BROMELIACEAE 
271 
Bridelia Willd. Euphorbiaceae (a, i. 2). 30 sp. trop., W. Afr. to 
New Caled. 
Bridgesia Hook, et Arn. = Ercilla A. Juss. 
Briza Linn. Gramineae (x). 12 sp. temp. 2 in Brit. (B. media L., 
and B. minor L. , quake-grasses). 
Brcechinia Schult. f. Bromeliaceae (2). 3 sp. trop. Am., W. Ind. 
Brodiaea Sm. (inch Calliprora Lindl.). Liliaceae (iv). 30 sp. Am. 
(west of Mts.). Firs, in cymose umbels. The sta. have curious pro-* 
iecting appendages; in B. ixioides S. Wats. ( C . lutea Lindl. or flava 
Hort.) these are covered with turgid cells, which rupture when 
touched by any hard body, allowing a honey-like fluid to escape 
(Linn. Soc. Journ. xxx. p. 285). 
Bromelia Plum. Bromeliaceae (1). 4 sp. W. Ind. and Brazil. 
Bromeliaceae. Monocotyledons (Farinosae). 40 gen. with 400 sp. 
trop. Am. Many are terrestrial plants (xerophytes, living on rocks 
&c.), but the bulk of the sp., by virtue of their good seed-distribution 
and their xerophytic habit, have become epiphytes, forming a very 
characteristic feature in the vegetation of the forests of the Amazon 
&c., more so in fact than the orchids, which they surpass in number 
of individuals though not of sp. Most of them have a very reduced 
stem, bearing a rosette of fleshy leaves channelled on the upper sur- 
face and fitting closely together by their bases, so that the whole 
plant forms a kind of funnel, which is usually full of water. In this 
are to be found dead leaves, decaying animal matter and other debris 
(in Venezuela certain sp. of Utricularia live only in these pitchers). 
There are a number of adventitious roots which fasten the plant to its 
support, but which do not aid in its nutrition, or at least very little. 
The bases of the leaves are covered with peculiar scaly hairs by which 
the water in the pitcher is absorbed. Water is stored in the leaves, 
whose bulk consists largely of water-tissue. They have a thick 
cuticle and often bear scaly hairs that aid in reducing transpiration. 
Some sp. show a totally different habit to this, e.g. Tillandsia 
usneoides (q-v.). [See p. 173 and paper by Schimper there 
referred to.] 
The infl. usually rises out of the centre of the pitcher and has as a 
rule brightly coloured bracts adding to the conspicuousness of the 
flrs. Fir. usually $ , regular, 3-merous. Perianth 3 + 3 or (3) + (3), 
the outer whorl sepaloid, persistent, the inner petaloid; A 6, introrse, 
often epipet. ; G (3), inf., semi-inf., or sup., 3-loc., with 00 anatro- 
pous ovules on the axile placentae in each. Style 1, with 3 stigmas. 
Frt. a berry or capsule ; seeds in the latter case very light, or winged. 
Embryo small, in mealy endosperm. 
Classification and chief genera (after Wittmack) : 
1. Bromelieae (berry; ovary inf.; leaf with thorny teeth): 
Bromelia, Ananas, Billbergia, Aechmea. 
