30 



SELECT PLANTS READILY ELIGIBLE 



the lowlands of Victoria. It is tlie best for building bamboo- 

 hoiises. Immersion in water for some time renders the cane 

 still firmer. To the series of large thornless Bamboos belong 

 also Bambusa Tulda and Bambusa Balcooa of India, and 

 Bambiisa Thouarsii from Madagascar and Bourbon. These 

 Bamboos are much used for various kinds of furniture, mats, 

 implements and other articles. Besides this, Mr. Kurz 

 enumerates as among the best Asiatic Bamboos for building 

 purposes : — Gigantochloa aspera, G. maxima, G. atter; while 

 Mr. Teysmann for the same purpose notes G. apus. Kui'z 

 recommends further Bambusa arundinacea, B. Balcooa, 

 B. Brandisii, B. polymorpha, Dendrocalamus Hamiltoni, 

 Schizostachyum Blumei. In the Moluccas, according to 

 Costa, Gigantochloa maxima or an allied species produces 

 stems thick enough to serve, when slit into halves, for canoes. 

 Bamboos serve for masts and spars of small vessels. Bambusa 

 Balcooa was found by Wallicli to gi-ow 12 feet in 23 days. 

 Bambusa Tulda, according to Roxburgh, has grown at first 

 at the rate of from 20 to 70 feet in a month. Fortune 

 noticed the growth of several Chinese Bamboos to be two to 

 two-and-a-half feet a day. There are many other kinds of 

 Bamboo eligible among the species from China, Japan, India, 

 tropical America, and perhaps tropical Africa. One occurs 

 in Arnhem's Land. 



Barbaraea vulgaris, R. Brown. 



In the cooler regions of all parts of the globe, ascending to 

 alpine zones. This herb furnishes a wholesome salad. As 

 with other raw vegetables, particularly watercress (Nastur- 

 tium aquaticum, Trag ), circumspect care is necessary to free 

 such salads from possibly adherent echinococcus-ova or other 

 germs of entozoa, particularly in localities where hydatids 

 prevail. 



Barosma serratifolia, Willdenow. 



South Africa. This shrub supplies the medicinal Bucco- 

 leaves. B. crenulata, Hook. (Diosma crenulata, L.), is only 

 a variety of this species. Active principles — a peculiar 

 volatile oil, a peculiar resin, and a crystalline substance 

 called Diosmin. 



Basella lucida, Limie. 



India. Perennial. This spinage-plant has somewhat the 

 odour of Ocimum Basilicum; other species serve also culinary 

 purposes. 



Basella rubra, Linne. 



From South Asia to Japan. This annual or biennial herb 

 serves as a spinage of pleasant coloration. 



