348 HABITS AND LATIN NAMES OF BRITISH PLANTS. 
times in the course of a season, which should be done before the flowering heads 
prevail, they being harsh and unfit for fodder. The blade is extremely tender, 
its taste sweetish and somewhat aromatic. 
Bromus erectus Upright Perennial Brome-grass.'—Mr. Sinclair suspects it 
may possibly be useful on Chalky soils, but admits that it is little adapted for 
the best pasture land. He states that Pheasants appear very fond of the seeds; 
which, however, are produced but sparingly. 
Bromv.s mollis , Soft Brome-grass, Lob-grass, or Oat-grass.—Mr. Swayne says 
this Grass is disliked by farmers, as being in corn-fields a troublesome weed, and 
in pastures and mowing grounds of. little value, since it has generally shed its 
seed by the time of mowing, and produces very few root-leaves. Mr. Salisbury 
adduces the awn of this Grass (though not peculiar to it) as an instance of the 
wonderful mechanism by which Nature enables the seed to make its way into 
the ground when the land is so thickly covered with other herbage, that all the 
art of Man would fail to effect such a purpose. By the susceptibility of the awns 
to atmospherical changes, curling up in dry weather and relaxing with moisture, 
a continued motion is occasioned, which empowers the seed to penetrate through 
the foliage to the soil, and therein by the same process speedily to bury itself. 
Bryonia. — Bpvuvuz, from fipvco to abound ; or, according to Hooker, from |%iw, 
to shoot or grow rapidly, in allusion to the quick growth of the stems. 
Bryonia dioica , Red-berried Bryony, Wild Vine.—The active virtues of this 
plant seem to give it a claim to more attention than is now bestowed upon it. 
The root is sometimes formed into the human figure (by the continued applica¬ 
tion of a mould, while the plant is yet growing), and sold for the real Mandrake 
( Atropa mandragora ) of warmer climes, with the advantage of at least equal 
efficacy for all desirable purposes, and without risk of incurring the 44 fatal Man¬ 
drake’s groan.” 
Buffonia. —Name given by Sauvages in honor of the celebrated Buffon, who 
had indeed very slender pretensions to botanical honor; a circumstance supposed 
to have been indicated by Linnaeus in the specific name tenuifolia. 
Buninm. —Named from jSoyvor, a hill, so called from the tuberosity of its root. 
Bunium flexuosum , Common Earth-nut, Kipper-, Pig-, Hawk-, or Jur-nut, 
Lesser Pig-nut.—The roots, eaten either raw, boiled, or roasted, are little inferior to 
chesnuts, and would be an agreeable addition to our Winter desserts. In Sweden 
they constitute an article of trade. The vulgar name is derived from the 
resemblance of the roots to nut kernels, and the food they furnish Pigs. It is 
to procure the Pig-nuts that Swine root the earth up in meadows. Ray mentions 
as a fact he had himself observed, that when there are no stalks or leaves left 
to indicate the place where they grow, and they occur only here and there, still 
those animals, by their scent, easily find them out, and root only in the right 
