BAPHIA (from baphe, a dye; the tree produces the camwood of commerce). Camwood or Barwood. ORD. Leguminosæ. A stove tree, requiring a loam and peat soil. Cuttings, not deprived of any of their leaves, will root in a pot of sand, under a hand glass, in heat.
B. nitida (shining). fl. white; corolla with a roundish spreading vexillum, linear wings, which are about the length of the vexillum, and an acute carina; pedicels two to three together, one-flowered, axillary. June. l. entire, oval-oblong, acuminated, shining. h. 30ft. Sierra Leone, 1793. (L. B. C. 367.)
BAPTISIA. (from bapto, to dye; so named from the economical use of some of the species). ORD. Leguminosæ. North American hardy herbaceous plants, with trifoliate, rarely simple leaves, and racemes of yellowish or blue flowers. They are somewhat shy bloomers, but grow freely in a loamy soil. Propagated by divisions, or, more easily, by seed, which latter may be sown in sand and leaf mould in the open, or in pots placed in a cold frame.
B. alba (white).* fl. white; racemes terminal. June. l. stalked, glabrous; leaflets elliptic-oblong, obtuse; stipules deciduous, subulate, shorter than the petioles. Branches divaricate. h. 2ft. 1724. (B. M. 1177.)
B. australis (southern).* fl. blue; racemes few-flowered, elongated, shorter than the branches. June. l. stalked, smooth; leaflets oblong-cuneated, obtuse, four times longer than the petiole; stipules lanceolate, acute, twice the length of the petiole. Stem branched, diffuse. h. 4ft. to 5ft. 1758. (Flora, 1856, 2; B. M. 509.)
B. confusa (confused). fl. dark blue, alternate, bracteate; racemes elongated. June. l. stalked, smooth; leaflets oblong-cuneated or obovate; stipules linear-lanceolate, twice the length of the petioles. Stem branched. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1758.
B. exaltata (exalted).* fl. deep blue; racemes many-flowered, elongated, twice the length of the branches. June. l. ternate, stalked; leaflets lanceolate-obovate, five times longer than the petioles; stipules lanceolate, acuminated, three times longer than the petioles. Stem erect, branched. h. 3ft. to 4ft. 1812. (S. B. F. G. 97.)
B. leucophæa (dusky-white). fl. cream-coloured; racemes many-flowered, lateral, with the flowers leaning to one side. July. l. sessile, somewhat villous; leaflets rhomboid-obovate; stipules and bracts ovate, acute, broad, leafy. h. 1ft. 1870. (B. M. 5900.)
B. minor (less). fl. blue; racemes axillary, bracteate. June. l., leaflets rhomboid-lanceolate; stipules lanceolate, longer than the petioles. Stem erect, solid. h. 1ft. to 2ft. 1829.
B. perfoliata (perfoliate-leaved).* fl. yellow, small, axillary, solitary. August. l. perfoliate, roundish, quite entire, rather glaucous. h. 3ft. 1793. (B. M. 3121.)
B. tinctoria (dyers').* fl. yellow, with wings each furnished with a callosity, or lateral tooth; racemes terminal. l. stalked, upper ones nearly sessile; leaflets roundish-obovate; stipules setaceous, almost obsolete. h. 2ft. to 3ft. 1759. (L. B. C. 588.)
BARBACENIA. (named after M. Barbacena, a Governor of Minas Geraes). Formerly placed in ORD. Hæmodoraceæ, but now referred by Bentham and Hooker to Amaryllidaceæ. Very singular and pretty stove evergreen herbaceous perennials, allied to Vellozia. Flowers purple, large, showy; perianth funnel-shaped, resinosely hairy on the outside; limb spreading; scapes one-flowered, usually clothed with glandular hairs. Leaves firm, spiral, spreading, acutely keeled. Lindley says that they are capable of existing in a dry, hot air without contact with the earth, on which account they are favourites in South American gardens, where, with Orchids and Bromeliads, they are suspended in the dwelling houses, or hung to the balustrades of the balconies, in which situation they flower abundantly, filling the air with their fragrance. They are rarely seen in our gardens. They may be grown in baskets of fibrous loam and peat, with some nodules of charcoal added.
FIG. 205. FLOWER OF BARBACENIA PURPUREA.
B. purpurea (purple).* fl. funnel-shaped, six-cleft, terminal, solitary; ovarium elongated, tuberculated. July. l. linear, keeled, with spiny serratures. h. 1½ft. Brazil, 1825. See Fig. 205. (B. M. 2777.)
B. Rogieri (Rogers').* fl. purple; scape and ovaria tubercled; filaments broad, bifid. July. l. linear, acuminated, imbricate, with broad stem-clasping bases, finely spinely serrated on the margin, and keel recurved; caudex short. h. 1½ft. Brazil, 1850. (L. J. F. 82.)
BARBADOS CHERRY. See Malpighia.
BARBADOS GOOSEBERRY. See Pereskia aculeata.