BOUCEROSIA 
271 
receiving a shower of pollen (cf. Erica, Galanthus, Cyclamen). In 
older flowers the stigma, now ripe, projects beyond the sta. so as to 
be touched first. 
Borassus Linn. Palmae (it. 3). 1 sp. B. flabellifer L., the Palmyra 
or Palmirah palm, trop. Afr. and As. Extensively cultivated in north 
Ceylon and along the west coast of India, where it to a large extent 
replaces the coconut. Dioecious. Its uses are legion; an old Tamil 
song enumerates 801. The wood of the trunk is very hard and 
durable, and resists salt water: it is also used for rafters, well-sweeps, 
&c. The large fanshaped leaves are used as thatch, and made into 
olas or writing “paper 5 ’ sheets, the writing being done upon them 
with a stylus. From the base of the leaves Palmyra fibre is collected, 
and used for making brushes, &c. The split leaves are woven into 
mats, baskets, &c. The fruit is eaten roasted, and the infl. is tapped 
for toddy (cf. Cocos, Agave) from which sugar or jaggery is made, as 
well as vinegar, &c. The young seedlings are also eaten, and there 
are many other uses. 
Borbonia Linn. Leguminosae (in. 3). 13 sp. S. Afr. 
Boretta Neck. = Daboecia D. Don. 
Boronia Sm. Rutaceae (ill). 60 sp. Austr. 
Borreria G. F. W. Mey. = Spermacoce Linn. 
Boscia Lam. Capparidaceae (ill). 10 sp. trop. Afr. 
Bossiaea Vent. Leguminosae (ill. 3). 35 sp. Austr. Several xero- 
phytic sp. have flattened green stems (phylloclades) with minute scaly 
leaves. As in Acacia, &c., seedlings show transitions from leaves. 
3 oswelIia Roxb. ex Colebr. 10 sp. India and Afr. B. Carteri Birdw. 
(Somali-land, &c.) and other sp. are supposed to yield the resin known 
as frankincense or gum-olibanum, obtained by notching the stem, but 
there is still some doubt as to its origin. It was formerly officinal, 
but is now chiefly used in incense. Other sp. also yield fragrant 
resins. 
Botrychium Sw. Ophioglossaceae. 25 or 30 sp. temp, and trop. 
B. Lunaria Sw., the moonwort, is found in many places in Brit., 
and other vars. or perhaps sp., also occur. The general habit re- 
sembles that of Ophioglossum, but the sterile as well as the fertile 
part of the leaf is usually branched. The roots appear one at the 
base of each leaf, and branch monopodially. The spike is usually 
much branched, the ultimate twigs being the sporangia. 
B . Lunaria has no vegetative reproduction like Ophioglossum, 
and each new plant comes from a prothallus. The prothalli are very 
small, not>i or 2 mm. long, oval, saprophytic, buried to a depth of 
1 — 10 cm. In B. virginianum Sw. the prothallus is as much as 
20 mm. long, and seems to remain attached to the sporophyte for 
5 or 6 years. The prothallus has a mycorhiza. (Jeffrey, Univ. of 
Toronto Studies , 1898; Bruchmann in Flora , 96, 1906, p. 203.) 
Boucerosia Wight et Am. Asclepiadaceae (11. 4). 20 sp. Medit., trop. 
