260 
BA UERA 
Bauera Banks. Saxifragaceae (vn). 3 sp. temp. E. Austr. Shrubs. 
Firs, solitary, axillary, 4 — io-merous. Sta. = pet. or oo . 
Bauhinia Linn. Leguminosae (11. 4). 150 sp. trop. Many are lianes 
(p. 173). Their stems are curiously shaped, flattened or corrugated 
and twisted in various ways (figs, in Kerner’s Nat . Hist . of PI.). 
“ One is the most extraordinary among the climbers of the forest, 
its broad flattened woody stems being twisted in and out in a most 
singular manner, mounting to the summits of the very loftiest forest 
trees and hanging from their branches in gigantic festoons many 
hundred feet in length’ 5 (Wallace, Amaz.). Some sp. have tendrils 
(branches). The stem of the climbing sp. has a peculiar mode of 
growth in thickness (cf. other lianes and see De Bary’s Anat . or 
Nat. Pflf In some the young leaves droop like those of other trop. 
plants (p. 157). In the axils of the stipules are usually found small 
linear trichome structures ; in some sp. they form stout interstipular 
thorns. Great variety occurs in the floral structure (see Nat . Pfl.). 
Beaucarnea Lem. = Nolina Michx. 
Beaufortia R. Br. Myrtaceae (2). 13 sp. W. Austr. Some sp. are 
cultivated in greenhouses for their showy firs. 
Beaumontia Wall. Apocynaceae (11. 4). 4 sp. E. Ind. 
Beckera Fresen. Gramineae (iv). 3 sp. Abyss. 
Beckmannia Host. Gramineae (xi). 1 sp. N. temp. 
Befaria Mutis. ( Bejaria ). Ericaceae (1. 1). 30 sp. trop. and subtrop. 
Am. B. racemosa Vent, and others, under the name Andes rose, form 
a conspicuous feature in the vegetation, taking the place of Rhodo- 
dendrons. 
Begonia (Toum.) Linn. Begoniaceae. Over 400 sp. trop., especially 
in Am. Many are cultivated in our greenhouses for their handsome 
firs, and foliage. Most are perennial herbs with thick rhizomes or 
tubers. Several climb by aid of roots like ivy. Leaves radical or 
alt., in two ranks, with large stipules. One side of the leaf is larger 
than the other, whence the name * elephant’s ear,’ by which they are 
sometimes known. The surface of the leaf is easily wetted, and drip- 
tips are frequent (p. 143 and art. Ficus). In the leaf axils groups of 
little tubers are frequently found ; these are not axillary branches, 
but are borne upon the true axillary branch, which does not lengthen. 
Begonias also reproduce very easily by means of adventitious buds 
(p. 1 13). These readily form on pieces of leaves cut off and placed 
on the soil under suitable conditions of moisture &c. (this is the 
common mode of multiplication used in horticulture). A callus forms 
over the wound, and in it there develops a meristem which gives 
rise to one or more buds. 
The infl. is axillary, dichasial with a bostryx tendency (p. 64). 
The first axes usually end in <?, the last and sometimes the last but 
one in ? , firs. In the c? , perianth 2, valvate, or 4, decussate, 
corolline ; sta. 00 , free or not, the connective often elongated and 
the anthers variously shaped. In the ? , perianth 2 — 5; ovary inf., 
