Bougainvillea

“ Beaucarnea.—The species of this genus are superbly picturesque, and invaluable for the temperate winter garden. They make true stems which terminate below in a swollen bulb-like base. They require liberal culture, the soil to be rich fibrous loam and sand, with plenty of water all the summer. They are increased by seeds imported from Mexico, where the plants flower freely. Home-grown seed is unknown, as hitherto the flowering of a Beaucarnea in Europe has been a rare event.
Bonapartea.—This is a fine genus of bromeliaceous plants requiring the same treatment as agaves. ”

“ Their collection of begonias is a large one, and they seem to thrive better in this garden than anywhere else in Funchal, and appear to be in perpetual flower. Pelargoniums of the varieties known in England as Show Pelargoniums, and not of late years much cultivated, new favourites having ousted them from the greenhouse, are here grown into large bushes, many of them five and six feet in height. It is only growing freely in this way that one has any idea of the beauty of many plants which we only know cramped in the narrow area of a six-inch pot. ”

“ It is worth notice that we have never found any bulbous-rooted plant. Another singularity is, that in the southern part of the isle we inhabited, beyond a chain of hills which divides it from east to west, it appeared that there were hardly any of the resinous gum-plants, and that in their stead we found abundance of another plant of the same form, but of a different green, wanting the solidity of the other, and not producing any rosin, but only fine yellow flowers in the proper season. ”

“ This is a class of quite recent origin, and differs from the more general varieties, in that it has bulbous roots which can be taken up and stored during the winter like Gladioli and Gloxinia bulbs. It has larger flowers than the other species; red, orange, yellow, with intermediate tints. A writer in the London Garden says of them:
"The bulbous Begonias, mostly of the Boliviniensis and Veitchi sections or families, may have also a brilliant future in the flower garden. Meanwhile, their proper place seems to be in the conservatory, greenhouse and window garden. ”

“ Begonias used to be little grown in the outdoor garden, but of late years you see them everywhere. We advise you to buy the inexpensive unnamed tubers in April from any good nurseryman. When your Begonias arrive you will find that they look rather like flattened, badly-grown potatoes, and if you see no little pink shoots on [87] them, you must put them in a shallow box of sand or sandy soil or cocoanut-fibre, and set the box on a dry light shelf till growth begins. If you can put your box in a cool greenhouse, so much the better. ”

“ It must be carefully housed before the lightest frost appears. Its vigor and beauty are increased by the addition of wood soot to the soil.
All the begonias thrive well as house plants. My experience with the new and choice varieties has not been sufficient to enable me to give valuable advice in regard to their culture. I had formerly supposed that a north window might suit a begonia. It was a mistaken impression. The plant, I find, needs sunlight and a warm atmosphere. ”

“ The Bog Pimpernel (A. tenella) is a distinct and very beautiful species. It has a creeping and rooting stem, with small broadly-ovate leaves on short stalks. The flower-stalks are shorter and stouter than in arvensis, and the sepals much shorter than the graceful pale-rosy funnel-shaped corolla, which is very large in proportion to the leaves and stem. It may be found in boggy places growing amid sphagnum-moss, and flowering in July and August. The name Anagallis is the old Greek name, and is made up of ana, again, and agallo, to adorn. ”

“ This same day I desired the chief to shew me where I might cut wood. The low country where we were, was covered only with fruit trees, and a kind of wood full of gum, and of little consistence; the hard wood grows upon the mountains. Ereti pointed out to me the trees which I might cut down, and even shewed towards which side I should fell them. The natives assisted us greatly in our works; our workmen cut down the trees and made them into faggots, which the islanders brought to the boats ”

“ The weeds, rubbish-plants, and shrubs, commonly found in old clearings and in the waste-ground of the cultivated patches in Bougainville Straits.
One of the commonest plants in the islands of Bougainville Straits is the Eranthemum variabile, which is frequently found growing at the sides of the paths. The spurges, Euphorbia pilulifera and E. Atoto, are usually found in the waste-ground around villages. In the cultivated patches clumps of the handsome flowering reed, Pennisetum macrostachys (“orsopa”) , which grows to a height of nine or ten feet, are often conspicuous. ”

“ When covered with pure white flowers the tree is a splendid sight, but the lavender variety, which blooms more sparsely, shows more beauty when the individual flowers are examined. They resemble strikingly the real orchid, with a large main petal marked with purple, and four crepy side-petals. A bunch of white stamens grows from the center. The flowers appear in the cooler months, with spring as the finest season. They are scentless.
The leaves of this Bauhinia, as of others, are peculiarly shaped being deeply cleft into two rounded lobes, so that they suggest the wings of a green moth. ”

“ The great star-thistles run to seed unchecked by the scythe, and the belled cerinthia and the glaucous-leaved tall yellow mulleins seem to thrive heartily on the barren soil. Boggy ground alternates with patches of dry stony earth, and in early summer every little pool of water affords sustenance to coarse-scented white water-lilies, and clumps of the yellow iris that are over-shadowed by masses of tall graceful reeds. ”

“ Bower has in his garden, in Newark, a plant of this species, which, besides the regular flower, sends up a number of small buds with flowers that do not open, somewhat in the manner of Specularia perfoliata, probably for self fertilization. The same kind of flowers may be observed in the case of many well-grown wild plants of this species. These flowers, however, form perfect seed pods. ”

“ Many of the glaring blues, purples, crimsons, and magentas of the Cinerarias, and some of the agonizing reds of the Chinese primrose are equally to be avoided as so much rubbish for which the greenhouse has no room. The common pink begonia, which every one grows because every one else grows it, should likewise be left out in favor of many other better varieties of its class. Of roses there can not well be too many; and of these a well-grown Maréchal Niel or a Gloire de Dijon can scarcely be excelled for luxuriance, fragrance, and beauty of bloom. ”

“ The extraordinary tendency in some Begonias to develop leaves or leafy excrescences from their surfaces is elsewhere alluded to, and is, in reality, a species of hypertrophy or over-luxuriant growth.
In some flowers where the inferior ovary is supposed to be, in part at least, formed by a dilatation of the top of the flower-stalk, leaves have been met with proceeding from the surface of the ovary or fruit, as in Cratægus tanacetifolia, roses, pears, gooseberries, &c. ”

“ Whether the petals of the spring beauty are white or pink, they are always exquisitely marked with pink lines converging near the base and ending in a yellow blotch to serve as pathfinders for the female bumblebees and the little brown bombylius, among other pollen carriers. A newly opened flower, with its stamens surrounding the pistil, must be in peril of self-fertilization one would think who did not notice that when the pollen is in condition for removal by the bees and flies, the stigmatic surfaces of the three-cleft style are tightly pressed together that not a grain may touch them. ”

“ The first-named group is by far the most abundant, and upon its decaying, fermenting brown and ochre heaps, he will see countless numbers of a buccinoid whelk, and a limnaca, feeding as they bore or suck out myriads of tiny holes in the leaf-fronds of the strong growing species. ”

“ For example, I gave my pet carnations just as much water, and as often, as my geraniums. They began to look sick and I lost three before I found out they did not require much wetting.
I’m thinking seriously of trying the different varieties of some one plant, begonias, perhaps. According to catalogue description they are admirably adapted to house culture. They do not require much sun and are free from insects. Most varieties blossom freely, and even if they did not the foliage is very attractive. ”

“ While the rough or hairy leaved varieties will not stand hot sunshine they will do much better and be more sure to bloom if they stand where the early morning or late afternoon sun can shine upon them. B. Vernon and two or three other varieties will stand as much hot sunshine as Portulaca if given plenty of water at the roots and an overhead showering every day after the sun is gone, in dry weather. No Begonia will do well here on the prairie if bedded out, and plunging in pot is worse. I don't like earthen pots for them any way—the plants do better in wood or tin. ”

“ Bouvardias are liable to the attacks of red spider and green fly. The former stands little chance of existence if the plants are kept well supplied with moisture; the latter may be destroyed by fumigating with tobacco. Mealy bug are also troublesome, and should be sponged off with a solution of Gishurst's Compound. Propagation: After flowering, and a slight rest and hardening-off, the old plants should be cut back, placed in heat, in a stove or cucumber pit, and freely syringed, which will cause them to break freely, and produce a good supply of cuttings. When the young shoots are from 11⁄2in. ”

“ Peat, or a compost of two parts loam, two parts leaf-mould, and one part each of sand and old, well-rotted manure suits all varieties of Begonias. In setting out the tuberous Begonia it is well to mulch the bed with lawn clippings. Water thoroughly once a day, and, if very dry, or at all exposed to the sun, twice a day. So really wonderful are their blossoms, and so long and freely do they bloom, that they well repay a little extra care and protection. When frosty nights come the tuberous Begonias must be lifted, potted and kept indoors until they have completed their season of growth. ”

“ The same condition has been met with as a teratological occurrence in the leaves of Cardamine pratensis, Hyacinthus Pouzolzii, Drosera intermedia, [161] Arabis pumila, Chelidonium majus, Chirita sinensis, [162] Episcia bicolor, [163] Zamia, &c. [164] Many species of Begonia possess the power of emitting buds from the petioles and veins of the leaf; the little ramenta or scales which so plentifully beset the surface of some of these plants likewise, in some instances, pass gradually into leaves. ”

“ The Indian type has the advantage of not blooming without its leaves, as the others do. The best way to select the varieties wanted is to purchase when in bloom. It will not pay the amateur to attempt propagation.
Bouvardia—Pink, white or red flowers, sweet scented. Propagated by root cuttings, but as the plants are good for a number of years, the best way is to get them from the florist. Old plants may be divided, small enough to go into number three pots. Give either cuttings or divisions about sixty degrees at night after potting, which should be in spring, until put outdoors. ”

“ So when a scorching sun, or a dry season, or a biting frost kills other plants, the mosses and lichens bide their time till moisture comes again.
In our own country they grow almost everywhere—on walls, on broken ground, on sand-heaps, on roofs and walls, on trees living and dead, and over all pastures which are allowed to grow poor and worn out. They grow, too, in all damp, marshy spots; especially the bog-mosses forming the peat-bogs which cover a large part of Ireland and many regions in Scotland; and these same bog-mosses occur in America, New Zealand, and Australia. ”

“ In the fully grown Medusa there are numerous tentacles arranged in clusters opposite the terminations of the four radial canals. There are usually in addition tentacular processes (labial tentacles) on the lips of the manubrium. Bougainvillia is a common British zoophyte of branching habit, found in shallow water all round the coast. The medusome of Bougainvillia ramosa is said to be the common little medusa Margelis ramosa. ”

“ You will find this bog moss grows in a peculiar way, the fresh green branches growing up and up, while below lie the half dead older stems, which are partly preserved by the peaty acids. These layers of moss collect for many years, till very thick masses of peat-bog may be formed.
Among the bog-moss you will often find the sundew and butterwort (see pp. 114-15) , which are two of our chief insect-eating plants. They love the boggy moorland, or a damp spot beside a little moorland stream. ”

“ In swamps and peat bogs the BOG GOLDENROD (S. uliginosa) sends up two to four feet high a densely flowered, oblong, terminal spire; its short branches so appressed that this stem also has a wand-like effect. The leaves, which are lance-shaped or oblong, gradually increase in size and length of petiole until the lowest often measure nine inches long. Season, July to September. Range, from Newfoundland to Pennsylvania and westward beyond the Mississippi. ”

“ B. racemosa (racemed) . fl. purple, disposed in racemose terminal panicles. July. l. ovate-lanceolate, glabrous; branchlets smooth or hispid. h. 3ft. to 5ft. Georgia, 1810.
BEGONIA (named after M. Begon, a French patron of botany) . ORD. Begoniaceæ. A large genus of succulent herbs or undershrubs (a few climbers) , in many of which the stem is reduced to a tuberous rhizome, whilst some are distinctly tuberous. Flowers usually showy and large, white, rose, scarlet, or yellow, unisexual; perianth segments petaloid, four to five divisions, rarely two. ”