BEL 
BLE 
are included in this genus; they are so 
familiar as to need no mention. 
BELLIUM (Linn.) Nat, Ord. Com¬ 
posite. A small genus closely resem¬ 
bling the last; they grow best in light 
heath soil, and produce their white 
flowers about Midsummer. 
BENTHAMIA (Lindlet.) Nat. Or. 
Cornacecs . "The only species known, B. 
frag if era, is a fine shrub from the East 
Indies, sufficiently hardy to bear expo¬ 
sure to our winters, if guarded from the 
severest weather by means of a mat or 
. two. It produces its yellowish red flowers 
in abundance through the summer,’ and 
these are succeeded by large globular 
fruit of nearly the same colour, eatable, 
though rather insipid: planted against a 
south wall, it grows freely in common 
soil: increase is had by layers or seed. 
BESLEBIA (Linn.) Nat. Ord. Ges- 
neriacear Not so ornamental as some 
other individuals of the same order, but 
still worthy of cidtivation; a stove tern- 
perature is necessary in the early stages 
of its growth, though it will flower well 
in the greenhouse; the tubers should 
• be potted in March in sandy peat, and 
plunged into a lively bottom heat, in 
which it may continue until three parts 
grown, and then gradually inured to the 
cooler position recommended for its 
flowering; through the winter the roots 
should be kept cool and dry. 
BETONICA (Linn.) Nat. Order 
LaUatce. Pretty herbaceous plants of 
hardy character, suitable for roekwork or 
flower-gardening purposes. 
BIERENAlil A ( Lindlet. ) Nat. 
Ord. Orchidacece. The flowers of these 
plants are very curiously spotted; one 
species, B. atropurpurea, has dark purple 
spotted flowers produced rather copious¬ 
ly, and the other, aurantiaca , has orange- 
coloured blossoms spotted with crimson; 
they require to be potted in a mixture of 
fibrous peat and sphagnum, and to be 
elevated at least three inches above the 
rim of the pot; a mean temperature of 
about 60°, with plenty of moisture in 
the growing season, is most proper for 
them. 
BIGNONIA (Linn.) Nat. Ord. Bi- 
gnoniacear An extensive genus of highly 
ornamental plants, and the type of an 
order equally beautiful. Most of the 
species are stove climbers, though a few 
assume a more arborescent character, 
and one, B. radicans , is sufficiently hardy 
to withstand our severest weather when 
trained against a wall. The flowers of 
them all are large and showy, produced 
in panicles, and are of various colours, 
red, blue, white, or yellow; they should 
be grown in rich loam and a sunny posi¬ 
tion, or they will not flower well. 
BILLARDEERA (Smith.) Nat. 0. 
Pittosporacere. Interesting greenhouse 
plants from Australasia, growing in peat, 
leaf-mould, and fibrous loam. B. augvs- 
tifolia, with cream-coloured flowers, B. 
longifora, crimson, and B. parviflora, 
blue, are equally handsome and well de¬ 
serving the little attention necessary to 
cultivate them. 
BILLBEBGIA (Thunbeug.) Nat. 
Ord. Bromeliaceee. These are handsome 
plants when well grown; the colours of 
the flowers are at once rich, vivid, and 
delicate, and are usually contrasted in 
the highest manner by the equally bright 
tints of the coloured bracts; they should 
be grown in pots of rich loam plunged 
into an active hot-bed until the growth 
is completed, when a copier and dryer 
place, as on a shelf of the stove, will in¬ 
duce them to flower freely; propagation 
is effected by suckers. 
BISCUTELLA (Linn.) Nat. Ord. 
Crucifer re. Hardy, herbaceous, or an¬ 
nual plants, suitable for roekwork: the 
colour of their flowers is yellow. 
BLANDEOBDIA (Smith.) Nat. Or. 
Lilia cere. Beautiful herbaceous plants 
from New South "Wales; they should be 
grown in large pots filled with peat, 
loam, and sand, placed in the greenhouse, 
and, if properly attended with water, will 
flower freely; the blossoms are crimson 
or orange. 
BLECHNUM (Linn.) > Nat. Order 
Folypodiacece. An interesting genus of 
ferns. Eor culture see Aspedium. 
BLETIA (Ruiz and Pavon.) Nat. 
Order OrcMdaceee. Pretty, tuberous- 
rooted, terrestrial Orchids, which require 
to be grown in pots of fibrous loam and 
peat, and produce large spikes of shaded 
