowers are pro- 

 duced early in spring, before the leaves 

 | have made their appearance; each indi- 

 vidual flower being about two inches long 

 I and of a very bright orange-red colour. 

 ■ Dr. Hooker states that when in full flower 

 the Dhak tree is a gorgeous sight, the 

 masses of flowers resembling sheets of 

 flame, their 'bright orange-red petals con- 

 trasting brilliantly against the jet-black 

 velvety calyx.* The Dhak tree supplies 

 the natives of India with several articles 

 of a useful nature. The most important 

 of these is the red astringent juice which 

 exudes from wounds in the bark, and 

 which, when hardened by evaporation, 

 forms one of the brittle ruby-coloured sub- 

 stances called kino, this particular variety 

 being termed butea kino or gum butea. 

 Sometimes, however, it goes under the 

 name of Bengal kino ; but it must not be 

 confounded with East Indian kino, which 

 is produced by Pterocarpus Marsupium. 

 This substance is procurable in large quan- 

 tities, but it has not yet come much into 

 use. The natives employ it for tanning 

 leather, and it has been tried in this 

 country for the same purpose, but the 

 dark colour which it communicates to the 

 leather is considered objectionable; it 

 might probably be turned to account by 

 the dyer. The flowers are called teesoo or 

 keesoo in India, and afford either a beauti- 

 ful bright yellow, or a deep orange-red 

 dye ; but unfortunately these tints are not 

 permanent. A coarse fibrous material 

 obtained from the bark of the stems and 

 roots is used in India for caulking the 

 I seams of boats as a substitute for oakum. 

 ! The lac insect (Coccus) likewise frequents 

 the Dhak tree, and by its punctm-es in the 

 young twigs causes the formation of the 

 substance known as stick-lac, which is used 

 in the manufacture of sealing-wax and 

 in dyeing. And, finally, the seeds yield a 

 small quantity of oil, called moodooga oil, 

 which the native doctors consider to 

 possess anthelmintic properties. 



B. superba is a large climbing shrub with 

 leaves resembling those of the last species : 

 its flowers, also, are of a similar bright 

 orange-red, but rather larger, so that 

 when in full flower the plant presents a 

 very gaudy appearance. Its products are 

 similar to those of the dhak ; the flowers 

 yielding a colouring matter, and the juice 

 hardening into kino. 



B. parviflora is a shrubby climber re- 

 sembling the last in general appearance, 

 but having very much smaller flowers than 

 either of the preceding. The gum of this 

 species is given, dissolved in arrack, in 

 hysteria and colic. [A. S.] 



BUTOM ACEiE . (Butomads ; the Flower- 

 ing-rush family.) A natural order of hvpogy- 

 nous monocotyledons belonging to Lind- 

 ley's alismal alliance. Aquatic plants, often 

 milky, with very cellular leaves, and um- 

 bellate showy flowers. Perianth of six 

 pieces, the three inner (corolla) being 

 coloured like petals. Stamens either below 

 or above twenty in number, hypogynous. 

 Ovaries three to six or more, either separate 

 or united ; ovules numerous. Fruit con- 

 sisting of achenes or follicles, separate or 

 united. Seeds numerous, attached to a 

 net-like placenta, which is spread over the 

 whole inner surface of the fruit : no albu- 

 men. Natives of the marshes of Europe and 

 Siberia, the north-western provinces of 

 India.and equinoctial America. The flower- 

 ing rush, Butomus umbellatus, is an orna- 

 ment of our lakes ; its underground stern is 

 roasted and eaten in Asia. There are four 

 genera and seven species. Illustrative 

 genera : Butomus, Limnocharis. [J. H. B.] "» 

 BUTOMUS. The Flowering Rush : one of 

 the stateliest and most elegant of English 

 aquatics, improperly called a rush, though 

 the similarity of its long smooth knotless 

 flower-stalk to the stalk of the bulrush 

 (Scirpus) sufficiently accounts for the name 

 having been given. Gerarde, who suggests 

 the name of Lillie-grasse, calls it the Water 

 Gladiole or Grassie Rush, and says, that ' Of 

 all others it is the fairest and most plea- 

 sant to behold, and serveth very well for 

 the decking and trimming up of houses, 

 because of the beautie and braverie there- 

 of ; consisting of sundry small flowers, 

 | compact of sixe small leaves, of a white 

 ! colour mixed with carnation, growing at 

 i the top of a bare and naked stalk, Ave or 

 sixe foote long, and sometime more.' The 

 j leaves are narrow, triangular, and very 

 cellular, shorter than the flower stalks, but 

 they, nevertheless, greatly exceed two feet, 

 the dimensions assigned to them in bota- 

 1 nical works, as the plant generally grows 

 in water at least two or three feet deep. 

 The bottom of the main stalk as well as the 

 partial flower stalks are frequently tinged 

 with purple. The flowers are large, of six 

 sepals and contain each nine stamens and 

 six styles. The seeds and root were for- 

 merly employed medicinally, and in the 

 north of Asia, the latter is roasted and 

 eaten. A variety is cultivated which has 

 striped leaves. (French, Butome. German, 

 ! Blumenbiuse). [C. A. J.] 



