COOK AND COLLINS——-ECONOMIC PLANTS OF PORTO RICO. 89 
An important use of this plant from the agricultural standpoint is in making 
pots for seedlings. These will last for a year or two. and greatly decrease the 
trouble and expense of raising and transplanting seedlings of all kinds. The pots 
are made by simply sawing off the ripe stems an inch (25 millimeters) below the 
joint and 6 inches (15 centimeters) or more above it. On transplanting, the pot 
can be split down the side without injury to the roots of the young plant or 
simply buried in the ground, where it will soon decompose. 
In using bamboo for fences in the Trinidad gardens, Superintendent Hart states 
that it has been found desirable to soak the split stems in water for ten or twelve 
days in order to dissolve out the sugar and gummy matters which otherwise cause 
them to ferment and invite the attacks of insects. After removal from the water 
the stems are to be dried as soon as possible, and will then be as durable as other 
kinds of wood. 
Several species of the genus Bambusa and allied woody grasses have been intro- 
duced into the West Indies and have escaped from cultivation. The name bamboo 
is also applied in the British Islands to some of the large native grasses, such as 
Arthrostylidium and Chusquea. 
Banana. See Musa. 
Banara portoricensis. PALO DE RAMON. 
A shrub or small tree of 3 to 8 meters; family Flacourtiaceae; an indigenous and 
peculiar recently described species from the vicinity of Adjuntas. (Urban, 
Symb. 1: 370.) 
Baobab. See Adansonia digitata. 
Barbasco. See Jacquinia armillaris, J. aristata, and Canella alba. 
Barbieria polyphylla. ENREDADERA. 
Family Viciaceae. A handsome shrub with long, red flowers. (Stahl, 3: 86, 
160.) 
Bardana mayor. See Xanthiwn macrocarpum and X. canadense. 
Bariaco. 
A wild tree reaching a height of 30 feet (9 meters), with a trunk diameter of 18 
inches (45 centimeters). It furnishes a wood much appreciated in the country for 
carpenter work, used especially in house building; also for furniture and certain 
musical instruments. It is strong and very resistant, fibrous in texture, with a 
close. fine grain, reddish gray in color, variously marked and marbled. (Gro- 
sourdy, 2: 364.) This author refers this to Trichilia moschoxylum. A species 
that does not appear in Index Kewensis; perhaps it should be 7. moschata, a 
Jamaican species. 
Basil. See Ocimum basilicum. 
Basora prieta. See Waltheria indica and Cordia ulmifolia. 
Basote. See Chenopodium ambrosioides. 
Bastardia bivalvis. Escopa BABOSA. 
Family Malvaceae. (Stahl, 2: 69, as Sida viscosa.) 
Batata. See Ipomoea batatas. 
Batata blanca. See Ipomoea batatas. 
Batatilla blanca. See Ipomoea pentaphylla and I. quinquefolia. 
Batatilla carnosa. See Ipomoea carnea. 
Batatilla ventruda. See Ipomoea ventricosa. 
Batatilla de zaeta. See Ipomoea sericantha. 
Batatillo. 
Recorded by Bello for Ipomoea carnosa. 
Bauhinia amarilla. See Bauhinia kappleri. 
