FIG. 252. FLOWERS OF BILLBERGIA NUTANS.
B. nutans (nodding). fl., sepals reddish; petals yellowish-green, both with a blue margin; scapes slender, nodding, with a few large rosy bracts, terminating in a short drooping spike. Winter. l. numerous, long, narrow, ensiform, remotely spiny. h. 1½ft. Brazil, 1868. See Fig. 252. (B. M. 6423.)
B. pallescens (pallid). fl. greenish-white; ovary deeply grooved; spike pendulous; bracts lanceolate, of a beautiful rose-pink. Winter. l. dark green, and spotted on the upper surface, paler beneath, with transverse bars. h. 1½ft. Brazil, 1856. SYNS. B. pallida and B. Wioti.
B. pallida (pale). Synonymous with B. pallescens.
B. pyramidalis (pyramidal). fl. red, with purple margin, in erect spikes; bracts lanceolate, rosy. February. l. curved, ligulate-lanceolate, with white bands beneath. h. 1ft. Peru, 1822. (B. H. 1873, 16.)
B. Quesneliana (Quesnel's).* fl. deep purple; bracts flesh-coloured; upper ones variegated with white. h. 6ft. Guiana, 1874. An erect growing species, possessing the same habit as B. rosea-marginata, but having the leaves more acuminate, and deep green in colour. SYN. Quesnelia rufa. (F. d. S. 10, 1026.)
B. rosea-marginata (rose-margined).* fl., inflorescence a dense oblong spike of light blue, subtended by large, broad, deep, rose-coloured bracts, with scarious margins. January. l. sheathing at the base, about 2ft. long, channelled, spiny on the margin, and marked with transverse mealy bands. h. 1½ft. Tropical America, 1880. SYNS. B. rubro-marginata and Quesnelia roseo-marginata.
B. rubro-marginata (red-margined). Synonymous with B. rosea-marginata.
B. Saundersii (Saunders').* fl. about 2in. long, disposed in a loose pendulous inflorescence; sepals crimson, half the length of the petals, which are yellow outside and blue within. l. tufted, ligulate, rounded at the apex, terminated by a short mucro, saw-toothed, green above, purple beneath, and spotted white on both surfaces. Brazil, 1868. SYN. (according to Morren) B. chlorosticta. (F. M. n. s. 106.)
B. thyrsoidea (thyrsoid). fl. dense, in thyrsoid spikes, almost without bracts. June. l. green, ligulate, shortly acuminate, the margin toothed. h. 1ft. Brazil, 1850. (B. M. 4756.)
B. vittata (striped). fl. indigo blue, with crimson calyces and bracts; racemes nodding. l. banded, ligulate, elongate, shining. h. 1½ft. Brazil, 1843. (B. H. 1871, 14, 15.)
B. Wioti (Wiot's). Synonymous with B. pallescens
B. zebrina (zebra-streaked).* fl. greenish; scape clothed with large, pale, salmon-coloured bracts; inflorescence gracefully curved downwards. Early spring. l. sheathing for about half their length, forming thus a sort of tube, deep green, with zones of grey, the whole deepening with age. h. 1½ft. South America, 1826. SYN. Helicodea zebrina. (L. B. C. 1912.)
BILOBATE. Two-lobed.
BINATE. In pairs.
BINDING. The process of securing a graft or bud in its place by means of Raffia or Bast. The same term is applied to hard clay or other soil impervious to water, in summer.
BINDWEED. See Convolvulus.
BIOPHYTUM (from bios, life, and phyton, a plant; the leaves of one species being sensitive to the touch). TRIBE Oxalideæ of order Geraniaceæ. A genus of pretty and interesting perennials, differing from Oxalis, in which genus it has been included, in the valves of the capsule being patent and separate to the base. They will thrive in a mixture of loam and peat. Propagated by seeds, which should be sown in spring, on a hotbed. Probably the only species in cultivation is the following:
B. sensitivum (sensitive). fl. yellow, small. July. l., leaflets oblong, obtuse, mucronate. h. 6in. India and China, 1823. The leaves of this plant contract on the slightest touch. SYN. Oxalis sensitiva. (B. R. 31, 68.)
BIOTA. See Thuja.