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184 



BUTTER & EGGS. The double-flowered 

 variety of Narcissus (Queltia) aurantius. 



BUTTER AND TALLOW TREE. Pen- 



tadesma butyracea. 



BUTTER-BUR. The common name of 

 Petasites, a group of the Tussilago family. 



BUTTERCUP. The popular name for 

 Banunculus acris and its near allies, B. 

 repens and bulbosus. 



BUTTER OP CACAO. A pleasant con- 

 crete-oil, obtained from the seeds of Theo- 

 broma Cacao. — , OP CANARA. Piney 

 tallow, a solid oil obtained from the fruits 

 of Yateria inclica. 



BUTTER TREE, INDIAN. Bassia buty- 

 racea. —.AFRICAN. The Shea tree, .Bassm 

 'Parkii. 



BUTTERFLY-PLANT. Oncidium Pa- 

 pilio. — , INDIAN. Phalcenopsis amabilis. 



BUTTERFLY-SHAPED. — See Papiliona- 

 ceous. 



BUTTERFLY WEED. Asclepiastuberosa. 



BUTTERWEED. Erigeron canadense. 



BUTTERWORT. The common name for 

 Pinguicula. 



BUTTON-BUSH. An American name for 

 Cephalanthus. 



BUTTON-FLOWER. The common name 

 of Goinphia. 



BUTTON-TREE. The common name of 

 Conocarpus. 



BUTTON-WEED. The common name of 

 Spermacoce. Also an American name for 

 Biodia. 



BUTTON-WOOD. Cephalanthus occiden- 

 talis. Also an American name for Pla- 

 tanus. 



BUTUA. The Brazilian name for the roots 

 of Botryopsis platyphylla and B. cinerea. 

 According to Pereira, Butua root is the 

 root of Cissavipelos Pereira or pereira brava 

 of commerce. — ,DO CURYO. The Brazilian 

 name of the roots of Cochlospermum insigne. 



BUXBAUMIA: BUXBAUMIACE2E. A 



most singular genus and division of mosses, 

 in which the capsule bears an extraordinary 

 proportion to the vegetative part, which is 

 sometimes all but obsolete. It has a double 

 peristome, of which the outer one is either 

 nearly obsolete, or consists of a triple or 

 quadruple circle of teeth, and the inner 

 forms atruncate cone. The species are few 

 in number. Two are found in this country, 

 Biphyscium foliosum, which has a nearly 

 sessile ovato-conical capsule, and occurs on 

 the ground and on rocks in sub- Alpine dis- 

 tricts ; the other, Buxbaumia aphylla, re- 

 markable for its long stalked capsule, being 

 flat on one side, and convex on the other, 

 like the roses of certain watering-pots, 

 and the leaves being quite rudimentary. 

 It is found, but rarely, on heaths or in 

 heathy woods. CM. J. B.] 



BUXUS. A small but important genus 

 of spurgeworts (EuphorbiacecB), one species 

 of which is the well-known Box-tree of 

 our gardens. They are shrubs or small 

 trees, with opposite entire evergreen 

 leaves, and their flowers being produced in 

 clusters from the angles of the leaves, each 

 cluster consisting of several male flowers, 

 surmounted by one or two females. They 

 have a calyx, consisting of four minute 

 sepals, the males having four stamens, and 

 the females three styles. Thefruitis three- 

 celled, containing two shining black seeds 

 in each cell, and splitting open when ripe. 

 The Common or Evergreen Box-tree {B. 

 sempervirens) is a native of both Europe and 

 Asia. In Europe it extends as far north as 

 the fifty-second parallel of latitude, and is 

 | found plentifully on the coast of the Black 

 j Sea, also in Spain, Italy, and the southern 

 and eastern provinces of France. In this 

 country the only place where it is really 

 i indigenous is Boxhill in Surrey. In Asia 

 ! it is found in Persia, Northern India, China, 

 and Japan. It varies considerably in height, 

 some varieties growing as high as twenty 

 or thirty feet, with a trunk eight or ten 

 inches in diameter ; while others never ex- 

 ceed three or four feet, and have very 

 small stems. As commonly seen in this 

 country it is either a shrub eight or ten 

 feet high, or artificially dwarfed and only a 

 few inches high. Its leaves vary from half 

 an inch to an inch long, and from an egg- 

 shaped to an elliptical form ; they are of a 

 shining deep-green colour, and of a thick 

 leathery texture. The wood of the Box-tree 

 has long been celebrated for its hardness 

 and closeness of grain ; it is mentioned by 

 Theophrastus, and also by Pliny, the latter 

 asserting that it is as hard to burn as iron. 

 Other early authors also mention it as 

 being used for musical instruments, carv- 

 ing, turnery, &c. Its chief characteristics 

 are excessive hardness, great weight, even- 

 ness and closeness of grain, light colour, 

 and being susceptible of a fine polish. 

 These are the qualities that render it so 

 valuable to the wood engraver, the turner, 

 the mathematical and musical instrument 

 makers, and others. Between 2,000 and 

 3,000 tons are annually imported ; in 1858, 

 the imports amounted to 2,704 tons, valued 

 at 28.270L The finest quality, and the best 

 suited for the engraver, comes from Odessa, 

 Constantinople, and Smyrna, being grown 

 in the vicinity of the Black Sea; it is 

 generally in logs about four feet long, and 

 seldom more than eight or ten inches in 

 diameter. For the use of the engraver 

 these logs are cut across the grain into 

 slices about an inch thick. In the early 

 days of wood engraving, these slices were 

 cut lengthways with the grain, and it was 

 not till the middle of the last century that 

 the present method was adopted. For the 

 turner and other manufacturers of small 

 wares, wood of an inferior description 

 from smaller trees is suitable, and large 

 quantities of box-wood articles are conse- 

 quently made in different parts of France, 

 where the tree abounds, though it does not 

 attain a great size. The Box-tree is greatly 



