BATATAS (its aboriginal name). ORD. Convolvulaceæ. This genus is now referred to Ipomæa. Strong, free-growing, greenhouse or stove deciduous twiners. Calyx of five sepals; corolla campanulate; stamens inclosed. They are of easy culture, only requiring plenty of room to spread, and are well adapted for trellis work, or to run up pillars. They are all tuberous rooted, and therefore require to be kept dry when in a dormant state. A rich, open, loamy soil is most suitable. Young cuttings strike readily under a hand glass, in heat.
B. bignonioides (Bignonia-like).* fl., corolla dark purple, funnel-shaped, with a curled limb; peduncles many-flowered, nutant, shorter than the petioles. July. l. three-lobed; hind lobes rounded, imbricate. Cayenne, 1824. (B. M. 2645.)
B. Cavanillesii (Cavanilles').* fl. pale whitish-red; lobes of corolla obtuse, crenulated; peduncles one to three-flowered. August. l. quinate; leaflets ovate, entire, unequal. Native country unknown, 1815.
FIG. 208. BATATAS EDULIS, showing Tuber.
B. edulis (edible).* Sweet Potato. fl., corolla 1in. long, white outside and purple inside; peduncles equal in length to the petioles, or exceeding them, three to four-flowered. l. variable, usually angular, also lobed. Stem creeping, rarely climbing. East Indies, 1797. See Fig. 208.
B. glaucifolia (milky-green-leaved). fl., corolla small, purplish, with an inflated tube, and ovate, acute segments; peduncles two-flowered, length of leaves. May. l. sagittate, truncate behind, on long petioles. Mexico, 1732.
B. heterophylla (various-leaved). fl. blue; peduncles solitary, axillary, bearing each three sessile flowers. July. l. quinately palmate; lobes or leaflets ovate-spathulate, acute. Plant very villous. Cuba, 1817.
B. paniculata (panicled).* fl. large, purple; peduncles much exceeding the petioles, many-flowered, dichotomously and corymbosely panicled. June l. palmate, five to seven-cleft; lobes ovate-lanceolate or elliptic, bluntish, rarely sub-acuminated. India, 1799. (G. C. n. s., x., 341.)
B. senegalensis (Senegalese). fl. white or purplish, large; peduncles three-flowered. June. l. quinately palmate; lobes ovate, obtuse, middle one the largest. Stem white, tubercular. Guinea, 1823.
B. venosa (veiny). fl. purple; peduncles umbellate, with an ovate-cordate, solitary leaf at the base of each pedicel. July. l. digitately quinate; leaflets petiolate, acuminated, quite entire. France, 1820.
BATEMANNIA (named after Mr. J. Bateman, a collector and cultivator of orchids, and author of a "Monograph of Odontoglossum," and other works on orchidaceous plants). ORD. Orchidaceæ. A small and easily-grown genus of dwarf, compact-growing epiphytes, closely allied to Maxillaria, but differing from that genus in having the anther-bed with a membranous border. They may be grown in pots, in a compost of peat and moss, or on blocks of wood with moss. They require an intermediate house and plenty of water in the growing season. Propagated by divisions and offsets. They have generally a free-flowering habit; but some of the species are not so ornamental as many other orchids.
B. armillata (braceleted). fl. green, white. 1875. (R. X. O. 316.)
B. Burtii (Burt's). fl. red-brown, yellow base, 3in. across; lip white, tipped chocolate. Autumn. l. elliptic-oblong, or ligulate, sub-distichous. Plant bulbless. Costa Rica, 1872. (B. M. 6003.)
B. Colleyi (Colley's). fl. on a pendulous raceme, rising from the base of the pseudo-bulbs; sepals and petals brownish-purple within, green without; lip white. Autumn. h. 6in. Demerara, 1834. (B. R. 1714.)
B. grandiflora (large-flowered).* fl., flower-spike coming up with the young growth, bearing three or four flowers, of curious structure; sepals and petals olive-green, striped with reddish-brown; lip white, with reddish-purple streaks, orange or yellow towards the base. Pseudo-bulbs ovate, 3in. or 4in. long, and bearing two large, broad, leathery leaves. New Grenada, 1866. (B. M. 5567.)
B. Wallisii (Wallis').* fl., sepals light greenish-yellow outside, olive-green to chestnut-brown inside, with some yellow at the base; petals with scarlet stripes at the very base, but otherwise coloured like the sepals; lip blade greenish, with a brownish hue at the anterior part; peduncles slender, corymbose. h. 1ft. Columbia, 1876.
BATSCHIA. See Lithospermum.
BAUERA (named after Francis and Ferdinand Bauer, German botanical draughtsmen). ORD. Saxifragaceæ. Small shrubs, natives of Australia, New Zealand, &c. Flowers axillary, solitary, pedunculate. Leaves six in a whorl, approximating by threes, and therefore, as it were, opposite and ternate, exstipulate. Easily cultivated in a compost of sandy loam and peat. Propagated by cuttings, placed in sandy soil, under a glass. These very pretty little greenhouse evergreens flower nearly the whole year through.
B. humilis (low). fl., corolla red, one-half smaller than B. rubioides, and the plant is altogether much smaller. July to December. l. oblong, crenated. h. 1ft. New South Wales, 1804. (L. B. C. 1197.)
B. rubiæfolia (madder-leaved). Synonymous with B. rubioides.
B. rubioides (madder-like).* fl. pale red, or pink. l. lanceolate, crenated. h. 1ft. to 2ft. New South Wales, 1793. SYN. B. rubiæfolia. (A. B. R. 198.)